Are you a new Google Voice user, or someone who needs help to make calls with Google Voice? And are you wondering how to receive calls, forward calls, or even block calls? If so, then this article may show you how.
Making Calls
All that is required for a user to make a call is a working U.S. phone to setup a Google Voice account. To do so, sign in to Google Voice. If the user still needs a Google Voice account, he/she must fill out the Google Voice invitation request (it only requires the user's name and email).
Using the Google Voice Dialer Application makes calling as easy as dialing directly from your cell phone.
Note: Since Google Voice is only available for sign up in the U.S., it's not intended for international users. As of now, users are not able to select an international Google number or forward their calls to an international number. In addition, users cannot port their existing phone number to Google Voice; the user must either choose to have a custom number from Google or use the number which has been assigned to them by their mobile carrier.
Note regarding SMS: they can only be sent to phones listed as Mobile.
Answering Calls
All that is required in Google Voice to take a call is to press 1 (to accept it), press 2 (to send it to voicemail, or press 1 then 4 (to accept and record a call).
Alternatively, a user has the option to turn off call presentation from Google Voice settings. To do so, just click Settings and select the Calls tab. Select the "Off" radio button option in the Call Presentation section. Then, Save Changes.
Note: By removing call presentation, phone calls will no longer be sent to voicemail, and users are not able to record a call.
Forwarding Calls
To be able to forward calls, click the Settings link and click the Phones tab to change the phone settings and add the numbers to forward calls to. This can set up your Google number to get all your calls to different phones, through a single number.
Blocking Calls
To block unwanted calls, click Edit Google Voice Settings and select the second radio button under the 'When this contact calls you:' section, next to the drop-down menu. Choose one of the following options from the drop-down menu:
- Send to Voicemail. A caller will be prompted to leave a message.
- Treat as Spam. The call will be marked in a user's inbox as Spam, and he/she won't receive a notification.
- Block Caller. The call will be marked as "Blocked" under "History" and "Missed." The caller will hear a "Number not in service" message when calling the user's Google number.
Customizing Greetings
To be able to set up a custom voicemail greeting, click Settings and select the Voicemail & SMS tab; then, in the Voicemail Greeting section, click Add. From here, enter the name for the greeting and click OK. Then, when the Record Greeting box appears, select the phone from the Phone to ring drop-down menu and click Connect. Thereafter, pick up the call and record a voicemail greeting. Once the voicemail greeting has been recorded, you can either save changes or not.
Helpful Sites
Google Voice Help (Removing Call Presentation): http://www.google.com/support/voice/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=116933
Google Voice Help (Blocking Calls): http://www.google.com/support/voice/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=115089
Google Voice Help (Using a Google number or non-Google Number): http://www.google.com/support/voice/
Google Voice Help (International Calling): http://www.google.com/support/voice/bin/answer.py?answer=141925&cbid=-18hfnjsy7tlmt&src=cb&lev=answer
Related Article