Google starts testing Google Voice number porting

a better explanation of the service would be great

I think I need layman's terms as to what exactly this means.

Are you telling me that for a flat $20 fee I can have all my calls through the Google voice app? Provided I have internet access?

I wouldn't need my sprint plan anymore? Again assuming that my phone is always somehow connected to the internet?

This brings up another question. Why would anyone do this if this requires your phone to always be connected? You'd need a carrier like Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, etc. to provide mobile internet to your phone for the app to be able to receive calls...

I must be missing something.

Originally posted by Joshewah:

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I think I need layman's terms as to what exactly this means.

Are you telling me that for a flat $20 fee I can have all my calls through the Google voice app? Provided I have internet access?

I wouldn't need my sprint plan anymore? Again assuming that my phone is always somehow connected to the internet?

This brings up another question. Why would anyone do this if this requires your phone to always be connected? You'd need a carrier like Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, etc. to provide mobile internet to your phone for the app to be able to receive calls...

I must be missing something.

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Yes, you would still need to have a data plan, and use your Wi-Fi when at home/office/etc. It would, however, cut out the cost of the voiceplan, which is usually the most expensive part of the plan anyways.

The port is a single time $20 fee to have your current cell number become your Google Voice number.

i wish for a more in depth explanation of what they are offering & how it will work ,so i can jump on it .please, am i asking for too much?

Interesting.

The only problem I see is that the phone will always have to have data enabled which chews up the battery awfully fast.

i don't see any carrier letting that happen

I think what you are all missing is this, the new service is not meant for keeping your cell phone active, just the number.

You can now forward/answer incoming and make outgoing calls through gmail. So it is much like magic jack or other voip home phone services. You save your cell number (that everyone know) and forward it to your gmail or other phone.

Porting DOES NOT move your google number to your phone.

I actually think this is another small step google is making towards launching there own full scale phone/cellular business. It has been rumored that google is looking into expanding into the mobile carrier market and this is a logical step towards that.

I personally think it would be flippin awesome if google did make this step, imagine a cheap or even potentially free cell carrier. I would be more then happy to receive text ads or even audio ads when checking voice mail etc........

I don't think they're doing anything extra here in terms of their service; they're just allowing you to move your current cell phone number to Google, after which you'd have to get a new phone number from your wireless provider..

At this point in time, very few people have my wireless number anymore- I've gotten almost everyone to switch to using my GV number. If this porting service had been available last year though it would have been great.

this will only be beneficial to people who want to dump having a particular cellphone service without loss of a number that people have had for years. its really no difference than getting something like a magicjack. i could see the usefulness of such a thing. I have been contemplating canceling my cellphones through verizon and just getting two phones via virgin mobile. for 25 bucks a month I could get unlimited data and a few minutes that i would hardly ever use. they don't have a huge selection of phones but one of them is an android device. if i were to switch my number to gv and then start up service with virgin mobile that would save me around 55 bucks a month. the only reason i haven't dumped the cell yet is because i wouldn't be able to keep my number somehow. still though what google is doing isn't new or anything. its just adding a similar service you can get elsewhere for the same amount of money really since I am pretty sure magicjack allows you to port in your existing number too.

well this article got me very exited until I found that just like Google dos not have a 907 area code to pick a number from they also will not let you transfer a 907 area code number to Google voice...

So now I will wait until they give Alaska support.

Dont Imagine Jeremy, here is a demo video! LOL
enjoy (i really could not resist)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xtuxax8Dtk4

Originally posted by Jeremy13:

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I think what you are all missing is this, the new service is not meant for keeping your cell phone active, just the number.

You can now forward/answer incoming and make outgoing calls through gmail. So it is much like magic jack or other voip home phone services. You save your cell number (that everyone know) and forward it to your gmail or other phone.

Porting DOES NOT move your google number to your phone.

I actually think this is another small step google is making towards launching there own full scale phone/cellular business. It has been rumored that google is looking into expanding into the mobile carrier market and this is a logical step towards that.

I personally think it would be flippin awesome if google did make this step, imagine a cheap or even potentially free cell carrier. I would be more then happy to receive text ads or even audio ads when checking voice mail etc........

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Originally posted by Scaldari:

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Dont Imagine Jeremy, here is a demo video! LOL
enjoy (i really could not resist)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xtuxax8Dtk4

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Gotta love the onion lol

for the 20 bucks and the cost of a mifi card in you pocket you just turned your smart phone into a internet phone that's all its great if you want a phone with out the 100 cost per month for all the extra charges... like a iphone running this app or a htc ( which has built in wifi) some thinking must be used ,not all will want to do this ,but its cool that its alot cheaper then the plans offered by any phone company....

So they are trying to compete with Skype then which I already have plus I can use my VoIP service as well on my cell phone for free calling in either plan outside of my cell phone service.

I don't see myself going to Google for this service as I'm already covered?

Originally posted by Mr-Movies:

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So they are trying to compete with Skype then which I already have plus I can use my VoIP service as well on my cell phone for free calling in either plan outside of my cell phone service.

I don't see myself going to Google for this service as I'm already covered?

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well lets see, if you want a actual phone number with skype it costs, if you want to call a phone with skype it costs.

Google voice is free, free phone number, free incoming and outgoing voip calls, free sms, free voice mail including speech to text transcription, free call handling (blacklist, screening, custom messages, call groups etc), can ring multiple forward numbers at the same time yup! There calling rates to other countries are the cheapest around. And now you can port in your old cell phone number if you don't want to give a new number to everyone.

So yeah if you mean it is basically like skype in the sense that they are nothing alike, then you are correct.

For me, this offer is awesome.........
I port my current cell number to GV
I pick up a virgin mobile phone and pay a flat $25/mo for unlimited data on 3g
I save $100/mo

Sounds fair to me for $20

Yes your right I think it cost $3 a month from Skype which is really minimal but it does cost.

My VoIP costs money but is also cheap, however provides me with free domestic and most internation calling free, with a few exceptions to Cell phones in certain countries. If I didn't have this I would consider Google as an alternative but they still don't provide the features I get with VoIP and Skype can handle a fare amont of feautres that Google can too.

It will be intersting to see how long Google remains free or if it will be riddled with Advertising which wouldn't be appealing to me. I also worry about privacy with Google as they sell personal information to other companies to support their revenue base.

Ultimately I think this is just one small step towards moving from a proprietary cellular format for voice to an open IP format.

Imagine how things would be if there were no more need for the voice part of a cell phone... Only data. everything goes through the data radio.
With the advent of LTE or Clearwire and other 4g services this becomes very attractive.

I think of it like the movement away from broadcast/cable TV to an internet distribution model.

baby steps... !

Originally posted by ThePastor:

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Ultimately I think this is just one small step towards moving from a proprietary cellular format for voice to an open IP format.

Imagine how things would be if there were no more need for the voice part of a cell phone... Only data. everything goes through the data radio.
With the advent of LTE or Clearwire and other 4g services this becomes very attractive.

I think of it like the movement away from broadcast/cable TV to an internet distribution model.

baby steps... !

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Agreed I really like Clearwire and will be, most probably, moving to them for my broadband needs especially since I can have home hispeed and mobile at the same time and retain my local and other area phone services anywhere I go. Great deal...