Item: Google Voice
Rating: 9
Author: Ho'omana Nathan Horton

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Google Voice gives me a nice option for calling, messaging, and receiving voicemail from a computer with a local number. It's especially useful when travelling internationally, or when I need a local number that's not my personal number to make a call.

Pros and Cons

Stores voicemail
Transcribes voicemail
Filters spam (pretty well)

It's a little difficult to transfer/move phone numbers around accounts.
Voicemail transcription is a nice feature, but doesn't actually always work that well in practice.
Desktop support is not as robust as other Google apps have recently become.

Return on Investment

Don't have to share my personal number for business purposes
Can make international calls easily
Can see and manage voicemail whenever

Alternatives Considered

Skype and Zoom

I haven't really used anything else that gives you a whole local phone number, so I can't speak to that, but there are other solutions like Skype or Zoom that can also do calling. These are nicer in a lot of ways but, again, are different tools designed for different purposes.

Support Rating

As with most Google products, the documentation is pretty thorough and easy to follow, so not much to add here, especially since I've never had to contact support.

Key Insights

Do you think Google Voice delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Google Voice's feature set?

Yes

Did Google Voice live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Google Voice go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Google Voice again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Zoom, Skype for Business (formerly Lync), Microsoft Teams

Likelihood to Recommend

Google Voice can help you avoid giving out your personal phone number if you don't have a business number through your job or something. It's probably not ideal (at least in the free version) to fully replace a business line, but it's good enough for what it is!

Google Voice is a great option for a local phone number that can forward to your personal number

Overall Satisfaction with Google Voice