Hobby Phone or Google Voice ?

I had been thinking about getting a Hobby phone to help segregate that part of my life from my RL. Then it occured to me that I could receive that same level of separation and maybe more with Google Voice. For those of you unfamiliar with it Google Voice is a free service offered by Google. Afew of the benefits I could think of are...

1) It is free

2) You can both make and receive calls through your Google Voice number nationwide at no cost.

3) You can choose to have the calls forwarded to ANY phone of your choosing and may change it as needed.

4) It provides it's own separate voice mail so that messages left are on your Google voice mail box not your cell phone.

I can't really think of any obvious drawbacks and so I wanted to elicit opinions from my fellow ECCIE members to see what you thought and if you could think of any drawbacks that might have eluded me

I think it has problems calling other google voice numbers. But I use it.

i use it also.
i dont think theres problems calling other google voice#s...i know another provider with it.

havent had ne problems calling each other

it will use your minutes on your cell phone...

And another electronic trail that is perhaps better documented.
But hey, that is for those Privacy Act people to beat around.

I have it and it works great , especially with IPhones.

I have a google voice #. Tell you the truth, I find it painfully clunky to use. So, I dont use it much.

Everyone is different, but if you have a place to safely stash hobby phone, thats definitely the way to go. Costs a little money, but nothing in comparison to what hobby costs. Simple. Dependable.

I love my gmail, and my google earth. But the rest of the google stuff? I dont know. its like they got all those young geniuses in that building in CA working hard to re-create the high tech equivalent of Nash Rambler.

to re-create the high tech equivalent of Nash Rambler. Originally Posted by flinde

Ahh yes...a Nash Rambler...such great memories. Google voice? I'm just happy to remember how to get the computer started in the morning.

Malachaii, just food for thought...if you want to meet a provider who screens well...she will run a search on your number. Your number will show up as a google voice number...so, she may ask for your real number anyway...in that scenario, it defeats the purpose.

I use a Google number for hobbying. It has its issues, but I am learning to deal with them. Yeah it can be tracked, and it uses your minutes. It also shows up on your cell phone bill. But it is easier than carrying a second phone. You can turn off messageing and call forwarding for discrection when not hobbying. I will continue to use it.

Well the whole search on my number thing might defeat the purpose I guess. My hope though is that a solid post count and a fair amount of reviews will demonstrate that I am not a cop or psychotic The whole post/review thing has worked for me so far with local ECCIE providers, and since I don't travel or see out of town girls it seems to be working out so far

I too use Google Voice... I love how you can customize it.
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