Google Voice.

We have discussed this here before but since it has been active a little while now just wondering if anyone is using it and how it's working out.

Google voice I signed up for an account and then never found something that it would be good for. But if we expand the thread topic a tad I might be able to use google voice.

Why don't we make it a voice over the internet thread as I need to put a phone into a house which only has internet. I heard a radio commercial about a phone you pay $249 then from then out it is free. Hook it up to cable internet without a computer. It was called something like nam, ramu, kapoo. Anyone know what I am talking about?

Waitaminute I got it: Ooma. Does this work without a computer? Anyone try it?

They have Skype phones that don't need a computer, it's free for Skype to Skype, and to landline phones it's only $2.95 a month.

http://skype.com/allfeatures/subscriptions/#mexicanSubscriptionTab

Here's a Skype reasonable like.

That's the ticket. Skype looks like the way to go. OK, so here is the question, actually two:

Abode 1) No current phone just internet on comcast. I buy this phone for $150 and plug it into my Airport and open a Skype account. I get a phone number and free calls inside the US?

Abode 2) comcast digital over cable with a number I have had for 20 years. Can I do the same thing as above, get rid of my comcast digital phone account and keep my same number? I don't suppose I can keep my old wireless phones which are mounted on the wall and just patch the skype into them?

I guess that turned into three questions.

No to #3. The handset is connecting with the base. You might be able to get multiple handsets though, don't know.

You can't make 911 calls with it BTW.

#1 - An online number for people to call in on is $60 a year, I think you get 50% off with a yearly subscription. Long distance charges apply to whoever calls in. You can choose what area your online number is from though, so if you're in LA and all your peeps are in NY, you can get a NY number to make it cheaper for them to call.

#2 - Can't keep the same number.

I believe they fix that 911 thingy , some time ago . It is essential for a public service company to provide .

However you cannot still FAX

JC carp, you think I make this crap up? Where did you come up with "It is essential for a public service company to provide."

https://support.skype.com/en/search/?q=911

Sigh.

Thanks for the info. The 911 might be the deal breaker, thanks for bringing it up. I did have to call a 911 in on my mother from abode number two and you sure don't want to be hunting for a mobile phone when someone is in dire straights. Since that is the definition of 911 ...

(I know you don't make crap up, that's why I ask you these questions. Still loving my cell phone amplification doohickey though I might spring for the extra big antennae. I have to hold still or it drops the call. I might just need to crawl up higher in the attic for receiver placement.

Vonage @ $24.95/month has 911 service (not direct - it's registered to your location). You can also take Vonage with you from place to place without changing your number. You just have to keep them advised of your location for 911 service to be accurate. You can keep your current # providing it is available. We kept our Verizon # when we switched to Vonage.

Do you need a computer to use Vonage?

I'm sick of paying a buck a day for a phone we hardly ever use. I want to have both abodes with no landline phone but the rest of my family says we need a permanent phone in both.(Granny has to be able to call.) So paying 150 once and that is it is what I am aiming for. Half a year and I'm ahead.

I'll try the skype in one house and see how it goes.

No, just a high speed internet connection w/cable modem. My Vonage modem is connected to my router. No problems with it.

Yep Road Runner has 911 service as well , still no fax

Carp, Poly & Reboot are talking about Skype, which 911 doesn't work. Road Runner is the same as Vonage in that 911 does work.

Is there sodium azide in the coffee in the forum today? My astrologer said that if only Reboot and I were the last ones to make sense and I saw frogs frogs fall from the sky that the four horsemen of the Apocalypse were not far behind.

I am going to be looking up at the blue sky on the way home.

You did state that the lack of 911 support with Skype could be a deal breaker, didn't you? I offered the info on Vonage as an alternative. Now, who's making sense?

Well I read his comment as in "general" RR , Vonage , Skype , my fault .

You would think if you could call a land line 911 should work . Oh well

OK, you, Reboot , and me, but everyone else is drinking the harvard med coffee.

Actually, my poison tonight is a Tyra Banks.

Meanwhile, back to the original question:

I have GV, and I use it daily. I use it to make toll calls to friends nd relatives who don't have a cell with my carrier. I look them up, hit "call," and my phone rings, and their phone rings. That's really about all I use it for right now.

Expansion will be the real deal - I'm in development to market a pshychometric eval instrument to fortune 500 types, and I will come to be in a place where I must be reachable to some people. I can give them my GV number, and it will ring any number of lines I ask it to, while tracking me down. It will also id each caller, and allow me to block some guys right to voicemail. Then it will push the message to me. I see this as a very valuable tool, and am very surprised it's free.

Poly, the $250 deal is something called Ooma. i bought it last month and my number gets ported on Tuesday according to the email i received. i'll go from paying AT&T $62/month for local and long distance to $0. i pay Ooma $0/month. in < 5 months the Ooma will have paid for itself. (i am going to subscribe the premium service in Ooma, which is about $12/month after my free 3 months of it are over . . . but it isn't necessary by any stretch).

http://www.amazon.com/ooma-Telo-Free-Phone-Service/dp/B002O3W4LE/

i did have to buy a 50' phone cable to run from the Ooma, which gets its phone connection from my cable modem, to the phone box on the outside of my house to replace the AT&T phone cable that comes from outside. this way, all phones and fax machines, etc. in my house work using the Ooma instead of AT&T.

regarding the 911 issue . . . you'd have to check in your area if the E911 service is available. i think it's pretty standard now in north America. Ooma has it. when i signed up i had to provide the specific address for the number i was registering. when we call 9-1-1 then the address automatically goes to the 911 center as our call arrives. i put off shifting to Ooma (or any VOIP) until i felt like the 911 issue was resolved since it had some problems many years ago. we have our iPhones to make 911 calls as well when we're home and most babysitters we hire have cell phones as well these days. i also have the Ooma attached to a APS battery backup solution in case the electricity goes out.

but back to the original topic . . . (EDIT: and i see macbeemer said much of this now that i completely read the thread) i have Google Voice. i give the number out and have done so for many months now. i typically have calls ring both my iPhone and home phone. if i am home then i'll take it on that phone to avoid wasting cell minutes (same thing if i am at work). my wife calls her mom once or twice a week in Illinois. instead of using the home phone to make the call, we have Google Voice call her mom for us. you click a call button in Google Voice and then select her mom. it asks which phone you'll be talking on. we select our home phone and hit call. immediately, our home phone rings. we answer it and then immediately my wife's mom's phone rings. they can talk all they want and Google pays for the long distance call and nothing appears on our bill. of course, we when switch to Ooma this coming week then i am not sure Google Voice will get as much use. but i do like to use Google Voice when i give online tests to my students. with 70+ students i tend to get a few calls at once. i asks students to enunciate well and leave a message. the message is transcribed and i see it immediately. this saves me time during the test because i can call the student back with the answer right away and also have a record of everything that was problematic to review the next time i give a test.

All you had to do was disconnect the incoming line at the box outside, then run a short phone line to any jack in the house from the Ooma. That's the way all VOIPs are set up that I've done.

oh, well i haven't done anything yet so i'll try that. the 50' line from monoprice was only about $4, so it's no loss really. thanks.

It's not the price, it's just having to string a 50' cable through the house to the outside.

Make sure you disconnect the ATT incoming from the box outside first though.

Yeah, that's what we did when we had Vonage.

Reboot, my Ooma is in my office in the basement right up against a storage room. i have a hole in the wall next to Ooma and was going to run cable through into unfinished storage room (through unfinished ceiling) and out the far side to side of house where AT&T box is. the 50' cable wasn't going to be exposed or unsightly.

How are you liking your Ooma?

One thing I like Google voice for which I haven't seen mentioned is FREE UNLIMITED TEXTING.

Also like you mentioned, I use it for long distance calling since my parents live in PA and we live in MD.

I hear soon you can port your existing phone numbers to GV, which will be a boon. I've really only given out my google number to a few folks for texting and long distance reasons, but when you can port your number I'll port our home number because I like the privacy features GV offers.

Funny, Ooma features looks just like GV features, except GV is "in the cloud".

The only thing I don't like about a service like Ooma is our internet is wireless, we connect to a gateway radio up on a silo near us, which then connects to a tower a few miles away. If the power goes out, so does the phone then. Yeah, we still have cell phones sure.

i have no complaints about Ooma. like any internet based service, if your internet goes down then you're SOL and that happened last week for 2 days. but we still had 2 cell phones and we barely use our home number -- it's mainly for the kids when we have a babysitter (e.g., 911).

Google Voice still needs a physical phone with it's own service (e.g., home phone; cell phone) to transfer the call to work, doesn't it? i mean, if you transfer your home number to GV then your home phone system will no longer ring when the Google Voice call comes in. you can probably answer on your computer, but not on your home phones. or, you could answer on your cell phone. i suppose for a lot of people that is all they need. i really like Google Voice for what it offers for free and how well it works (even though not perfect transcriptions on voicemails).

Yeah, your home phone will still ring if you transfer that number to google voice, as GV is simply sending the signal to a node on the network.

I'm thinking more along the lines of all the extras in the "premium" ooma service that costs an extra $10 a month, if you've got google voice they seem to be a waste to pay for. Also, voicemail to text with ooma is another $10 a month on top of that charge. About the only thing GV doesn't offer you is an extra line to dial out.