FOOD FOR THOUGHT Should I port to Google Voice?

Jadon R

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I would really like to port my primary landline to Google Voice. But I have some concerns. I don't want to loose my primary landline number. So my main concern would be that GV will be hanging around for years to come. I know they nearly discontinued their free google voice calling a few years ago. I don't want to give them my phone number only to loose it someday. I'm looking for feedback from anyone who has experience with using them and any advice from you pros. Also I presume the voice quality would be as good as most other voip providers?

*Edit: I completely understand I have to use a "hacked" method to get my landline number to port to Google since they only accept mobile numbers. This post is what I referenced: http://www.obihai.com/porttutorial.
 
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steve54301

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I am not sure they nearly discontinued a few years back. They cracked down on third party apps, and did the handouts integration. I think that might have been a speculation thing that ran rampant. But you are right, google had a bad habit of discontinuing things.

Either way, you are able to port out of google voice. So if for some reason its not working out, you can get your number back.
https://support.google.com/voice/answer/1316844?hl=en

I ported my old land line to google a number of years ago, things have been fine. Quality is in line with everyone else.
 

billsimon

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I would really like to port my primary landline to Google Voice.

What features do you want out of Google Voice?

I ported my primary landline to Vitelity some time ago and have been happy with that. I like and use Google Voice all the time but with Vitelity I am able to set my caller ID name ("CNAM storage"), have 911 service, get and reply to SMS by e-mail, and have multiple calls at once. (With GV you should be able to get two calls at a time but it seems like this varies among different people.) I'm glad for the CNAM storage and the 911 and Vitelity has good support (GV has a forum full of wrong know-it-alls).
 

Jadon R

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Thanks for the advice guys.

The primary feature I need is the ability to forward calls to my cell phone after business hours. I don't need my cell ringing at while I'm at work, but it would be nice to have it simultaneously ring after 5pm and during the weekends when I receive a call to my home phone. SMS to my home phone forwarded to my email would be nice, but not necessary. And I don't need to usually make more than one call at a time.

From what I understand, I should be able to get all of this from GV. I can get caller ID name (CNAM) by forwarding a callcentric number through google voice. The article is described here: http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=3640.0. Or simonics (https://simonics.com/services/) provides a similar offering. Text messages would forward to my cell since it would be connected as one of my phones in google voice I believe. I'm guessing though when I respond the recipient would see the reponse coming from my cell number instead of my gv number. And I believe E911 service could just be added through Callcentric, Anveo, etc for around $1.50 per month.

Please correct me if I'm wrong. I'm certainly not apposed to using Vitelity or any other "paid" provider. I just figured it would save some money going this route. I fully understand there would likely be little to no support from google if I encountered issues. But that's why I came here so I don't go through that process only to wish I hadn't. :)
 

kenn10

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I would not trust my primary number to Google Voice. I even moved my GV numbers away to Vitelity to keep them. Google has nasty habit of saying their experiment has ended and then shuttering parts of services. Granted it's free service but if you're fond of your number, I would not recommend depending Google. I keep a GV number for inbound faxing but that's about it.

I do simul-ring with my cell phone via PIAF. My home number emails me any text messages sent to it. I just feel better knowing my numbers aren't part of an experiment that may or may not last.
 

billsimon

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I can get caller ID name (CNAM) ...

To clarify, I was talking about the ability to set the caller ID name for your number so that others receive it. You can do that with most VoIP providers but not with Google Voice.

To receive caller ID name on a Google Voice line, yes, I agree, you can use GVGW or Callcentric.
 

Jadon R

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Ahh. I hadn't considered the fact that I wouldn't be able to set my caller ID name for my number. Thanks for that recommendation. I'll be looking elsewhere than google...
 

tycho

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Then again, one needn't be so wedded to old caller IDs these days.

I still keep my legacy from ATT DID ported to Callcentric number, but after years of training folks to call my GV (number because it rings my home and cell and because I can reply to texts from my computer kepboard), that old DID is really no longer used. Ditto my legacy Cell number. That phone is in a drawer. Because I use GV, I've been forwarding to a free RingPlus phone, and I couldn't even tell you what the number is on that device.

I could save a bit of change if I dropped the home DID (costs me a whopping $1.95/mo. Could do it for even less but not inclined to do so) and the unused cell (TracFone; the minutes/texts/data stay intact so long as I keep adding service time at the cost of $50/year).
 

chris_c_

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@Jadon R
The terms of service for google voice say, if you paid the small fee to port your number in to google voice, they won't cancel or take back or suspend your number on you. It's yours. Nothing to worry about...
 

KNERD

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Here is something to consider. A lot of services now require you to validate with a land line, or cell phone. Most of the time it will say GV is not a line you can use.
 

tycho

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Here is something to consider. A lot of services now require you to validate with a land line, or cell phone. Most of the time it will say GV is not a line you can use.
I don't know that I would agree that "a lot" of services require such validation. In the entire world of services, IMHO only a tiny number require "traditional" land line/cell verification to use. I read that Uber doesn't like GV, and I think I read that Craig's list doesn't like GV for some purposes. But what you say is a nonissue because everyone over 9 years of age has a cellphone, so just use the native number of that cellphone instead of your GV "landline" in the few instances requiring draconian validation.
 
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