Elgg Voices Google

Since our first birthday, we’ve been working hard to bring new features to Google Voice and make it available to as many users in as many places and on as many devices as possible.

As we mark this milestone, we want to thank all of our users in the Google Voice community. All of your support, feedback and stories have helped us improve the Google Voice experience.

We’ve seen the product evolve significantly over the last two years. In the last year alone, Google Voice went out of invite-only mode and became available to all US users, we brought calling to Gmail, launched apps for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, and made it possible to get the full set of Google Voice features on your existing mobile number by porting it to Google Voice.

We’ve got a bunch of new features and updates in the works and are working hard to bring Google Voice to even more users in 2011. Thanks to our users again for all of the support!

Posted by Vincent Paquet, Google Voice Product Manager

As an engineer I like to solve problems and I like to test stuff, the bigger the better. A couple of months ago I was intrigued by a challenge: Australians have the second highest smart phone penetration in the world (second only to Singapore) but we have one of the lowest usage rates of Google Voice Search. This had some of us scratching our heads, because Google Voice Search understands our Australian accents.

So we thought it would be fun to show Australians how well Google Voice Search works by conducting a series of experiments in remote Australian locations. I went to the middle of the South Australian desert with James, a fellow engineer. We found some of the hottest, reddest earth in the country to test a long distance voice search – 50 meters away from the phone!

Meanwhile, our fellow Google engineers Noel and Alice went up north to the beautiful Great Barrier Reef, to test Google Voice Search underwater.

Now that you’ve seen what Google Voice Search can do, we hope these experiments will inspire you to try it yourself in a more everyday setting, and with your broadest Aussie accent!

You can use Google Voice Search on Android phones by pressing the microphone button on the home screen or downloading the app. You can also download the app for the iPhone here.

Posted by : Mike Lawther, Software Engineer.

Until now, if you changed your Google Voice number, ported your number to Google Voice, or opted in for the Sprint Option 1 integration (where your Sprint number becomes your Google Voice number), your previous Google Voice number remained on your account for 90 days before it was returned to Google.

Since many Google Voice users grow attached and become closely associated with their Google Voice numbers, we’re making it possible for users in any of the scenarios above to permanently keep the previous Google Voice number on their account.

This means that calls made and text messages sent to your previous number will still reach you, however, your new primary Google Voice number will display on caller ID when you make calls or send text messages.

To keep a previous number on your account, log in to Google Voice, visit the Settings tab, and click “make permanent” next to the number that you want to hang on to. There’s a one-time $20 administration charge to make it permanent, and the process is instantaneous.

Visit the Google Voice Help Center to learn more.

Posted by : Eugene Goldfarb, Software Engineer

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It’s official, the Google Voice integration with Sprint is now live!. As we mentioned when we first announced the integration, there are two ways to bring Google Voice to your Sprint mobile phone:

Option 1: Keep your Sprint number: Your Sprint number becomes your Google Voice number so that when people call your Sprint mobile number, it rings all the phones you want.

Option 2: Replace your Sprint number with your Google Voice number: All calls made and texts sent from your Sprint phone will display your Google Voice number.

In both cases, Google Voice replaces Sprint voicemail and international calls made from the Sprint phone will be connected by Google Voice.
For detailed instructions on how to get started with either option, visit google.com/voice/sprint. This integration is currently only available to Sprint customers in the United States.

Posted by Patrick Moor, Software Engineer

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• With push notifications, the app will alert you instantly when you receive a new voicemail or text message
• Most of your calls will be placed via Direct Access Numbers, making them connect just as quickly as regular phone calls

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