I've attempted to digest the overwhelming amount of discussions about the forthcoming EOL for Google Voice as we have come to know it. The ONLY reason I EVER got it (Google Voice) was for the "vanity" phone number, attainable from day one.
With that said, it's only for show, and very, very rarely is it ever called or called from. Maybe 4-6 times a year.
I'm not a phone genius, but have capabilities to digest options.
I need simple 1-2-3 follow these steps direction for alternate provider to keep things as close as possible to what they are now.
Anyone?
What do you mean by "vanity phone number"? I was not aware that GV let you choose anything you want.
As far as options, you can leave GV as is, and just set it to forward your number to an alternate phone, either voip, landline, or a cell phone. For outgoing, you can place a call from the GV web portal or call into your own voicemail and place a call from there, both options would show your vanity number as the outgoing caller id. There is no charge for either, assuming you already have another phone line to use.
Or, you could sign up with one of the many voip providers on here that will let you spoof your outgoing phone number. You choose based on your needs, usage and pricing.
GV allows you to select from within an area code, extensions and numbers if they have numbers available having those properties.
When I first took a GV number years ago, I was able to have the same number as my cell phone, only the area code was different. I wish I had kept it.
Quote from: guruuno on April 22, 2014, 02:00:42 PM
I've attempted to digest the overwhelming amount of discussions about the forthcoming EOL for Google Voice as we have come to know it. The ONLY reason I EVER got it (Google Voice) was for the "vanity" phone number, attainable from day one.
With that said, it's only for show, and very, very rarely is it ever called or called from. Maybe 4-6 times a year.
I'm not a phone genius, but have capabilities to digest options.
I need simple 1-2-3 follow these steps direction for alternate provider to keep things as close as possible to what they are now.
Anyone?
How about searching or just browsing this forum? There are already many different discussions answering your exact question.
Once again:
- Read through this section of the forum to learn what people are saying about the various Internet Telephone Service Providers (ITSPs), and take it with a shaker of salt, as people tend to be either loyal to, or hate some of them, based on their unique experience. Read Obihai's blog post, which has a list of ITSPs, and research them. Don't ask us to pick one for you, or "which one should I use"...you'll get 10 different answers. Just pick one.
- Sign up for an inbound phone number (DID) with the good-quality VoIP ITSP you've chosen, such as one of the companies on the Obihai blog list, and add that DID as a forwarding number to your list of forwarding phones here: https://www.google.com/voice#phones.
- Provision one of your OBi device's SP slots with that DID, and you'll receive inbound calls made to your GV number.
- Assuming your VoIP ISP allows spoofing caller ID of verified phone numbers for outbound calls (as does Callcentric, for example), spoof your GV phone number, and place your outbound calls over your VoIP ITSP, instead of over GV.
- OR, if you want to give up on GV entirely, port out your GV number to the ITSP you chose. Follow these instructions: https://support.google.com/voice/answer/1316844
- If you ported out of GV, simply configure your OBi to replace your GV configuration with your ITSP's configuration
Yes, this will cost some modest amount of money per month, but in trade, you get more reliable service than going through Google Chat XMPP; you will also get CNAM (caller ID name) on inbound and outbound calls if supported by your choice of ITSP, and E-911 service, none of which came with Google Voice.