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Google Voice

Score7.8 out of 10

225 Reviews and Ratings

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What is Google Voice?

Google Voice is a free IP telephony service that provides users with one phone number that can be forwarded to multiple phones or devices. It includes features such as call forwarding, voicemail translation, text messaging, and voice calls. Fees may apply for international calling.

Categories & Use Cases

Key Features

Learn about the best (and worst!) features Google Voice has to offer, as determined by TrustRadius' reviewers.
Based on 225 ratings of Google Voice's features
View all features

Top Performing Features

  • Call screening

    Ability to block numbers or send calls directly to voicemail

    Category average: 8.7

  • Directory of employee names

    Voice directory of all employees for self-service dialing

    Category average: 8.2

  • Message alerts

    Receive SMS and email message notifications for voice and fax messages

    Category average: 8.1

Areas for Improvement

  • Hosted PBX

    Hosted telephony infrastructure obviated the need for local PBX hardware

    Category average: 7.8

  • Multi-level Interactive Voice Response (IVR)

    IVR is a phone menu allowing callers to interact with the system through voice and keypad

    Category average: 7.4

  • User templates

    Create and apply batch configurations to multiple users at once

    Category average: 7.4

Reviews

What users are saying about Google Voice.
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Good calling service for early testing before scaling to other systems.

Incentivized
Verified User
Executive in Corporate (51-200 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Google Voice was used to start the early SDR outbound motion. It also served as a phone line for our support and human resources teams while we managed customers with minimal phone interaction. Therefore, the primary use case for the sales function was to have access to phones rather than personal devices, as the numbers could easily be swapped in and out when we were doing heavy outbound calling, and numbers were identified as spam. This did not provide direct integration into most CRM‘s; however, the early use case was simple.

Pros

  • Number provisioning.
  • Cost

Cons

  • Numbers were very likely to get flagged to spam.
  • Integration into common CRM plat.

Return on Investment

  • Low-cost and easy to manage licensed allocation.
  • Simplified testing of calling motions before selecting a larger tool.

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Gong and Outreach

Other Software Used

Metabase, HubSpot CRM

Great product but not quite ready for the enterprise level.

Incentivized
Verified User
Director in Corporate (1-10 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use it to contact clients who prefer to communicate via text. Often, many VOIP services charge for SMS messages, or their service is not particularly reliable, so we use a reliable platform to communicate with clients. We also use it to get routine updates from vendors and confirmations from shipping companies.

Pros

  • Voice Quality.
  • Reliability
  • SMS functionality.
  • Intuitive UI.

Cons

  • Better workflows for more complex call routing.
  • Better application interface.
  • Spam blocking.

Return on Investment

  • Allows us to communicate with clients.
  • Makes it easier to store contact information.
  • Streamlines our communication channels.

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Nextiva and RingCentral Meetings

Google Voice - Great Benefits, No Cost!

Incentivized
Verified User
Professional in Legal (201-500 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Google Voice for additional VOIP mobile numbers to avoid purchasing company phones and to avoid employees' giving out personal phone numbers to outside contacts, clients, vendors, etc. Google Voice enables additional communication while being a free service, so long as a person already has a device that Google Voice calls and texts can be routed to.

Pros

  • Free phone number
  • Free calls
  • Free messaging

Cons

  • Some connectivity issues in terms of not ringing a phone consisitently
  • Delays in texts on occasion

Return on Investment

  • Makes communication more seamless
  • Allows people to have phone numbers that are separate from their personal phone number without buying a new device
  • Almost all benefit with no cost

Other Software Used

WhatsApp Business

Google Voice had a voice, but over time the volume wasn't loud enough.

Incentivized
Andrew VoirolView profile
Founder in Corporate at The Social Diner LLC (1-10 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

This had for many years served as a line of communication when others failed. It also was a great integration for other Google or Alphabet products in the past, depending on the time you read this review each product has had its own iteration of naming conventions and integrations. This also helped reduce spam and unsolicited calls, as well as allowing us to do better call tracking and measurement than traditional phone or cellular solutions would provide.

Pros

  • Worked well with iOS
  • Provided reasonably good transcription
  • Allowed for accurate caller identification

Cons

  • There has not been much innovation since the initial release.
  • It doesn't handle SMS well.
  • It does not natively integrate with CRM without legacy complication
  • It is not supported by Google as it once was
  • Call Recording is non-existent
  • Call-Tree or Virtual Auto-Attendant needs are not available

Return on Investment

  • This has been a service that I could have up and running in minutes, and time has been an asset that a price cannot be put on.
  • There are a number of businesses, services, and organizations that do not recognize Google Voice as a primary business phone number.

Alternatives Considered

Avaya Cloud Office, OpenPhone, RingCentral Contact Center and (EOL) Cisco CloudCenter

Other Software Used

Google Workspace Essentials, Dropbox Business, HelloSign

My Practice Relies on Google Voice as It’s Only Advertised Number

Incentivized
Loren PielView profile
In-House Counsel in Legal at Kendall Auto Group (1001-5000 employees employees)

Pros

  • My Google Voice calls come directly to my mobile phone and my computer.
  • Text messages can be sent to my Google Voice number and are forwarded to me as email messages.
  • Google Voice allows for direct client contact without a receptionist or assistant taking calls and relating messages.
  • Voicemail helps make sure I get my client's messages promptly when I’m not available.
  • Transcripts of voicemail messages are emailed to me allowing me to have a record of the message without keeping all of the recorded voicemail messages.

Cons

  • Voicemail transcripts are very helpful but the transcription is sometimes not as accurate as I’d like.
  • Some voicemail messages are unable to be transcribed.
  • Voicemail transcripts have my first name misspelled. It should be able to take the correct spelling from my account.

Return on Investment

  • My use of Google Voice doesn’t have any cost associated with it. For all intents and purposes, it has no negative impact on my overhead.
  • There are available features which I haven’t explored or needed but it’s good to know there’s more functionality as my business needs change.
  • It’s very stable. I have never had an outage of which I was aware.

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