A Phone Number for Free!

Don’t you sometimes just wish you had another phone number you could give out that was different from your usual number? You could use it when you’re filling out a form for a new site you want to use or a service that you are signing up for. Or you could just give it to those people that you trust and always want to hear from - then you could silence your usual number and still get a notification when your close friends call or text you. Or maybe you’re setting up a small business and you need a phone number for it. And wouldn’t it be great if anonymous callers had to announce themselves before you decided to answer? And wouldn’t it be even better if you could get these features and more for free? Well, you can and that’s what we’re covering this time.

But first…

I don’t know about you but i sometimes drive myself crazy trying to plug in a USB cable. I don’t mean a USB C cable - those are reversible. No, I mean the old wide USB A connectors (see https://www.howtogeek.com/690160/usb-type-a-connector-everything-you-need-to-know/ for pictures and more information than you have probably ever wanted to know). Of course you can always just look inside the connector for the plastic tab that is on one side of the connector but if you’re trying to plug it in, it’s much easier if you can just look at the case of the connector. It just so happens that the plastic tab is on the side opposite to the seam that runs down the length of the connector. Easy! There are other clues, too. See https://www.slashgear.com/1875109/usb-connector-right-side-plug-in/ for the rest.

Now, on to today’s main subject.

Google Voice

Google Voice is a service from Google that gives you a free phone number separate from your mobile number and, if you still have one, your landline number.

And Google Voice has been around a LONG time! It’s web-based and also has apps available for iOS and Android. To get a Google Voice number, you can either download and use the Google Voice mobile app or go to voice.google.com and sign in with a Google account. You need to have a United States based mobile (cellular) number in order to go through the sign up process as Google needs to send verification codes during sign up. But here’s a trick - once you’ve signed up you can remove that US based mobile number from your Google Voice account, freeing your mobile number up so you can use it to sign up for another Google Voice number. When you sign up for a Google Voice number you get to pick which number you want from a list. You can get a Google Voice number in your home area code or you can specify a different area code or city and you will be shown a list of available numbers. By default you will be shown numbers for your home area (your town or city).

I’ve got a number. Now what?

You can use the Google Voice app or web site just like you use your mobile phone to make and receive calls and texts. Yes, you can use your computer to make and receive calls and texts, too! And every device that uses the Google Voice app or web interface with that Google account will be able to do the same thing. Texts, the list of phone calls, voicemails, and so on will all be available to all of those devices.

But wait, there’s more!

You can have your voicemail forwarded to your email. You can have your calls ring another phone number or multiple phone numbers. You can have calls from certain people or groups of people always go to voicemail. Note that some of these options can only be set up in the web interface so don’t be disappointed if you can’t find one or more options in the mobile app.

And calls are FREE!

You can choose to use your WiFi connection to make calls or use your carrier (e.g. AT&T, Verizon, etc). Calls that use your mobile carrier will either use your carrier’s mobile data or, if mobile data isn’t available or is turned off, it will use your carrier minutes so if you’re in a foreign country you might be charged. If you use a WiFi connection, the calls will be free. And that includes both calls to you as well as calls from you. Be sure to check that option in Settings.

That’s all for this time

I hope I’ve given you some ideas about how you might use another, free, phone number with Google Voice. Don't hesitate to write to me if you have questions!

As always, my intent is to help you understand the basics and equip you to search for more detailed information.

Please feel free to email me with questions, comments, suggestions, requests for future columns, to sign up for my newsletter, or whatever at [email protected] or just drop me a quick note and say HI!

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