Tuesday, 6 September 2011

Nine Ways To Save Time and Money Using Google Voice

Google Voice (GV) is one of the best apps that the internet search engine monolith managed to arrive with. It’s being heralded as one of the best VoIP improvements in the past 5 years. With this handy guide, you’ll learn how to make calls across the United States and Canada free of charge, and how to become a Google Voice power user.

1. You can push notifications on your iPhone

Did you know that Google Voice notifications can be sent to your iPhone or iPod touch for free? This awesome features can get you unlimited text messages without having to pay any more charges to AT&T, just by pushing notifications to your iPhone.

2. You can record your calls for future reference

Law firms and other businesses which need to keep close tabs on what customers say love this feature. Record your calls with Google Voice for future references. The only thing you have to do to record your call is press 4.

3. Save your cellphone minutes

Google Voice allows you to use your cellphone minutes to make calls. If you’re interested in saving some money through Google Voice, use special plans like Friends & Family by Verizon or T-Mobile’s Fave 5.

4. You don’t need the Web Interface to dial-out a phone call

Before trying this cool trick, make sure that you have set the Call Presentation setting to ON. To do this, dial out your Google Voice number from any phone that is configured into your Google Account. This can be a cellphone, a home phone, or even a business phone. Next, press 2, then the phone number that you want to reach.

5. Use Gmail for your text messages

You can forward your text messages to your email account. Just log in, go to Settings, then Voicemail. Fill in the required information, and presto! The best part about using GV to receive SMS messages to Gmail is that you can reply to the messages, too.

6. You can choose whether or not you want to take the call

With most VoIP programs, you can’t really choose whether or not to take a call. Using ListenIN feature, you can send a person directly to voicemail. This is perfect if you are in mid-conversation with someone else and don’t want to be interrupted.

7. Enable SIP

Ok, officially Google Voice doesn’t actually support SIP. There are, however, methodologies that can enable SIP without any problems. One is to use a third party app called Groove IP to make unlimited calls over WiFi and 3G/4G data without using your minutes

8. You can do in-call transfers

You can transfer any calls from Google Voice to another phone number that’s linked to your account. It only works on incoming calls, but this may change in the future. Just press the star key, then all of the other numbers will ring. The transfer is complete when you take the call from another number.

9. Call using a keyword instead of a number

GV is one of the few programs that allows you to dial a keyword instead of a number. This is excellent for people who have a QWERTY keyboard. Instead of translating 1-800-VeggieU into numbers, you can simply type the letters into the dialer.

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