What Is Google Voice: A Guide to the Fundamentals
Google Voice is a phone service that was first introduced in 2009. It gives customers access to a US-based phone number via which they may send and receive text messages and voicemails online. For personal use, it’s free and offers economical international calling as well as unlimited messages and calls to any number in the US or Canada. In addition, it offers call blocking, call forwarding, automatic routing, and the capacity to give contacts and callers personalized voicemail greetings.
The only caveat is that in order to qualify for a free Google Voice number, you need to already have a US-based phone number. It’s also important to note that although you can receive calls from anyone for free, in order to call someone outside of Canada or the United States, you’ll need to add credits to your account. The location of the call determines the per-minute fee. There are some differences between Google Voice for Business and the free version. With three different licensing tiers and the ability to configure through the Google Workspace Admin Console, it offers a plethora of capabilities that are absent from the free version. Google Meet and Calendar can also be easily integrated with Google Voice for Business.
Google Voice’s Business Features
In addition to the functions available in Google Voice’s free edition, Google Voice for Business provides the following features:
- AI-based voicemail transcription
- Integration with Google Calendar and Google Meet
- 24/7 support and a high-uptime SLA
- Usage/activity analytics
- Ring groups
- Multi-level auto attendants
- Advanced reporting and analytics via BigQuery
- eDiscovery for compliance purposes
- Support for desk phones
Why Use Google Voice For My Business?
There are several reasons your business might want to use Google Voice, especially if you already have a Google Workspace implementation in place.
- Adaptability. You’re not limited by your desk or even your smartphone when using Google Voice. Google Voice is accessible on any device with an Internet connection as it can be used as a web application and has apps for both iOS and Android.
- No agreements. An unfortunate aspect of conventional PBC is the prevalence of service providers who try to force customers into long-term vendor agreements. You can cancel Google Voice at any moment.
- Integration of work spaces. As previously indicated, Google Meet and Google Calendar are perfectly integrated with Google Voice, making scheduling and meetings simpler.
- straightforward administration and deployment. No specific hardware is needed for the deployment of Google Voice, and management is facilitated by the centralized Google Workspace Admin Portal in a number of ways.
- User-friendlyness. End customers will find using Google Voice to be both easy and comfortable, particularly if they are already familiar with Google’s overall portfolio or Hangouts, which will shortly be rebranded as Google Chat. Users can easily port their phone number to Google Voice for a nominal charge.
- made to be scalable. As long as you did not register for a personal Google Voic e number, Google Voic e expands with your company without any problems. It is simple and painless to add new users and numbers.
What Google Voice’s Drawbacks Are in a Business Setting?
There are always going to be issues with any service, and Google Voic e is no exception. The basic truth is that, despite recent significant advancements, its origins are simply a consumer phone system. The result is that the solution has several flaws.
- Accessible. Not all areas have access to Google Voice, which is possibly its biggest disadvantage. This is a big difference from VoIP phones, which provide service via any Internet-connected device thanks to desktop and mobile apps.
- Cumbersome call forwarding. While Google Voice’s call forwarding feature is generally simple to use, some customers may find it complex or difficult to understand. Contact management also needs work.
- No support for shared lines. Do several people of your team require access to the same phone number? Regretfully, Google Voic e does not allow you to accomplish that. Not without a separate phone system, which kind of negates the whole point of doing away with PBX.
- Widespread integration. If you’re not using Google Workspace or Polycom devices, you aren’t going to be able to use Google Voic e to its maximum potential. Additionally, some services are still having problems accepting Google Voic e numbers as authentic.
- privacy issues. All of your data is kept on Google’s servers. Even while Google takes tremendous precautions to preserve this data, the fact that you do not own your audit logs entirely might nevertheless cause issues in some businesses.
- Absence of sophisticated functionality. Google Voice’s advanced features are likewise a bit of a mixed bag. For example, vanity numbers, commercial caller IDs, and toll-free numbers are not supported.
- issues with tech help. While Google provides round-the-clock assistance to Google Voic e Business subscribers, the Google Community Forums are largely utilized by its users. Additionally, it might be difficult to traverse Google’s knowledge base, and the firm provides no assistance with implementation.
How to Set Up Google Voic e for Business
If Your Google Voice Number Is Personal
- Navigate to voice.google.com
- Click on “For personal use.”
- Choose between the web, iOS, and Android platforms.
- Install and launch the Google Voice app on your phone, if applicable.
- To view a list of available Google Voice numbers, enter your area code.
- Once you’ve chosen a number, enter your existing phone number and click “Verify.” This is the number that your Google Voic e will forward incoming calls to.
- Google will send you a phone code as a text message. Once you’ve received it, enter it when prompted.
- Follow the on-screen prompts to finalize your Google Voic e number.
If You’re Buying a Business License for Google Voice
- Open your Google Workspace Admin Console.
- Select add or upgrade a subscription.
- Select Google Voice on the sidebar.
- Choose your licensing plan.
- To configure and complete your company’s subscription, adhere to the on-screen instructions.
Google Voic e Might Not Be Right For You, But VoIP Definitely Is
Landlines are a dying breed. Realistically, it’s impressive that they’ve limped along for more than a century with so little change. Ultimately, it’s likely that the coronavirus pandemic was the final death knell for POTS — as businesses sought a means of adapting to a distributed workforce, they quickly realized that traditional phone systems simply weren’t up to the task.
Just as distributed work is the future, so too are VoIP phone systems. Not only do they offer better connectivity, reliability, and flexibility than old-school PBX, they also greatly streamline communication through integration with other business software.
What’s more, savvy businesses can unlock a whole new world of insights through analytics, identifying product bottlenecks, improving customer service, and identifying new opportunities. So if you are ready to bring your business telephony to the modern age, start your free trial with Ringover today!
