Why Wired would publish an article with this title is pretty obvious, but for those of you who don't read through, there's absolutely nothing to see here. Resources continue to be invested in the project.
Everything Google has said on the matter indicates that they know that they would piss off too many people if the functionality was reduced or went away - and that the grievance would be real, from their perspective. It's far more likely at this point, based on everything we've seen (and that this article links to) that it will be integrated more heavily with + and hangouts and talk. Your phone number isn't going away.
Wish I had started by reading your comment, and save me some time.
It would be a real bummer to see the phone number I'm now putting on business cards disappear...And I'd like Google Voice to let me place calls from my phone, too (when not in the US, you can only call from the computer). And transfer any call to Google Voice directly to my cellphone..I don't want new features, I want better quality and the same features than US users.
If you're using Google Voice, the SMS will be sent from your Google Voice number. Otherwise, outbound SMS messages will be sent from the native SMS app on your phone.
Is there any similar service where an existing GV number could be ported?
I was with sipphone client before it turned into gizmo5 and was swallowed. I remember the pains of reconfiguration (hardware ata + sip enabled dect phone + handheld + desktop + laptop ...), and pushing the new phone number to contacts, including the fact that to this day my sip-enabled dect phone at home still can't make outgoing call using GV.
I don't want the same scenario to repeat itself - I'll pay for the privilege of not having to wonder whether the service might close or not.
All three are well-established companies, though Callcentric is probably the best. I've personally ported a GV number to them. The service isn't free and you don't get voicemail transcription or a fancy web interface, but it's reliable and very good at making/receiving phone calls.
On this topic, what's a good Google voice alternative? Something for business that will ring my cell phone. Preferably a 1-800 # with answering ability and phone tree capability.
SendHub (https://sendhub.com) will give you a virtual business line (SMS+Voice) for free that you can access from the web or from your iPhone/iPad/Android device.
I know we support 1-800 numbers on paid plans, just hop on support chat and they will take care of you.
You guys should make a "Google Voice replacement" plan that is just one line and no grouping but more generous with texts & minutes. I'd pay for it but you guys don't have a plan that is anywhere near this model.
SendHub team - I'd try to get the developer behind GrowlVoice (http://www.growlvoice.com) to support your service or come up with simular Menu Bar interface. It's been one of the most popular paid apps in the Mac App Store for a long time. They provide best way to quickly interface with GV from your Menu Bar on your Mac.
Google Voice is a paid service (additional numbers, porting numbers, etc). They won't shut it down. They might deprecate the free-to-use features and make it paid only, perhaps. But it will not go away.
I've been using Google Voice for SMS for years now, and the threading issue is still a constant bother. For those who've never used it, Voice splits messages into different threads, but is completely opaque about how it does this, resulting in conversations with a person split up seemingly randomly.
I got a long text a few days ago from someone that had to be split into three. The first and third part was attached to the previous conversation, and the second part started a new one. No idea why it does this, but the fact that I've been searching online for an answer since 2010 and still don't have one is worrisome.
Readit News
Why Wired would publish an article with this title is pretty obvious, but for those of you who don't read through, there's absolutely nothing to see here. Resources continue to be invested in the project.
Everything Google has said on the matter indicates that they know that they would piss off too many people if the functionality was reduced or went away - and that the grievance would be real, from their perspective. It's far more likely at this point, based on everything we've seen (and that this article links to) that it will be integrated more heavily with + and hangouts and talk. Your phone number isn't going away.
It would be a real bummer to see the phone number I'm now putting on business cards disappear...And I'd like Google Voice to let me place calls from my phone, too (when not in the US, you can only call from the computer). And transfer any call to Google Voice directly to my cellphone..I don't want new features, I want better quality and the same features than US users.
https://support.google.com/glass/answer/3086044?hl=en
If you're using Google Voice, the SMS will be sent from your Google Voice number. Otherwise, outbound SMS messages will be sent from the native SMS app on your phone.
I was with sipphone client before it turned into gizmo5 and was swallowed. I remember the pains of reconfiguration (hardware ata + sip enabled dect phone + handheld + desktop + laptop ...), and pushing the new phone number to contacts, including the fact that to this day my sip-enabled dect phone at home still can't make outgoing call using GV.
I don't want the same scenario to repeat itself - I'll pay for the privilege of not having to wonder whether the service might close or not.
http://www.callcentric.com/
https://www.anveo.com/
https://www.voip.ms/
All three are well-established companies, though Callcentric is probably the best. I've personally ported a GV number to them. The service isn't free and you don't get voicemail transcription or a fancy web interface, but it's reliable and very good at making/receiving phone calls.
Deleted Comment
SendHub (https://sendhub.com) will give you a virtual business line (SMS+Voice) for free that you can access from the web or from your iPhone/iPad/Android device.
I know we support 1-800 numbers on paid plans, just hop on support chat and they will take care of you.
Google Voice is a paid service (additional numbers, porting numbers, etc). They won't shut it down. They might deprecate the free-to-use features and make it paid only, perhaps. But it will not go away.
I got a long text a few days ago from someone that had to be split into three. The first and third part was attached to the previous conversation, and the second part started a new one. No idea why it does this, but the fact that I've been searching online for an answer since 2010 and still don't have one is worrisome.