Google voice iPhone qq

I have done some searching, but still have qq.

Need a cheap/free alternative to my old hobby phone. It sounds like some have used gv with success. I would likely not install the app, but would connect to gv via web browser on the iPhone. (iPhone4, iOS5)


My questions are:


If I place a call via gv what shows up on my bill and what shows up on the recipients caller I'd?


If I receive a call, same questions.


These seem basic, but much of what I find is vague, old, or inconsistent. I need to be pretty sure before I pull the trigger on something like this.




Thanks in advance

I use GV the number that displays to your caller is your GV number and when you receive a call you se the calling number. You can also text for free from your computer. I use it for the hobby world.

Thanks. What shows up on your cell phone bill?

I've never noticed the call details let me check.

Please do. I can't afford to not be sure about this.

Anyone?

Nothing shows up on your bill.. Its just using the data plan that you have. You have to setup google voice to accept the incoming calls to your google voice number within the application, same with sms.

Sweetie, Google voice is FREE and you choose phone number first .. there is no statement in the mail , its all done by email address that google voice is assigned to so you can view. U can assign your google number to a cell phone if you like.

Choosing your Google numberwww.google.com/.../voice/.../answer...
Google Voice lets you ...

Google Voice gives you one number for all your phones, voicemail as easy as email, free US long distance, low rates on international calls, and many calling

Nothing shows up on your bill.. Its just using the data plan that you have. You have to setup google voice to accept the incoming calls to your google voice number within the application, same with sms. Originally Posted by Dr. Olney

eh, hmm.. no. this is not entirely accurate.

Google Voice at present is more of a forwarding service than a pure VoIP service. So it isn't only going to consume data UNLESS the only thing you are going to be using it for is texting or if you set it up to forward incoming and outgoing voice calls with a 3rd party VoIP service/app.

This means that for most folks anything involving a voice call with GV is going to require some minutes usage depending on your phone carrier's rate plan and in turn something will be logged in your phone records for either an incoming or outgoing call.

With Google Voice you must setup one or more forwarding numbers with your GV account. Google Voice doesn't forward incoming or outgoing calls through a VoIP channel instead any incoming calls to your GV number will be forwarded to one or more of your forwarding numbers depending on how many forwarding numbers you register and the call rules you create. A forwarding number can be a U.S. landline, mobile phone, or a VoIP number.

Now the OP seems mostly concerned about what sort of call logging one might see on a phone bill or a carrier's phone records. For incoming calls Google Voice can be set to show your GV number as the caller-id or it can pass thru the caller-id of the original caller. In the first situation the only thing that will be seen on your phone and in your phone carriers records is your GV number. This makes it immediately apparent that you are receiving a call on your GV number without even having to answer the phone. In the latter situation both your phone and your phone records will show the original callers telephone number and it won't be obvious that call was to your GV number until you actually take the call.

For an outgoing call you can do one of two options. First you can call your GV number from one of your registered forwarding numbers and after Google answers, dial the actual number you want to reach. The other way is to start the call through the GV smartphone app or the GV web interface. In which case GV will call your designated forwarding number first and upon answering the phone it will then dial and connect you to the party you are trying to reach. Those that you call will only see your GV number in their caller-id and your phone carriers records will only show either an incoming or outgoing call to your GV number instead of the final true destination of the call.

When sending messages through SMS (text message), GV can be set to show either your actual forwarding number or your Google Voice number as the originating number.

At this time GV does not support MMS except through a pseudo method with Sprint customers. The MMS messages actually get converted to an e-mail and any media files are available as an attachment. GV is supposed to be supposed to be working on expanding the carriers they will do this with.

Google announced that GV is going to remain free for at least this year. This implies that it may no longer be free next year.

Finally if you want to go the pure data approach that would avoid any type of logging of a voice call it will require an application to be installed that will support some sort of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) service. The voice calls will then go in or out as data traffic through 3G/4G/WiFi.

Google also has the ability to do voice and video calls through Google Talk and Gmail voice+video chat which is not quite the same animal as Google Voice. Google Talk is only for communicating with other GT users and the Gmail video+voice plug-in is for desktops/laptops. I am not aware of a mobile app for the latter.

We wasn't talking about the actual cell phone carrier.. we was talking about google voice being free. There is some way you can make phone calls without forwarding it to your cell.. you make the calls from your computer some how. someone did that the other day when they called me.

My questions are:


If I place a call via gv what shows up on my bill and what shows up on the recipients caller I'd? Originally Posted by carbon

Placing an outgoing call will, depending on how you originate the call, either produce a record of an incoming call or an outgoing call to your GV number on your phone bill if your phone carrier logs such transactions. The recipient of your Google Voice call will see your GV number in their Caller-ID.

If I receive a call, same questions. Originally Posted by carbon

If you receive a call you will either see your GV number or the original number of the caller. This is actually a setting you can customize to your preference for your Google Voice account.

Thanks, everyone for the input. I hope others find this helpful as well.

We wasn't talking about the actual cell phone carrier.. we was talking about google voice being free. Originally Posted by Anita Lay

Haha ok. Sorry, I didn't realize that we was talking about google voice being free. I thought we were trying to answer the OP's questions.

There is some way you can make phone calls without forwarding it to your cell.. you make the calls from your computer some how. someone did that the other day when they called me. Originally Posted by Anita Lay

If you re-read the last two paragraphs of my long post you will see what methods are currently available involving Google. But unless using a 3rd party to act as a middleman the only way to make a call through Google to PSTN without the use of a phone is by using the Gmail video+chat plug-in. However, this doesn't help someone like the OP that specifically mentioned using his iPhone. Google's Gmail chat voice plug-in is currently only available on Windows, Mac, & Linux but not mobile environments such as iOS or Android. Given Google's new found relationship with mobile carriers I don't know if they would ever offer this sort of capability in a native format anytime soon.

For something other than Google for free calls through your iPhone you might consider using Whistle Phone or magicJack.

Thanks for the info guys. I have been using GV for quite a while now and its seems like its doing what its supposed to. Good luck to all

So the long and short of it is, at least as I understand it, that using Google Voice does nothing to cover your tracks when you use an iPhone, other than instead of a provider's real number, it shows a bunch of activity using your Google Voice number which you then have to explain in your deposition in your divorce case. Correct?