Google voice-cancel your home phone

[rj.phila]

hey all, just a friendly tip here. i know there is talk of things on here from 100k investing to saving 10 bucks on lattes, so i figured i'd pass along a little info.

if you have a gmail account(you really should), and have internet at home, there is a feature you can set up that allows you to make calls through gmail. its free for all US calls, and international is super cheap. i've been using it for the last 6 months, and its reliable enough to use, if your internet is reliable. just a heads up.

[packerfan]

Does it require you to use your computer to call or can it be used with a normal phone?

[rj.phila]

you call through your computer while you are logged into gmail. it might sound cumbersome, but its really not. i use it all the time, you just talk at your computer. its amazing how well it works, really, in terms of clarity. you could probably find a way to use it with a physical phone, i just havent bothered.

[minnie1928]

A friend of mine has used it to call me on several occasions. From the receiving end, the quality is good. I can't really say how well it is on my friends end...but since he continues to use it I'm assuming he's happy with it.

[krantcents]

hey all, just a friendly tip here. i know there is talk of things on here from 100k investing to saving 10 bucks on lattes, so i figured i'd pass along a little info.

if you have a gmail account(you really should), and have internet at home, there is a feature you can set up that allows you to make calls through gmail. its free for all US calls, and international is super cheap. i've been using it for the last 6 months, and its reliable enough to use, if your internet is reliable. just a heads up.

a little less complicated, I use my cell phone for all US calls. The majority of which I make on the weekend, so it works for me.

[disneysteve]

you call through your computer while you are logged into gmail.

That would be pretty limiting - only being able to talk on the phone while sitting at our computer. Now, we have phones in 4 rooms including one cordless that we can carry around. I wouldn't want to give that up. And how does it work when someone calls you? Can you only receive calls while logged into gmail?

[s3xyrixa]

Eh I don't know if you'd go all the way to cancelling your home phone for it.. I have it too and use it on my droid2 It's awesome for a free business number and you can check your voicemails, make calls, text from your pc but you can also have the calls sent to your home phone, cell phone, work phone or all of the numbers at once.

International call rates are slightly cheaper too!

[rj.phila]

yea, not a working sub for CELL, but for HOME phone, i'd say yes. but whatever, just bringing it up, YMMV....

[Scanner]

I don't get it.

I have to buy a phone line to get internet service to use gmail so I can talk on the phone?

I mean, if you have DSL + phone anyway, what's the difference?

[disneysteve]

I don't get it.

I have to buy a phone line to get internet service to use gmail so I can talk on the phone?

I mean, if you have DSL + phone anyway, what's the difference?

If you have DSL, that's true. Lots of folks today, though, have cable internet so the phone line isn't needed for that.

[MonkeyMama]

We make the majority of our phone calls from skype and our cells. Plenty of people can live without the land line for internet - there is cable and FIOS. I don't think we ever used DSL or dial up in our current home.

[Ksunw]

Google voice is awesome. I use them for my business and never had to pay a phone bill again. Been using them for about 2 yrs now and you can't beat FREE!

[SavingAdvice]

I use google voice when my mins are almost gone its a great way to call people for free.

[rennigade]

You are better off using a magicjack. It only costs $20/year, $40 the first year since you have to buy the adapter. I bought one to test out and it works fine. Only downside is you need to have your computer on to make/receive calls. I have an older laptop I dedicate to it.

Ive set up google voice + gizmo5+ linksys ata for free voip calls but thats a little too complicated for most no tech people...plus you can no longer register for a gizmo5 account.

[Hadwin]

Does it require you to use your computer to call or can it be used with a normal phone?

Yea dear if you want to call with google phone you have to computer with internet
connection then you are able to call any landline or cellular phone in the world