Why I use Google Voice as my Primary Phone Number

Why I use Google Voice as my Primary Phone Number

By Jon Hildebrand

Changing phone numbers is a difficult thing on everyone.  When I switched from AT&T to Verizon a few years ago, I ported my number from one phone to another.  Now I’m switching services again - this time from Verizon to T-Mobile so that I can use my new Nexus 4 device.  Well, I could have ported my number to my new carrier but decided that I wanted to port the number to Google Voice instead so that I don’t have to worry about porting the number to another carrier again.  I also want to use Google Voice because it gives me one central number,allows personalized messages, and has voice mail transcription.

One Number

Google Voice holds the one phone number I want to give out and then can route it to multiple phones based on my preferences.  For instance, when I am at home, I can set Google Voice to ring to my land line (yes, I still have a land line) and my mobile phone.  This allows me to keep my mobile minute usage down and have a plan that severely limits my phone use.  I also know I can give out just one number to allow anyone to reach me.  

Personalized Greetings

I love the idea of a phone that can have more than one greeting based on the contact who is calling me.  Since I work in a professional setting away from the keyboard, I need to have a voicemail message on my phone that is professional and friendly to the average caller.  However, I also love the idea of being personal with friends and family and, maybe even, a little more casual with the same.  This is where personalized greetings come into play.  You can record a specific and different greeting for each and every contact if you’d like to do so.  This discreet voicemail option is really handy when I’m going to be on vacation too.  I can let my work contacts know I’m out of the office but can be a lot more specific with friends and family.  It’s a great feature for me to have in a phone service.

Voicemail Transcription

When I can’t answer the phone because I’m in a meeting or don’t have my phone with me, the voice mail transcription is a very helpful feature in Google Voice.  The recorded message is almost immediately transcribed and emailed to me at my gmail account and sent via text message to my phone.  This allows me to review the written transcript of the voice mail immediately after the caller leaves the message.  Also Google Voice lets me listen to the audio version of the message.  This is especially helpful if the transcription isn't perfect or if I want to hear inflection in the speaker’s voice.  Either way, I have both a quick written and audio message waiting for me in my email.  

The message and transcript can also be accessed via my web-based access to Google Voice thus providing another way to review the message without having to use cell phone minutes checking voicemails.  Whether I decide to use my phone or computer to access the transcript, voicemail transcription is a helpful tool I use a lot as part of my Google Voice account.  

There are a few other great features like call blocking, call screening, and conference calling that make Google Voice an excellent choice for my main contact number.  So, I think that the $20 price tag to port over my existing phone number to Google Voice will be well worth it.  Do you have any other things that you like about Google Voice?  Let me know in the comments below.