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Should I use Google Voice to someone else?

Started by Judgeless, January 17, 2012, 07:38:48 AM

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Judgeless

I have had a Google Voice number since the beta started and I have been happy.  About 2 weeks about I purchase an OBI110 and have my original Google Voice number on it.  I am in the process of porting both my land lines and a vanity number to OBI110 and Google Voice.

I keep reading that Google Voice is unreliable and if something goes wrong it might takes a very long time to get it fixed.  Should I sign up with another service?  I do not make any calls out of the US and really do not need E911 service.

Stewart

IMO, GV is one of the more reliable providers.  They may not be quite up there with Callcentric and Anveo, but they are surely better than most of the low-end guys.  However, I do agree that support is lacking and it could be very difficult to get something fixed.

Whether a backup would help much, you'll have to decide.  An issue affecting outbound is no big deal; you can just use your cell phone (and if the problem persisted, get something different).  If an incoming issue affected only the VoIP path, you could likewise forward to your cell phone instead.  And, if there were a problem with the DID or account such that inbound didn't work at all, a backup wouldn't help, because it would have a different number, which your contacts wouldn't be calling.

Personally, I'd still have a backup, with E911.  Anveo is IMO the least expensive reliable one.  At $0.99/mo. for a Value DID + $0.80/mo. for E911, your bill (if you don't make any calls) would be $1.79/mo.

If you have an emergency and are unable to speak, you may not be found, if you call 911 from your cell.  Or, your might have a dead battery or be misplaced when you need it.  Or, a guest, babysitter or workman in your home might grab the phone in an emergency and expect 911 to work.

A backup provider is useful for troubleshooting problems, and for working around them.  Also, GV can't reach some numbers, e.g. those that depend on "early media" such as 800-426-7378 (IBM), or those in rural areas that are blocked because of high termination cost.

Judgeless

My largest concern is that I port my numbers to GV and something goes wrong up front or down the road and I lose my number.  It does not seem that there is anyone at GV to call for help if that happens.

jimates

I have had google voice since before it was google voice. I personally have never had one problem with it, (even when the Obi came out and many were experiencing caller id problems for about a week).

If you are concerned about your attachment to the phone numbers, there is no guarantee.

This is my thought on the situation. Since the numbers provided for google voice do not belong to google, or to us as account holders, we have no control over them. We can't port them out to another provider.  Once you port a number to google voice it will belong to the that provider, not you and not to google. And since we are not the account holder of the number we won't be able to guarantee its retention.

Judgeless

I read you can port numbers out of google.  It is free if you ported them in and $3 if google assigned the number.