Google Voice®

[maxen]

hello, team. on another board concerning divorce and PDs there was a reference to Google Voice. apparently it's an app that will convert voice mails to emails and hence save the messages for as long as you want them saved. (i have this at work but can't be having legal/divorce/stbxw calls, which is what i might be saving, come to my work number.) that is in place of standard voice mail which will delete itself after a while and is harder to work with (to save, to access). does anyone have experience with this service and know if the above description is correct? could be a useful thing.

[Grey Kitty]

I've used full google voice extensively. It is actually a phone (voice/txt) forwarding service.

You either get a new number, or port your cell phone into the google voice service. If you are part way through a phone contract, there are obvious consequences... . dunno about the mitigation options for you.

It lets you do a bunch of clever things like sending certain callers or groups of callers to voicemail on a schedule for you, and can ring multiple phones. All pretty clever. And it is free, at least for now.

It works well, with a couple minor issues. Voice calls to the GV number have a bit more lag time which leads to me and the other party speaking at the same time more often unless I'm careful. Also txt messages work great and are archived well... . but picture messages just disappear.

The alternative for you is to do the "limited" google voice where it doesn't re-direct all calls, and doesn't have all the cool features... . but it just replaces your voicemail. You then can get transcriptions (quality varies) sent to you in email or txt message, or both, plus they are archived forever.

I think you can choose between the two options when you sign up... . but I haven't done that in a long time, so I don't know how they are described.

[maxen]

thanks grey kitty! just what i needed!

i don't want another number, so i would be porting through the service. (i will call my company to discuss with them too.) from what you describe i'd want the limited GV service, but would i only get transcriptions or would the actual voice mail come through with the email? and where is the email saved? anywhere i send it or in the gmail account that i've had forced on me for having this nexus/android phone? (which then would be useful to have actually.)

[Grey Kitty]

You shouldn't have to tell your phone provider anything. Don't call it "porting" either. That is what they call it when you end your subscription with one telco and move the number to another telco.

All you need to do is set up a google (gmail) account, and then go to www.google.com/voice/ and set up the rest. They provide instructions for re-directing your voicemail on your cell phone.

The transcription emails or txts go to whatever address/phone you send them to... . and in addition, when you are logged into google voice on your computer you have access to the whole archive. There is also an IOS app you can use which might help. I've not used android, but I'm sure they have an official app too.

[maxen]

thanks again!

[Mutt]

Thanks for the thread maxen. My spouse this week said she blocked me from e-mail. It was the only way that I communicated with her for over a year.

I was concerned about the kids staying at her workplace overnight. The replacement stays on site at a storage lot. She works there too and stays overnight often to be with him with the kids.  I had asked if her workplace had insurance if there was a fire, because of the kids. I guess she didn't like that. She said that she has blocked me from e-mail, that I have to call her cell. If there is an emergency to call her mother, she is 6 hours away. She wants me to make regular calls and call her mom for emergencies? I had told her if there is an emergency for the kids to call my sister and brother in the same city and they will get in touch with me. I guess it's to retaliate against that. If she doesn't like what I say, she said she will hang up on me.

She has a habit of calling the voicemail access number and not my cell number (i cancelled my landline a few months back) and leaves messages.

Anyways , I have Windows Phone 8 and Google Voice doesn't work for me. But, my cell provider does have voicemail to text. I subscribed to it today. It sends a copy of the voice message and a wav file to my email address. I will upload those .wav files to OneDrive. I also have a voice recorder installed, that has the option of uploading to OneDrive.

I can back-up voicemail recordings, voice recordings to the cloud and access them anywhere on my phone or PC  

[maxen]

thanks mutt! very helpful. i'll call my phone company, i didn't think they might have that,

[zaqsert]

Since Google Voice is a forwarding service, you end up with multiple phone numbers.  One for Google Voice.  And another for each real line that you want your calls forwarded to.  When people call your Google Voice phone number, it automatically rings any of the real lines that you have configured in Google Voice.

So be sure to check out the details of how it works before porting a phone number from your cell phone to Google Voice.  Your cell will still need a phone number of its own.  Otherwise Google Voice (or anyone for that matter) would not be able to reach your cell phone.  In fact, when I have ported a cell phone number to another carrier, the original carrier cancelled my cell service immediately.

That said, once you figure out the details, Google Voice can be great.

[maxen]

my cell provider does have voicemail to text. I subscribed to it today. It sends a copy of the voice message and a wav file to my email address. I will upload those .wav files to OneDrive. I also have a voice recorder installed, that has the option of uploading to OneDrive.

I can back-up voicemail recordings, voice recordings to the cloud and access them anywhere on my phone or PC  

i just checked with my company and they don't have that service  :'(

Since Google Voice is a forwarding service, you end up with multiple phone numbers.  One for Google Voice.  And another for each real line that you want your calls forwarded to.  When people call your Google Voice phone number, it automatically rings any of the real lines that you have configured in Google Voice.

but not the other way around - i can't have calls that come to my cell number forwarded to google voice (R) ?

[Soulsisters]

My x has hacked into my phones and computers again

Omg I am so sick.  I went through this hell for 8 months before divorce, moved and got all new everything.  Now the monsters are back. 

Why do these guys do stupid hit like this?  It caused terrible problems with my sons before the divorce.  He would steal text messages and emails to my kids and block their phone calls. 

Just when my life was getting back in order again

Omg

[zaqsert]

but not the other way around - i can't have calls that come to my cell number forwarded to google voice (R) ?

Correct.  Not the other way around.  If you set up your cell number to forward to Google Voice then ALL your calls to your cell will go to Google Voice, and your cell will not ring at all.  I once ended up with that setup by accident, and it took me a little while to figure out why I was not receiving any calls, yet Google Voice voicemail was picking up the messages.

I believe there is a way to set up your cell so that it uses Google Voice as your voicemail instead.  I don't know if all cell carriers support this, but I noticed the setting in Google Voice.  Haven't tried it myself.

Soulsisters, I am so sorry to hear.  That must be beyond frustrating.  I wonder if there is any way you could show it was him.

[maxen]

i'm sorry soulsisters, that's so angering. i'm not too savvy with computers but if you use a laptop and can afford it i think this would be the time to get a new one, and reset your passwords on your email and phone accounts. look into firewalls and sandboxing and there are free antivirus and antispy programs you can download right off the web (avast, avira)

but not the other way around - i can't have calls that come to my cell number forwarded to google voice (R) ?

Correct.  Not the other way around.  If you set up your cell number to forward to Google Voice then ALL your calls to your cell will go to Google Voice, and your cell will not ring at all.  I once ended up with that setup by accident, and it took me a little while to figure out why I was not receiving any calls, yet Google Voice voicemail was picking up the messages.

thanks zaqsert, that's very helpful (if not what i hoped to hear!)

[blue_skies_ahead]

 Soulsisters - same thing happened to me and I was stalked with GPS tracker.   I felt violated constantly.

[Grey Kitty]

but not the other way around - i can't have calls that come to my cell number forwarded to google voice (R) ?

Yes, you can. I believe if you sign up for GV and tell them you want to use your existing phone number (i.e. use the limited version of GV, without phone forwarding), it does exactly that, once you re-configure your voicemail to go to their system.

No guarantees that it will work with your provider, but it does work for me with Verizon--I never even configured my Verizon voicemail.  One downside to this system--my phone doesn't identify a voicemail as being a voicemail. The only indication on my phone of a voicemail is when I get a SMS from GV or the GV app on my phone tells me I've got a voicemail to listen to.

[maxen]

i found an answer to part of my problem. with Evernote, you can clip a webpage, including an email with a voicemail attachment, and save it. it will play as long as you have the proper program (in my case, Quicktime) on your box. still don't know about voicemails with Sprint through GV (my company isn't Sprint but it uses Sprint lines).