Hi all. I just purchased an OBI and am in the process of porting out my home phone # to GV. I have my existing, primary Google account and currently have a GV# that I use. In order to port out my home phone #, I'd planned to use a secondary google account and port the home phone # (have already ported it to a mobile number and is available for porting into GV) into the secondary account.
HOWEVER, I read this ->
https://support.google.com/voice/answer/1065667?hl=en
This article indicates that you can port in a number to your Google account AND keep the GV# active for an additional fee, giving you two numbers on the same account. This sounds attractive to me as I wouldn't have to maintain a second google account, since it'd solve the issue of not being able to have the same forwarding number tied to multiple GV accounts at the same time, etc.
I'm wondering if anyone has done this with OBI, and if so, what is the experience like? Are you able to use both #s on the OBI? Does it create any issues? TIA for any input!
Yes, you can do that. In fact, Google Voice now requires that you already successfully selected one of its free phone numbers first, before you can port in a number. So, your primary account is already ready and waiting to port in your now-mobile number.
Some miscellaneous things to emphasize:
- If you want to keep both the original Google Voice number and the ported-in number, then there are two fees: one to port in the number, and another to make the original number "permanent". If, however the original number was also ported in (not a GV freebie number), then it is already permanent, and no second fee is necessary.
- Inbound call behavior: calls to either GV number will route to the same OBi Service Provider (SP) configuration slot. Google Voice can't apply different routing to inbound calls, depending on which number is called. All inbound calls to either Google Voice number will ring the same OBi SPx, and will ring the same other destinations (the mobile apps, the desktop website, and any 10-digit PSTN forwarding numbers). If this is an issue for you, then port your number into your secondary account instead, and set it up as another SPx on your OBi device.
- Outbound call behavior: when you have a GV configuration with two GV numbers, and both are permanent status, then all outbound calls will display the caller ID of whichever of those two numbers you designate as "Primary". You can switch primary/secondary roles at any time, instantly, at no charge, on the Google Voice settings page.
- Google Voice is not a standalone "free phone company". It cannot make emergency 911 calls. You must maintain some form of E911 service.
Thanks for the detailed reply! This is exactly what I needed to see to make my decision! Much appreciated.
You need to select one of its free phone numbers first.