Finding Value in Google Voice

I've had a Google Voice number for a few years now; as soon as I heard about it I signed up and waited patiently for my invitation.  However, as feature-rich as the service is, I never did switch over to using it as my primary number for a couple of reasons.

First of all, when I started using Google Voice I had issues with call quality.  It reminded me of the initial VOIP services (I was an early adopter of that too) in that it was plagued with static and some echo issues.  I use my phone a lot for business and it wasn't of a quality I could rely on.

Even if the call quality had been excellent - and at this point it may well be - I still couldn't use Google Voice as my primary number because of my plan minutes.  I believe every major carrier offers free mobile to mobile to other callers on the same network - Sprint even offers free mobile calls to ANY other mobile number.  However, when you use Google Voice your call is routed through a Google Voice number and this means that every minute of every call you make counts against your plan minutes during daytime hours.  I've always tried to keep my minutes as low as possible to save on my monthly fee so this isn't something I'm willing to overlook.

Here's a description of how Google Voice makes a domestic call for you straight from the Help section of the site:

Each time you place a call, instead of dialing the number you want to reach, Google Voice dials a US-based direct access number. The Google Voice server then forwards your call to the actual destination number. This allows for faster call setup and the ability to place calls without a data connection. These direct access numbers may show in your phone's call log, or on your phone bill.
A unique direct access phone number is assigned to each person that you call. The direct access numbers are stored in the Google Voice application, not in your Contacts. They can be purged from your phone at any time by signing out of the Google Voice app.
Note: Direct access numbers are assigned randomly, and may include numbers that are out of your local calling area, or even out of state. If you don't have a nationwide calling plan, you may be charged long distance rates by your carrier.

Searching the internet a bit you can find some creative attempts to 'game' the system by adding the Google Voice numbers to your friends and family plan and forwarding calls, but it was a bit more than I was willing to go through and I never had a high level of confidence in any of the methods outlined.

However Google Voice and Google Voice Lite do offer at least one great feature that I've cannot now live without: visual voicemail.

Nothing used to drive me nuts more than sitting through one voicemail after another on Verizon, who wouldn't let you delete a message until you'd heard the entire thing (and of course you were using minutes while listening).  In fact, I don't want to listen through my voicemails at all - most of the time I just call the person back if I want to speak with them or ignore them if I don't.  In other words, I think some genius designed visual voicemail specifically for me.

Problem is, Verizon wants to charge $3 a month for this feature.  This is so absurd I'm not even going to go into it - suffice it to say as much as I love visual voicemail I'm not paying extra for it - our wireless bill is already north of $200 a month.

This is where Google Voice rides in on a white steed to save the day.  With my Android phone (the Droid Razr) I can simply configure Google Voice to be my voicemail for my existing number.  I don't have to give anyone my Google Voice number and they have no idea it routed to my Google Voice voicemail.  Unbelievable.  I have no idea how this works but I think it's cool as hell.  It's highly configurable and works great.  I can choose to get a status bar notification, email, and/or text when you miss a call or receive a new voicemail.  Additionally, I have a Google Voice extension in my browser (Chrome) to alert me if I have any new messages or missed calls.  Furthermore I can send text messages if the mood strikes me - and let's not forget the website has all these features and more.

The only glitch I encountered - and I set this up on three different phones - was the final step in the process of setting up Google Voice on the phone.  It just sat there working for minutes, I don't know how long it took to finish the process but it happened all three times.  Nonetheless all phones have Google Voice up and running as voicemail so don't worry if you experience this glitch.

I should also add Google Voice gives tremendously flexibility for voicemail messages, you can sort your contacts into groups and have a different greeting for each group, for instance.  I won't go into all the features but it's got everything I could imagine.

We set up my wife on Google Voice Lite.  As the name implies, this is a limited feature version which doesn't actually provide her with a Google Voice number.  It simply sets up voicemail for her, and she also uses it to make international calls at competitive rates.  Because we use Android phones, she can direct dial internationally and Google Voice will automatically be used to make the call.  For anyone else you have to do a little extra work by calling your own personal access number and then the international number you want to call.  Cost is handled by buying credits on the Google Voice account and these can be automatically reloaded at a level you determine, or you can manually pay as you go.

Google Voice has a great feature set and is the best visual voicemail I've used - and best of all it's free.  If you're interested it's now open to anyone, you can get on board here.

The first step is the hardest...

I guess I'll do like they suggested in school and use this first entry to tell you what I'm going to tell you.

I love tech.  I love games and gadgets.  I stream netflix from my phone, roku, xbox360, and bluray player.  I'm always on the lookout for the next gadget or service that will make life better or easier or cooler.

On top of this I enjoy what social media has done for all of us.  I get 'updates' on gear and games from Twitter (via Tweetdeck).  I can get feedback from 100's of people by making a post with a hashtag.  Granted, it ain't scientific research, but crowd-sourcing information if a newborn and will only get better.  Just ask movie studios - a new flic can easily be done after opening night based on the power of social media - word gets out FAST.

So what does this all have to do with some Schmo starting another blog?  I think it comes down to the defining value of information - trust.  Let's take a recent example.

After a little under two years with Sprint I've had enough and I'm switching my wife and I back to Verizon Wireless.  As part of the process we were in the market for new smartphones, so I began researching which Android phone would be perfect for each of us.  Not so easy right now as there are some great choices with the Droid Razr, the HTC Rezound, and the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.  Much of my time was spent following trends on twitter, doing searches on Google, and sharing some of my findings on twitter, facebook and Google Plus.  What I found was that I started to have trust in certain people's tweets more than others, and certain people (some I knew and others I didn't) began to ask me for feedback on the purchase I made (I got the Razr for a penny from Amazon).

Reviews from the big tech sites are great, but people still like to ask someone they know what they think about something - and for good or bad after we interact via social media we begin at a certain point to feel that we 'know' one another.  It's not a big reach to follow this line of thinking, after all this is what Netflix's entire movie recommendation logarithm is based on; they start to see similarities between user's rankings and use that to predict what else they might have in common.

Likewise, I follow someone on twitter or facebook because I like what he or she has to say, and over time I get to 'know' the person and value their opinion to some degree.

Or maybe I'm full of crap.

Nonetheless, here I am with my own little tech blog.  Next up I'll share my initial thoughts on the Razr as I continue to break it in and consider whether I'll swap it for a Galaxy Nexus (assuming the latter is ever brought to market).

That's all for now, Happy Black Friday everybody.