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Question about replacing Voicemail with Google Voicemail

So yesterday I made the switch from using Visual Voicemail to using my Google Voice account as my Voicemail. So far, I LOVE IT (I recommend doing this if you have a GV account). My only concern is that I'm wondering if I need the app constantly running to get notifications of new voicemail? Because I have gbhil's kernel installed with the tweaked memory-killer, so I don't know if the GV app is always running. Can anyone using Google Voice for Voicemail post how they have everything setup? I want to use the least amount of battery with this, so I was thinking maybe only enabling SMS notifications of new Voicemail?

mrinehart93 said:
So yesterday I made the switch from using Visual Voicemail to using my Google Voice account as my Voicemail. So far, I LOVE IT (I recommend doing this if you have a GV account). My only concern is that I'm wondering if I need the app constantly running to get notifications of new voicemail? Because I have gbhil's kernel installed with the tweaked memory-killer, so I don't know if the GV app is always running. Can anyone using Google Voice for Voicemail post how they have everything setup? I want to use the least amount of battery with this, so I was thinking maybe only enabling SMS notifications of new Voicemail?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it is always running, and to be honest, it takes up very little battery to be noticed.

You or others might also be interested in this:
http://www.google.com/voice/sprint
Setting this up forwards voicemail from calls to your cell number (not your GV number) on to your Google Voice visual voicemail. In my case, nobody even knows my real cell number, they just call/text GV, but for folks transitioning it could be useful.

Isn't that the same as using Google Voice for your cellphone Voicemail? Anyway, what did it mean by "immediate" forwarding? I didn't quite understand what they meant by that... and I don't want to see a $0.20 charge on each minute/call I use... my dad would get very angry haha.
EDIT
I should probably say that right now, I have a Google Voice number, and I have the voicemail setup so that any call I get to my Sprint number gets picked up by the Google Voice number's voicemail... I hope that makes sense?

Yes, setting GV up in "voicemail mode" is a newer feature than when I first got my GV set up, but my roommate has his set up that way. It's pretty much the same but they take out a few of the forwarding features that you wouldn't be using if you're just using it as a voicemail service. (ring multiple phones and such). One thing you'll be glad to hear is that around the end of last year, Sprint decided to drop the charges on conditional call forwarding, as part of a "partnership with google". So, there are NO CHARGES when call forwarding to google voice.
Edit: I see what you're saying. When they say immediate call forwarding, they mean unconditional call forwarding. (forwarding all calls into your sprint number). What you probably want to do is CONDITIONAL call forwarding (forwarding calls when the line is busy, or when there is no answer).. See this link: http://support.sprint.com/support/a...ur_Sprint_phone/case-vw371511-20091020-144925
So you've got [sprint number]->[google voice]->[your phone] Which will be charged because all calls are forwarded to GV, and then GV rings your phone
I have, (and you probably want), [sprint number]->[your phone]->[if no answer, google voice] Which doesn't result in a charge.
Hope that helps

Hmm... I'm still confused about that. With the diagrams above, are you talking about someone calling me? Or me calling someone? Really I don't care about having anything transferred to my GV number... all I want is the voicemail part of it.

What have you done so far? Are you forwarding ALL your calls to google voice first, and then google voice is ringing your phone? (*72 forwarding?)
What I'm trying to get across here is that you want all your incoming calls to go to your phone first, then if you're busy or there it isn't answered, it will go to google voice, which will automatically pick up and go to voicemail when you have your phone set to "activate google voicemail on this phone" in your Google Voice settings.
If you currently have it set up to forward all your incoming calls to your google voice number, then google voice rings your cellphone afterwards, you will be charged for this type of call forwarding. You don't want to set it up this way if you're just using google voice for voicemail.

If you followed the setup that GV gives you for voicemail, they have you use *285555555555 (replace 5s with number you want to forward to. In this case, your GV number), which is what you want to use. This forwards calls to the specified number, after you either don't pick up your cellphone, or you're currently in a call. (*38 turns this off)
In contrast:
*725555555555 (again, replace 5s with the number to forward to) forwards all incoming calls to your sprint number to whatever number you specify. This charges you monies. Don't use this one. If you have done this, turn it off by dialing *720

Yes, I have the first thing you said currently. Basically if someone calls me (Sprint number), and I'm not there and they leave a voicemail, it leaves the voicemail with Google Voice. I then use the GV app to listen to my voicemail. I think I understand it now. So basically all I want to do is click "Enable Voicemail on this phone"? How would I go about setting it up so that all calls are forwarded to my Google Voice number (just so I don't accidentally do this)?

thematrixkid17 said:
If you followed the setup that GV gives you for voicemail, they have you use *285555555555 (replace 5s with number you want to forward to. In this case, your GV number), which is what you want to use. This forwards calls to the specified number, after you either don't pick up your cellphone, or you're currently in a call. (*38 turns this off)
In contrast:
*725555555555 (again, replace 5s with the number to forward to) forwards all incoming calls to your sprint number to whatever number you specify. This charges you monies. Don't use this one. If you have done this, turn it off by dialing *720
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That makes A LOT of sense! Thanks! I think this is resolved. Maybe this should be stickied or something so other people don't get confused with this.

Maybe I'll make a Google Voice for dummies writeup, since I haven't really contributed anything of substance here yet
But I went through this same thing late last year, GV can be very confusing for people that haven't used it.

Ok, so I just got done with a chat with Sprint, and I had called myself with these Google Voice settings, and according to Sprint, no $0.20 charge had been made to my bill. Looks like this is awesome! Thanks so much!

No problem. I'm working on a more substantial writeup right now, so that hopefully people won't run into these confusions again.

Quick question, what is the best way to set GV up so that I don't need to have Mobile Network (EvDO) constantly on? I only really ever have EvDO enabled when I need to use it so I can save battery life.

Well, I don't ever turn mine off, but I'd guess you'd just need internet connectivity to check and download your GV messages. If you don't mind not being updated the moment you get a new message, then there's nothing you'd have to do. (I mean you'll know when you get a missed call, if your phone is on, obviously) But if you REALLY need to know right away when you get a new message, you can turn on SMS notifications in GV settings.

Your phone still has internet connectivity in 1x only mode, it's just not as fast.

ldleblanc said:
Your phone still has internet connectivity in 1x only mode, it's just not as fast.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, he said he was turning off 'mobile network'. When I turn off 'mobile network' in my settings, I don't get ANY internet connectivity. I'm pretty sure it disables it entirely, regardless of connection type

Btw, I've got my tutorial writeup over in this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=633196

[GUIDE] Google Voice for Noobs

I was helping someone get started with Google Voice in a thread, and thought a little tutorial might help people out, so I wrote one. I'd like input if you guys think I got something wrong, or left something out. I hope this can help someone.
The pdf has been updated as of 2/16/2010 with more info:
http://i0v.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Google-Voice-for-Noobs.pdf
But I figured some people might like plain text, so I'll paste it too.
I probably won't update the plain text here because it will just be getting longer and longer
(that is, unless someone requests it)
Google Voice for Noobs
Transitioning to Google Voice, on a Sprint HTC Hero
First Revision 2/14/10
What Is Google Voice?
First off, I think it helps to think of Google Voice like a switch box of some sort. You can feed telephone calls in and feed them back out, in whatever direction you’d like. The original intended functionality of GV was to allow you give people one number (your GV number) and then it would ring all of your phones when someone calls that number.
Now this might be helpful for some people, but I know the majority of people here probably don’t have more than one phone. But this setup can still be useful for people who want to use their Google Voice number as the number they give out to people. This setup is really the easiest, because once you’ve entered your cell phone in Google Voice under Settings > Phones, you’re pretty much done. The other advantage to this route is that you can have GV ask callers for their name before it rings your phone (call screening), and some other cool features. If you still want to use your Sprint phone number and just use GV for voicemail, see the next section.
Note: Now when you now first set up Google Voice, it asks if you want to set it up as strictly voicemail and then steps you through steps similar to the following section. It then gives you a more limited feature set for just the options that apply to when you’re using it as voicemail. If that’s all you want to do, then that might be the route to go. If at some point, you want to use a scenario similar to the one above Go to Settings >’Phones’ tab > Get a Google number (thanks to Jon at Hebb Networks for clarifying this)
Google Voice as Voicemail
(This is basically an explanation of what Google walks you through when you go to Settings > “Activate Google voicemail for this phone” on the GV website)
Note that sometime around November 2009, Sprint decided to make CONDITIONAL call forwarding free, so we’re going to configure it like this:
In this situation what you’ll do is dial *285555555555 (replace the 5’s with your GV number) and then press talk. You should hear some beeps to let you know everything is working alright. Then you can hang up. (To undo this feature dial *38)
Next, you want to let GV know that these calls that are being forwarded should go to voicemail. You can do this by going into your settings page in Google Voice on your computer, and clicking “Activate Google voicemail for this phone”
Another thing to note, is that there is a big difference between CONDITIONAL and UNCONDITIONAL call forwarding. CONDITIONAL forwards a call after some (you guessed it) conditions are met - i.e. Busy, or no answer. You can read more about CONDITIONAL call forwarding here: http://bit.ly/9KvT2L
On the other hand, UNCONDITIONAL call forwarding takes all calls to your sprint number, and forwards them ALL to a different number without ever ringing your cell phone. This is not typically an option that anyone would want to use, and Sprint still charges 20 cents/minute for every call that uses this. Read more here: http://bit.ly/apyfAs
Accessing Google Voice from your Hero
Now on your CDMA Hero, you’re definitely going to want to download the Google Voice app from the Market. This will currently do two functions.
1. Allow you to see and play all of your voicemail.
2. Route your outgoing calls back through Google Voice, if you want to. (This makes more sense, I think, if you’re giving out your Google Voice number to people, because then your calls will be all forwarded through GV, both incoming and outgoing. I don’t give out my GV number, so I have mine set to only make outgoing calls through GV for international calls.)
Another option is to call Google Voice from your cell phone, just like the old days with Sprint Voicemail. Be sure to go Settings > Call Settings > Voicemail and then type in your GV number. Then when you hold 1 from the dial pad, you’ll call GV and be able to access it that way too.
Yet another option is to just visit the Google Voice Mobile Page in the browser.
Notification Options
With a fresh setup of Google Voice Voicemail, you’ll probably quickly notice that you’ll bombarded with email and SMS notifications about a new message. You can turn these off, and if you’re using the Android app, you’ll probably want to. On the Google Voice site, visit Settings > Voicemail & SMS > Voicemail Notifications to turn these on or off.

I have one question about using GV. I have free mobile to mobile calling. When someone calls my GV number, which is then forwarded to my cell phone, is this still a mobile to mobile call, or will I be charged?

wjtrawick said:
I have one question about using GV. I have free mobile to mobile calling. When someone calls my GV number, which is then forwarded to my cell phone, is this still a mobile to mobile call, or will I be charged?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just did a reverse telephone lookup, and it lists my google voice number type as a landline. So, no, I don't believe it counts as a mobile number.
Edit: Just checked my Sprint bill. I've got Any Mobile, Anytime. It is charged as a land line.
(On a side note, we just switched to the free mobile to mobile a few months ago, damn I love it: "Your account used 9,346 minutes of Any Mobile, Anytime(sm) calling last month.")

According to GV surport forum. If somebody(cellphone) calls ur GV number and transfer to ur sprint number. It should be counted as Mobile to Mobile. However, if you called somebody else through ur GV number, it will be conted as you call a landline.
link is here.
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/voice/thread?tid=75630cc990ea5c98&hl=en

laufine said:
According to GV surport forum. If somebody(cellphone) calls ur GV number and transfer to ur sprint number. It should be counted as Mobile to Mobile. However, if you called somebody else through ur GV number, it will be conted as you call a landline.
link is here.
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/voice/thread?tid=75630cc990ea5c98&hl=en
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yupp, thats how it is, I have the bills to prove it. Also, for the person calling you it counts as a landline call for them, so if they are on Sprint it is not using mobile2mobile.
If there was a way to convince google to have gvoice lines as mobile lines it would be set....to bad...

Interestingly, the Voice app for Android doesn't do push notifications of new VMs. I get my email notifications long before the Voice app picks the VMs up. (I think it's set to check every 5 minutes?)
Any ideas on that one?

Is_907 said:
Interestingly, the Voice app for Android doesn't do push notifications of new VMs. I get my email notifications long before the Voice app picks the VMs up. (I think it's set to check every 5 minutes?)
Any ideas on that one?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I go to settings > refresh and notification > refresh inbox,, and there are options there for refresh rate. 5 minutes is the lowest setting. I heard somewhere that there is a 3rd party app that checks more frequently, but I haven't tried it. I wouldn't want to drain my battery with an interval shorter than 5 minutes. Maybe you'd be better off making a gmail label to sort the notifications if the delay is a problem.

I've just been setting GV to send me SMS notifications, and then when I have a VM, I just hit refresh, and look at it. I don't want it constantly refreshing because I hardly get VM's.

Is_907 said:
Interestingly, the Voice app for Android doesn't do push notifications of new VMs. I get my email notifications long before the Voice app picks the VMs up. (I think it's set to check every 5 minutes?)
Any ideas on that one?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the one thing that keeps me from becoming a heavy Google Voice user. I read on the Google support forums that they're working on push notifications but they said it was difficult and didn't have an ETA.
I don't know how it would be more difficult than Gmail.

Hey, thanks a lot for this guide! I've had "setting up google voicemail" on my to-do list for a while now, and your easy to understand guide motivated me to get it set up. Thanks a lot!
Just wanted to add a little something (feel free to put it in your guide if you want, to avoid questions in the forum later) for people who are on Cricket Wireless...
If you try to set this up for Cricket, the code you dial to activate Google Voicemail is slightly different.
For Cricket, dial *74xxxxxxx.
If you get an error after dialing it, something like "Cricket does not currently offer this service", then the problem isn't that Cricket doesn't offer it, but that your account does not have Call Forwarding enabled.
So, if you use Cricket and you get an error after dialing the code, go to your My Account on the Cricket Website and double check/add the Call Forwarding feature to your account. Once you do this, the code will work and GVoicemail can be activated.
Thanks again!

raynda said:
Hey, thanks a lot for this guide! I've had "setting up google voicemail" on my to-do list for a while now, and your easy to understand guide motivated me to get it set up. Thanks a lot!
Just wanted to add a little something (feel free to put it in your guide if you want, to avoid questions in the forum later) for people who are on Cricket Wireless...
If you try to set this up for Cricket, the code you dial to activate Google Voicemail is slightly different.
For Cricket, dial *74xxxxxxx.
If you get an error after dialing it, something like "Cricket does not currently offer this service", then the problem isn't that Cricket doesn't offer it, but that your account does not have Call Forwarding enabled.
So, if you use Cricket and you get an error after dialing the code, go to your My Account on the Cricket Website and double check/add the Call Forwarding feature to your account. Once you do this, the code will work and GVoicemail can be activated.
Thanks again!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Excellent, and thanks; I'm glad this is being helpful to some people. I will definitely add that to at least the PDF guide today after I finish some school work. I look at this guide as a work in progress, and I'd like to eventually make it a fairly comprehensive users-guide to GV.
My one comment is:
*28 on Sprint forwards BOTH busy line, and no answer. From reading the cricket site, it seems that you'd both need to do *73 and *74 codes, so that when you're busy, it also sends calls to GV. On sprint you can do this too, as it would be the same as doing *28. Actually when I first activated mine, I had to do it that way because the exchange I was using was having some problems with the *28. Basically *28 is just a shortcut (on sprint, not cricket) for forwarding both.
So I'll add this explanation to the guide too. (along with undo codes) I totally forgot I had that problem. But I'm pretty sure you want to also do *73.
--------------------
To the people with billing comments:
So basicially everyone is saying:
1) All GV calls out are charged as calls to a land line. (which I have experienced too)
2) All GV incoming calls are charged as if you were receiving the call directly. (i.e. [Mobile call -> GV -> your phone] is charged as mobile... OR ... [landline call -> GV -> your phone] is charged as landline]
Am I right here? If so, I'll add this in today, too.

what am i missing?
* I have google voice setup correctly
* I have the application from the market installed
* I am receiving notifications in the form of text, and through the notification bar in android.
What I cannot figure out is how to opened the darn program when i want to get back into google voice to look at the messages in the inbox. i can get in when a message icon is in the tray (i just click on it and google voice comes up), but later on when i think "what was that message again?" and I go to go back to the program I cannot find a way to get in.
* There is no program in the "all programs" page (accessed by the arrow)
* There is no widget (other than the one to change how i want google voice to make calls for me)
What am I missing? I cannot figure out how to get into the program.
I could go to the mobile site, but that just seems silly when i know that the program is on my phone. I just can't find an icon to access it.
Please tell me I'm blind, and missing something obvious.
-AndyS-

realmrealm said:
* I have google voice setup correctly
* I have the application from the market installed
* I am receiving notifications in the form of text, and through the notification bar in android.
What I cannot figure out is how to opened the darn program when i want to get back into google voice to look at the messages in the inbox. i can get in when a message icon is in the tray (i just click on it and google voice comes up), but later on when i think "what was that message again?" and I go to go back to the program I cannot find a way to get in.
* There is no program in the "all programs" page (accessed by the arrow)
* There is no widget (other than the one to change how i want google voice to make calls for me)
What am I missing? I cannot figure out how to get into the program.
I could go to the mobile site, but that just seems silly when i know that the program is on my phone. I just can't find an icon to access it.
Please tell me I'm blind, and missing something obvious.
-AndyS-
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can only guess that you're looking for an icon that says "Google Voice" when actually the icon just says "Voice"

yikes!
@thematrixkid17 - see, I asked for something obvious and you gave it to me
I'm really pretty embarrassed considering the time that I was trying to figure this out, and that it was in front of me the whole time.
Thanks for the quick reply.
-AndyS-

laufine said:
According to GV surport forum. If somebody(cellphone) calls ur GV number and transfer to ur sprint number. It should be counted as Mobile to Mobile. However, if you called somebody else through ur GV number, it will be conted as you call a landline.
link is here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sprint has a feature called "Sprint to Home" for $5 /month. If you add that to your plan ALL calls going to and from google voice are free. I use my phone ALL the time and only manage to rack up a 20-30 minutes a month .

realmrealm said:
@thematrixkid17 - see, I asked for something obvious and you gave it to me
I'm really pretty embarrassed considering the time that I was trying to figure this out, and that it was in front of me the whole time.
Thanks for the quick reply.
-AndyS-
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem. I knew that was probably your problem, because I had to do a double-take the first time I installed it too. Voice sounds really generic and has a pretty generic looking icon, so its not hard to overlook. I should add a picture of the icon to my guide

biggoan said:
Sprint has a feature called "Sprint to Home" for $5 /month. If you add that to your plan ALL calls going to and from google voice are free. I use my phone ALL the time and only manage to rack up a 20-30 minutes a month .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've heard about that. So you use google voice to dial to everybody? Cause I have 300 mins/month(Family plan,1500mins, 5ppl), if next month I use more than 300 mins, I'll call sprint to add this service.

anyone happen to happen an invite
[email protected]
so could i use this as my primary voicemail with my sprint number or would i have use the gv one? which i would see no point in if you don't use the gv number? thanks to whoever can clear this up for me

ko0pa11 said:
anyone happen to happen an invite
[email protected]
so could i use this as my primary voicemail with my sprint number or would i have use the gv one? which i would see no point in if you don't use the gv number? thanks to whoever can clear this up for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, you can use it as primary voicemail, while still using your Sprint number. That's how I primarily use mine, since I'm on a 1500 minute 5 line family plan with free mobile to mobile any network, and we barely use 200 anytime minutes COMBINED. So it doesn't make sense for me to use GV for calls, when everyone already has my Sprint number. just follow the section in the guide "google voice as voicemail" or the setup instructions on GV.
What is nice about GV for voicemail is that you get visual voicemail via the GV android app, access to voicemail on your pc, its easy to archive messages, custom greetings for different groups of callers, and a bunch of other stuff. Voicemail transcription isn't great yet, but makes it nice to get an idea of what callers are saying if you can't listen (class, meeting, etc)
Invites are pretty sparse. I only ever got three, which I've used for my close friends, or i'd hand them out.
Again, i'll be updating the guide semi-daily based on questions in this thread

laufine said:
I've heard about that. So you use google voice to dial to everybody? Cause I have 300 mins/month(Family plan,1500mins, 5ppl), if next month I use more than 300 mins, I'll call sprint to add this service.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A lot of the family plans now have the free mobile to mobile any network, so if you mainly make mobile calls, you might take a look at that as an option too. (sorry if I keep bringing this up, but it did really do a killing on my plan; my sister used almost 9000 free minutes last month because of this)

Previous IPhone Users: Miss visual voicemail? Use google voice for you voicemail.

Switching yesterday to android was a shock when I found out there was no visual voicemail for android on AT&T. Dialing in for voicemail seems archaic now. But google voice can easily take over your AT&T voicemail and much much more. You don't even have to use your google voice phone number to use the voicemail feature.

Check out HulloMail as well. HulloMail is available for Android, iPhone and Blackberry in the US and UK. The app is free and offers everything you want from VVM and more.

lebe0024 said:
Switching yesterday to android was a shock when I found out there was no visual voicemail for android on AT&T. Dialing in for voicemail seems archaic now. But google voice can easily take over your AT&T voicemail and much much more. You don't even have to use your google voice phone number to use the voicemail feature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True, I didnt even think about that. I dont even know how to dial in for voicemail on AT&T. The entire time on AT&T I had an iphone that did all that stuff automatically.

Google voicemail transcribes which is even more awesome

Google Voice is great if you don't use Google Apps, if you use a Google Apps account it won't work with it, which is really a pain. I don't want to maintain two separate Google accounts
hullos said:
Check out HulloMail as well. HulloMail is available for Android, iPhone and Blackberry in the US and UK. The app is free and offers everything you want from VVM and more.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mixed reviews on that app...

How do you set up google voice to be your voicemail application, even if someone calls your regular phone number, not your google voice number?

Basics: Adding Google voicemail to your current mobile forwarding phoneShare Comment Print
If you're using a Google number, you can still set up Google voicemail with any mobile forwarding phone.
To do this, click Settings at the top right of the page. On the Phones tab, click the Add Google voicemail to this phone link to get started. The mobile carrier for your forwarding phone will need to be one of our current supported carriers.
http://www.google.com/support/voice/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=164652

I found youmail (sorry due to the rule about new account I can't post the link, but I'm sure you will be able to find it) witch work perfectly with Android. It's free and has a lot of great options

personally my last smartphone was a blackberry 8100 and then 8110 without internet so i think im going to be fine

Has anyone successfully downloaded the Google Voice App? I have tried several times and continue to get a 'download successful' message.
Thanks,

InnerGeek said:
Has anyone successfully downloaded the Google Voice App? I have tried several times and continue to get a 'download successful' message.
Thanks,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem here, works perfectly, works great.
I used appbrain to download it, maybe you can try there?

So during the wizard to set up google voice I choose GV for my voicemail, and all it does is says no changes made and kicks me back to the GV wizard. I am unable to get this to work.
anyone have some ideas?

Main Target said:
So during the wizard to set up google voice I choose GV for my voicemail, and all it does is says no changes made and kicks me back to the GV wizard. I am unable to get this to work.
anyone have some ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did this earlier in the week. Here's what I did.
Install Google voice as you normally would but don't do any of the app's set up for voicemail use..it wont work. Go to settings>call settings>voice calls>call forwarding.
Leave the first option...think its Always Forward...as disabled but the final three options where the calls get forwarded to your AT&T voicemail...edit those so the number is your GV number. That should take care of it.
Be sure to write down your AT&T voicemail number just in case you want to change it back.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

This worked. Am I charged minutes for calls getting forwarded to this number?'
Additionally, when I make google voice calls, can I add my GV number to alist for free calls?

Main Target said:
This worked. Am I charged minutes for calls getting forwarded to this number?'
Additionally, when I make google voice calls, can I add my GV number to alist for free calls?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't believe you get charged per minute for call forwarding.
As far as the A List goes...I have no idea.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

Actually, you do use your minutes when you forward a call to your google voice voicemail. I know this from looking at my bill. I don't know about the a-list feature though, I've never used it.

ruppert said:
Actually, you do use your minutes when you forward a call to your google voice voicemail. I know this from looking at my bill. I don't know about the a-list feature though, I've never used it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really? Wow. That's unnecessary. Oh well. Not like I don't answer my phone anyway so oh well.
I wonder if adding the google voice number to the a-list will allow free call forwarding....
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

A-List essentially is a list of numbers that you have unlimited calls to and from. When I was on my iphone you initiated GV calls by getting a call sent to you with your caller ID, so I would add that number to my a-list and voila, free calls.
not sure how it works with the app though.
Edit: looks like every time you dial out of GV it uses a different 10 digit number so you cant abuse a-list...shameful! Wonder i theres a way to force it to use a specific number

Good news you can roll back your version of GV and have it use the same number everytime when you try to connect a call.
http://phandroid.com/2010/07/22/goo...eedier-dialing-eliminates-free-calling-trick/

[GUIDE]: Google Voice + Sipdroid + GV Dialer = Free Calls!

Hey everyone, I've had an OG Droid since Jan 1. 2010, and just upgraded to the Thunderbolt, I love it! Anyways, my name's Wes, and I need to build up a few posts before I can write in the development threads. So here's my tidbit of advice, if you happen to be on a family plan or have limited available minutes, you can combine GV+Sipdroid+GVDialer to make free calls over wifi AND 3g/4g. This is covered on the internet all over the place, but I had to research a ton before getting it to work on my droid because I found that many guides out there were from back in the day when google hadn't made things so easy to set up. Now that a lot of us have 4g, call quality and connection will be very consistent. How it works (confusing i know!): free VoIP #'s are available but only allow free incoming calls, so google makes them all in coming. GV dialer uses the internet instead of minutes to tell google voice to dial your desired call out #, then google voice sends the call to you as an incoming call. Google then lets you reroute that incoming call to your random DID # from ipcomms.net, and BOOM, a free "outgoing" incoming call. So in a quick nutshell, here's what you do.
Get a google voice #, download google voice app to your phone
Download GV Dialer from the market (paid app, maybe 2 bucks or something i forget)
Download Sipdroid from the market (not sipdroid + Showmee)
Then visit ipcomms.net and get the "free DID" by registering. Once you get the email with your free did, open the document with your info and jot down your username and password. (i think they're both 10 digits, you can't change this password either)
Open sipdroid, and hit Menu>Settings,SIPAccount#1, then for username and password enter what you found in the step above. For "Server or Proxy" enter "sipconnect.ipcomms.net"
Scroll down and you can adjust whether you want it to connect over 3g(4g works also) and/or WIFI, Edge
if it's working, you'll see a green light in your notifications bar, meaning your DID # is ready to receive free calls, but no one knows that #, so...
IMPORTANT: navigate to google.com/voice on your computer, login with your credentials, then go to to settings (top right corner) > Phones tab, then click "add another phone" Enter you're 10 digit ipcomms #, then click call to verify(make sure green light is on). You will get a call on the sipdroid app, slide to answer, then enter the code google gave you in your web browser on your computer to activate (if no keypad is showing, hit menu button and you can get to it during the call)
Once this is done and your phone is added, make sure calls to your voice account are set to forward calls to you ipcomms number.
Finally, open Gv dialer, login, go to its settings, and click "default phone to ring," after a moment you'll be given the option to select your ipcomms #, click that. YOU'RE DONE!
To make a call with VoIP, open gizmo(make sure you've got green light), then on your phone open GV dialer, dial the number you want, click "connect with google voice", wait for the internet to tell google to call the number and call your ipcomms # back, and voila, you get an incoming call, answer it, and you'll hear the call connecting and starting to ring.
I wrote this in about 10 minutes so if you have any questions of if anything sounds wrong or I made typos lemme know, now i'm going back to this VCU Kansas game for a bit. Hopefully someone out there finds this useful.

You can do something like this with Fring as well, right ?

solidunit said:
You can do something like this with Fring as well, right ?
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Yes.
Under Sipdroid's description in market: "Being open source, Sipdroid has often been cloned appearing under names such as Guava, aDIP, Fritz!App,..."
You can actually do it without Sipdroid on phones with Gingerbread (its built into the settings you just enter your ipcomms info) but we don't have it yet, and the gingerbread version has very few adjustable settings.
there are also alternatives to GV dialer as well as sites that offer free DID numbers for inbound calls, but this setup has worked fine for me.

I'll give it a try, thanks!
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA Premium App

Yup been using it to also send and receive free text. I use ipkall tho
Free us calls, not worldwide of course
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA App

Any other sip providers working? Using Ekiga and ipkall for Gv calling,doesn't work so well on CSipSimple...... Would like to transition to another service easily as possible,and ipcomms is a bit confusing.

An easier method is to just download GV and GVoice callback. http://www.appbrain.com/app/google-voice-callback-free/com.xinlu.gvdial
I don't have sipdroid on my phone, and I can "dialout" using this with my google voice number. It shows up on the other phone as my GV # and I checked my bill for the calls (I used it for a whole day one time to see what would happen and didn't have calls on my bill for that day) and they weren't there. I tried to do the sip droid method one time, and I had a hard time getting it setup. So I just gave up. But this solution seems to work like a charm for me.

1454 said:
An easier method is to just download GV and GVoice callback. http://www.appbrain.com/app/google-voice-callback-free/com.xinlu.gvdial
I don't have sipdroid on my phone, and I can "dialout" using this with my google voice number. It shows up on the other phone as my GV # and I checked my bill for the calls (I used it for a whole day one time to see what would happen and didn't have calls on my bill for that day) and they weren't there. I tried to do the sip droid method one time, and I had a hard time getting it setup. So I just gave up. But this solution seems to work like a charm for me.
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Click to collapse
+1 but this only works if you have F&F and have a number to burn to put in there. Don't use it much but when calling my bud in canada or maybe a conference call i use it and it works just swell....on an incredible though, I"m still a wannabe

I got a free number from goog. Sorry, I'm bad with acronyms, what does F&F stand for?

Sipdroid thing was annoying when I tried it. I really prefer gv callback. I have it set up to ask me every time. Its pretty sweet.

so how exactly do you do this without sipdroid? I've got gv callback and its like the same as gv dialer asks which number i want to forward to, you're saying you can forward to google voice somehow? gv callback has option to start sipdroid before callback, so i would assume i still need something to handle the call received? Do I use google talk as callback number?

Do you have a google voice number? If not, go get one. It's free. Use you're regular gmail account to set it up. Then download goog voice also. There will be an option to use GV as the call back number. (also under the online GV settings you have to link you're mobile to the GV #). last, then you just set it to ask you every time to call you back, then when you go to call someone it will give you the option to use GV or not. If still need help I'll pm you my phone.

i have a google voice number, and the google voice app already. what do you mean forward to your GV number? Under google voice app there are no forwarding settings.

you mean you forward to your mobile number on google voice online settings, as in your verizon number? And it doesn't charge you any minutes? I'm pretty sure it still counts as using your minutes, you checked exactly when you called and compared it to the dates and times on your bill?

Gv callback requires friends and family to be of any benefit. Sipdroid allows you to make calls over your data connection, uses no minutes. It lags heavily though, not recommended if you have friends and family at your disposal.

edit, see my post to shaddix

I'm sorry, I've been mistaken. Somehow the actual GV app gives me the option to make voice calls. That is what i have been using. GV I downloaded but never set up. Not sure how I ended up with such a confusion. It used to just give the option to make international calls, but now you can set it up to ask everytime. I'm not yet rooted or I would take some screen shots.

I'm sorry but if you use f&f to begin with then y going thru all the hassle since f&f doesn't bill used minutes?
Sipdroid is better when you're on lte. If you are on conference calls a lot, sipdroid does help saving those minutes
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA App

quattr0 said:
I'm sorry but if you use f&f to begin with then y going thru all the hassle since f&f doesn't bill used minutes?
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You can just use 1 f&f slot for all your calls

shaddix2 said:
You can just use 1 f&f slot for all your calls
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Click to collapse
Ah, thank you.
Do you get free texting using only GV? I know $10/month is not a whole lot but for those that have only voice (no text plan), it will come in handy.

Google Voice - T-Mobile Prepaid

I just got T-Mobile's $30 pre-paid plan with 100 Min Talk + Unlimited texts & Web (5G @ 4G). Perfect plan for me on my HTC Sensation.
I use Google Voice... and that is my primary number. I don't give my T-Mobile number out to anyone, only the Google Voice number.
With T-Mobile Prepaid, you can't change the voicemail forwarding number... so if I decline a call, it goes into T-Mobile's voicemail instead of my GV mail. If I let the phone ring, and don't decline the call, it goes to GV after 4 rings.
I've been looking for a solution where GV will work under all circumstances, and think I understand one, but want to be sure before I do it...
If I call T-Mobile to disable their voicemail, I should be able to use only my Google Voice mail. Is that right? Will it go to GV if I decline a call?
Any confirmation, or additional advice would be greatly appreciated!

Google Voice
I had T-mobile prepay on a G1 last year. When i found Google Voice, I had wanted to do what you are looking to do. I called T-Mobile and asked them they told me even if i disabled my voice mail the phone would just ring and ring. Never giving the option for Google Voice voice mail to kick in.
Currently I have a regular Sprint account and want to keep both numbers but use the Google Voice voice mail. I had set it up but it told me one of the numbers would have to be deleted if i continued. Basically i want to give random people and bill collectors google voice. Then save my real number for people closer to me.

Thanks for the reply...
I'm not sure that's right though. If I decline the call... it might still continue to ring a couple more times on their end, but GV kicks in after 20 seconds... doesn't it?
You may be right, I'd like to get more confirmation though.
I appreciate it.

I found this out the hard way too. It was very disappointing. I read in a couple forums that people called T-Mobile support and asked for their tier 2 support who could manually override the forwarding numbers. Unfortunately, when I tried it, the support agent said that forwarding wasn't possible under the prepaid plans. I still wonder how it was possible that others reported having success. Will there ever be a fix for us T-Mobile prepaid / Google Voice users?
Sent from my CM7 LG-P999 using XDA

I appreciate the responses...
but it still doesn't answer the question...
If I disable T-Mobile voicemail on the phone. Wouldn't Google Voice pick up the call after a certain number of seconds?
Rather than just keep ringing, GV would answer it and play the VM message... wouldn't it?

Works for me, thanks everybody.
Ok, I called CS and had them de-activate my voicemail on my prepaid voice service.
If you call my tmobile # directly, and the device is on, it rings for 30 seconds, then goes into tmobile voicemail system asking for a #. If the device is off, it goes directly into the tmobile voicemail system asking for a #.
If you call my google voice, it rings for 30 seconds whether the device is on or not, then goes into google voicemail.
This works for what I need, and I hope it answers a question or two for others.
Also, the tech support guy said it can take a couple hours to go through, but it worked for me within a minute. The text msg I received however, said something about changing my service to monthy 4G, and I had to go make a payment. He said to ignore that, and it appears he was right, as my account still says monthy prepaid voice on mytmobile.com.
Somehow, I think the tmobile voicemail system doesn't send a pickup signal unless it's going into a mailbox. Or, maybe the Google guys programmed their end to know about this non-answer, and ignores it.

Ok so i am on the same plan and here is what I got so far after having them turn off the VM feature. You can call Tmobile customer care free using *8646.
1)If Tmobile Phone number is called calls will either continue to ring or will get a busy signal once decline/text response is initiated
2) If GV number is called, phone will ring 5 times regardless of decline/text and will go to GV VM.
More short codes can be found here for t-mobile pre paid services.
Hope this helps.

check out this post. it works. ive done it.http://www.talkandroid.com/guides/g1/replace-t-mobile-voicemail-with-google-voice-visual-mail/

How to get Google Voicemail on StraightTalk (with T-Mobile SIM card)
This also works to get Google Voice (GV) voicemail from Straight Talk if you are using their T-Mobile SIM card. For example, using the lovely cyanogenmod7 on my rooted old Motorola MB200, here are the steps I took:
I did not call customer service to get them to turn off my Straight Talk/ T-Mobile voicemail, since I don't think I'll need to.
In your cell phone (not GV)'s contacts list or address book, add a new contact with your Straight Talk/T-mobile mobile number (NOT your GV number).
While adding this new contact, select the Option to send your incoming calls for this contact straight to voicemail.
Call Settings > Voicemail Settings > Write down this number, and then change it to your new GV number.
I also UNchecked the LED voicemail notification box (so I won't even KNOW if my phone tries to tell me about Straight Talk/ T-Mobile voicemails).

adellefrank said:
I also UNchecked the LED voicemail notification box (so I won't even KNOW if my phone tries to tell me about Straight Talk/ T-Mobile voicemails).
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Where is this? I want to turn off those bloody notifications too.

Turn off voicemail notifications if not Google Voice
thebobp said:
Where is this? I want to turn off those bloody notifications too.
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Click to collapse
For me, on cyanogenmod7, I stopped getting T-Mobile/StraightTalk voicemail notifcations by UNchecking the box at: Settings > Call Settings > Other Call Settings "Voicemail notifications".

adellefrank said:
This also works to get Google Voice (GV) voicemail from Straight Talk if you are using their T-Mobile SIM card. For example, using the lovely cyanogenmod7 on my rooted old Motorola MB200, here are the steps I took:
I did not call customer service to get them to turn off my Straight Talk/ T-Mobile voicemail, since I don't think I'll need to.
In your cell phone (not GV)'s contacts list or address book, add a new contact with your Straight Talk/T-mobile mobile number (NOT your GV number).
While adding this new contact, select the Option to send your incoming calls for this contact straight to voicemail.
Call Settings > Voicemail Settings > Write down this number, and then change it to your new GV number.
I also UNchecked the LED voicemail notification box (so I won't even KNOW if my phone tries to tell me about Straight Talk/ T-Mobile voicemails).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It works, but as soon as you cycle power on your phone you loose the settings. At least I did on my Galaxy Nexus

adellefrank said:
This also works to get Google Voice (GV) voicemail from Straight Talk if you are using their T-Mobile SIM card. For example, using the lovely cyanogenmod7 on my rooted old Motorola MB200, here are the steps I took:
I did not call customer service to get them to turn off my Straight Talk/ T-Mobile voicemail, since I don't think I'll need to.
In your cell phone (not GV)'s contacts list or address book, add a new contact with your Straight Talk/T-mobile mobile number (NOT your GV number).
While adding this new contact, select the Option to send your incoming calls for this contact straight to voicemail.
Call Settings > Voicemail Settings > Write down this number, and then change it to your new GV number.
I also UNchecked the LED voicemail notification box (so I won't even KNOW if my phone tries to tell me about Straight Talk/ T-Mobile voicemails).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm, doesn't work for me, on ICS, Tmo $30 prepaid, galaxy s2.
Under call settings, voicemail service ... doesn't list a number, nothing to change.
In call, settings, there IS a "call forwarding" option for unanswered calls, with tmo voicemail number in it, but, I can't change this number, keeps saying network error when I try.
Anyone got this to work with ICS?
Thanks!

I'm on T-Mobile's Monthly 4G as well. What worked for me is I went into my phone settings and set the voicemail service to "my carrier" and the voicemail number to my Google Voice number. When I get a voicemail message I receive an SMS notification. Then I just dial my GV number and listen to the voicemail. This works if I decline the call or let it ring through. Seems to be an adequate solution for me.

manlisten said:
I'm on T-Mobile's Monthly 4G as well. What worked for me is I went into my phone settings and set the voicemail service to "my carrier" and the voicemail number to my Google Voice number. When I get a voicemail message I receive an SMS notification. Then I just dial my GV number and listen to the voicemail. This works if I decline the call or let it ring through. Seems to be an adequate solution for me.
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What "voicemail number" where? There doesn't seem to be such an option in ICS, Samsung Galaxy SII, under "call settings -> voicemail".
Thanks!

noneone said:
What "voicemail number" where? There doesn't seem to be such an option in ICS, Samsung Galaxy SII, under "call settings -> voicemail".
Thanks!
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oh wow I am glad I found this thread. I just switched to ST and from darkside to CM9 and now I cannot get GV to work anymore. Also you are correct there is no voicemail number in CM9 only call forward options which fail if you try to change them. Also why is there no call settings from the Settings menu, you can only get there from the Phone app lol. This really sucks because I am liking CM9 but need google voice so may have to go back to the darkside lol.
I take that back you can change the number but when you try changing the service from carrier to GV you get forwarding number change unsuccessful.

daweeze02 said:
oh wow I am glad I found this thread. I just switched to ST and from darkside to CM9 and now I cannot get GV to work anymore. Also you are correct there is no voicemail number in CM9 only call forward options which fail if you try to change them. Also why is there no call settings from the Settings menu, you can only get there from the Phone app lol. This really sucks because I am liking CM9 but need google voice so may have to go back to the darkside lol.
I take that back you can change the number but when you try changing the service from carrier to GV you get forwarding number change unsuccessful.
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Is darkside gingerbread? I am on stock ICS and have these issues, can't change forward anything in ICS.

noneone said:
Is darkside gingerbread? I am on stock ICS and have these issues, can't change forward anything in ICS.
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No it's ICS. I found out Tmobile prepaid doesn't allow call forwarding so GV doesn't work so that's why there is the work around in this thread except I cannot get it to work.

daweeze02 said:
No it's ICS. I found out Tmobile prepaid doesn't allow call forwarding so GV doesn't work so that's why there is the work around in this thread except I cannot get it to work.
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Just to be clear .... Google Voice works just fine, with a VOIP program (grooveip, talkatone, etc.) you can make calls over the wireless data plan, or use google voice straight on the tmo cell minutes.
The issue ... by default .....
1) calls to your tmo cell number get answered by your tmo voicemail, NOT by google voice mail.
2) Calls to your google voice, if forwarded to your cell number, ALSO get answered by your tmo voicemail.
So google voice works great and fine. There is an issue only if you want to use google VOICEMAIL ......
There are two scenarios .....
1) You ONLY want to use your google voice NUMBER, you never want to use your tomo number (or at least don't want to get voicemails if someone calls your tomo cell number.
The solution here is to simply turn off your tmo voicemail, and all calls to your google number will be answered on google voicemail if you don't pick up, and all calls to your tmo cell number will go to /dev/null (nowhere) if you don't pick up. BUT, if you're not giving anyone your tmo number,you don't care.
2) You want to use your google voicemail for google number calls, and you DO want to use tmo number and to have google voicemail, work for your tmo cell number i.e. you want to have two active numbers each going to google voicemail.
Well you can't. At least that's what we think for ICS ...
Post earlier in this thread shows a technique that might work on gingerbread, but, with ICS, doesn't seem to be anyway to forward the tmo voicemail number to google voice.
Please someone post back if they figure out a way to get this to work.
Thanks!

Guess I should have clarified I was only trying to get it for VM's. GV calls, sip etc all work fine for me.