Anyone use Google voice? The good, the and the ugly please

The good: free, anonymous.

The bad: Having to check it.

I, for one, welcome our Google overlords... :)

The good: One device, two numbers.

The bad: You can't tell which one is ringing.

The ugly: I wanted one so people could make local calls (my number is still from when I lived in DFW, and I didn't want to come across as an absentee landlord). However, GoogleVoice only offers phone numbers tied to large cities, so even though the area code looks the same as the local area code, it's long-distance. Which isn't noticeable, unless you're calling from a landline. But that kind of skips the whole point of having a "local" number, when I'm not actually getting a local number.

Also, when you call Google Voice for the first time, it says, "Please speak your name after the beep" or whatever. And then it puts the call through to you, saying that you have a call from --- and then you hear their recording. There's a lot of people, both prospects and businesses, who call the GV number, and get confused/balk at providing their name prior to having the call be connected.

The good: You can easily map it to a g mail account not to mention voice mail for free, saving you some money each month. The voice mails are transcribed and sent as email messages.

The bad: When picking up the phone, you need to dial a "1" to start the conversation which must annoy anyone calling.

I am using Google voice as my primary number since 2011.

The good: 1. One device 2, 3 even 10 numbers (it depends how many G mail accounts you signed on the phone). From setting you can set up to ring only on Hangouts application , so you can differentiate which number is calling - it is using data). I have set up a number for 2 gate intercoms, with local number to be able to open the gates.

2. For Android users can set up one main Google voice number connected with their cell phone number. When you make an outgoing call you can call with google voice number or cell phone number (you need to have "VOICE" application installed and the right settings). The Google voice number tied with the cell phone number will be working in tandem. From setting (using a desktop web page you can remove all the Google voice announcements as "please, tell your name..." and you can set up a voice message with your company name). So, you need to set up from g mail/voce account from desktop website, and install hangouts and voice application on Android phones.

The bad: 1. If you do not delete the old messages ((if you have more than a few thousand ), hangouts application is getting slow.

You can disable pressing 1 to answer calls. Play with the settings.

I've used it for years and mostly like it. I agree with most other comments...but I'll add that I like that it transcribes voice to text and sends to my email. I let it do the screening for me...I only answer the phone if it's someone I know.

I was looking at it recently. Reviews say you can't transfer a voip number. I would want to keep the same number I have on ring central, since it's on all my business cards & signs, etc. for years. They say you can only sign up a cell number - or get a new #.

Love it!

Absolutely love GV! Different number - same phone. This is the ONLY number I give to tenants. The reason is that I set it to never ring. It goes straight to voicemail and I pick up the voicemail on my GV app. They can also text that number and I pick up the text and respond from the GV app. No phone calls in the middle of the night about stupid things. I can respond when I want to. If I really need to call them (almost never) I call through the GV app and my GV number appears on their caller ID. They never know my real phone number.

GV expert, I have used it for years too.. It gets significantly slower, especially with the new version..

I currently have 28291 text messages with GV, how much of my life spent on texting? lol...