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?
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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)
Is anybody here using Google Voice on their Flex 2? I have this issue where outgoing calls made through Google Voice are recorded in the stock phone app's call log as some random number, not the number I just dialed. I did a little a little research, and Google Voice apparently routes all outgoing voice calls through a "gateway" or "access" number. That must be the random number that's showing in my call log. But this was never a problem on all the Android phones I've owned (and I've had many) and all the different ROMs I've flashed over the years. For example, Google Voice shows the actual numbers I dialed on my previous LG G2, Samsung Galaxy S4, LG G Pro, Nexus 4, etc.
If anyone can confirm this is also happening on their LG Flex 2, then I'll know it's not just me.
Mine showed the corrected # on both side. I'm on H950 5.1.1. Maybe you can update your google voice app.
That's the way it works on iPhones. I've never seen the Google Voice "hidden routing" number show up in the native call log on any android phone I've used. (That hidden routing number in Google Voice parlance is sometimes referenced as the "grandcentral" number which was the company that Google Voice bought when it started). If you notice, your "grandcentral" number actually shows up in the background (you can of see it in small numbers in your Google Voice app for a half second) when dialing a call from your Google Voice App.
Is it happening for calls you're making from even your Contacts, or just unknown numbers that you dial manually? (Not that I'd have anything to add or offer, but I"m just curious). Are you running stock, or are you modded in any way? (Again, I'm just curious).
I actually prefer the way Apple does it so you can see the number in your call log. It's handy to have. It's a static number that doesn't change for your Google contact. You can save it and dial it directly from any phone -- even without data or making a landline call -- and the call shows up on the other end that you're calling from your Google Voice number.
epofhouston said:
Mine showed the corrected # on both side. I'm on H950 5.1.1. Maybe you can update your google voice app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm already on the newest version of the Google Voice app. I'm on a LS996 running 5.1.1, but I'm firmware version ZV6. I believe the newest 5.1.1 stock firmware is ZV9. I wonder if upgrading to ZV9 will fix the problem What 5.1.1 firmware version are you on?
I'm on 11x.
jgolf said:
That's the way it works on iPhones. I've never seen the Google Voice "hidden routing" number show up in the native call log on any android phone I've used. (That hidden routing number in Google Voice parlance is sometimes referenced as the "grandcentral" number which was the company that Google Voice bought when it started). If you notice, your "grandcentral" number actually shows up in the background (you can of see it in small numbers in your Google Voice app for a half second) when dialing a call from your Google Voice App.
Is it happening for calls you're making from even your Contacts, or just unknown numbers that you dial manually? (Not that I'd have anything to add or offer, but I"m just curious). Are you running stock, or are you modded in any way? (Again, I'm just curious).
I actually prefer the way Apple does it so you can see the number in your call log. It's handy to have. It's a static number that doesn't change for your Google contact. You can save it and dial it directly from any phone -- even without data or making a landline call -- and the call shows up on the other end that you're calling from your Google Voice number.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see the Google routing phone number in my call log for all the outgoing calls I make. It doesn't matter if I dial someone from my Contacts or I manually dial the number. Also, I'm not sure what you mean by "dialing a call from your Google Voice App". I'm dialing by tapping on names in my Contacts app, or by tapping out numbers in the stock Phone app. I only open the Google Voice app to look at text messages or listen to recorded voicemail messages.
I'm using a Sprint LS996 and running the stock 5.1.1 firmware version ZV6. No mods. If Google Voice is working on your Flex 2 and showing the real outgoing numbers in your call log, may I ask if you're running a Sprint LS996 or an AT&T H950? Maybe it's just an issue in the stock LS996 ROM. Like I said, I never had this issue in any of the other Android phones I've owned.
I'm not sure why you say it's preferable that Apple shows the Google routing number instead of the actual number dialed. Why would you want to see phone numbers you don't recognize in your call history log? Why would you want or need to save that routing number and dial it directly? If you already have that person's real phone number, what is the advantage of having another strange number for that same person?
Oh yeah, I messed up on the part of "dialing from my GV App." Sorry about that. I was confused about where I see that grandcentral number when I make a phone call. I thought I only saw it if I initiated a call from the GV app, and even when I do that it just goes to the native dialer and I see it every time.
This is what I meant: On my phone, when I make a call, whether from contacts are just using the regular dialer, the top line shows my contact and/or the number I'm calling; the second line reads "call forwarding is enabled" the third line in blue reads "CALLING VIA GOOGLE VOICE" (that line is capped on my phone) and then the grandcentral number.
I'm using the AT&T H950. Did you by chance disable call forwarding? I remember when I had sprint it didn't play nice with Google Voice. Integrating voice mail (I can't remember exactly what the problem) but it was something like call forwarding didn't work very well with Sprint (and its MVNO's) and Google Voice.
As to your last question why I prefer seeing the grandcentral number in the call log is for personal and nostalgic reasons, and I probably shouldn't have even mentioned it because the whole thing is pretty much moot and pointless now, but I might as well briefly explain. In the early days of Google Voice, which wasn't that long ago, smartphones and cheap data weren't ubiquitous and a lot of us were using dumb phones. It wasn't easy using dumb phones with Google Voice, especially texting, because that unknown number or the grandcentral number was confusing as heck to both you and the person you were texting. If you could find out what number Google Voice was routing to your contact (without using the GV app like on a dumb phone) then it made texting easier.
Now someone is probably going to jump in, or they are thinking, it was easy to text with Google Voice on a dumb phone, because there were easy workarounds like just starting the text from your computer. True, but if you wanted to initiate the text, and you didn't have access to a computer or data, it was convenient to have that grandcentral number saved in your contacts. It was always kind of hard finding that grandcentral number. Even on Android phones you have to take a screenshot, so I kind of liked having that number in the call log and being able to see it. In a way, that's really the number your calling anyway, at least that's the way I look at it.
Anyway, it doesn't really matter now since we use smartphones and have near universal cell and cheap data plans.
---------- Post added at 04:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:51 PM ----------
wtang said:
It doesn't matter if I dial someone from my Contacts or I manually dial the number.
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Click to collapse
I should just explain why I asked that question too. I was just curious to know if there was any differentiation between unknown manually dialed numbers and saved contact numbers. I wouldn't have been able to offer any insight if in fact there was a difference between the two. I was simply curious. In my experience the Google Voice App, and routing calls through Google Voice on a mobile device, always works better for numbers you've called before with that device. I think the info gets cached in the phone's Google Voice app once used.
if your going to use google voice you should use hangouts it's a much better experience You can make and receive calls, send and receive text messages,MMS and listen to your voicemails even if you don't have a active phone service all just using WIFI download the hangout dialer from the playstore If you want to use the stock dialer app on your device but have your Google Voice number appear on caller ID, keep the original Google Voice app and select the use Google Voice to make all calls in the settings Additionally, you set the Hangouts Dialer app as your default dialer, which will display your Google Voice number on Caller ID.
Google is removing texts feature from Hangouts soon
I've been using hangouts since being integrated with Google Voice that's just a rumor going around since november that they would drop SMS features but I doubt it I'm in the latest version 7.0 i still send and receive text messages just fine
Just an update for everyone. I flashed back to unrooted stock ZV6, then I applied the ZV7, ZV8, and ZV9 OTA updates. Now that I'm on ZV9, which is the latest stock Sprint ROM, I decided to test Google Voice again. Well, the call history log in the stock phone dialer still shows the Google Voice routing number, not the actual number I dialed. I guess something is different (better) in the AT&T firmware that fixes this Google Voice issue because folks here using the AT&T H950 don't have the issue.