Google Voice had a voice, but over time the volume wasn't loud enough.
August 18, 2022

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

Andrew Voirol | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 2 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Google Voice

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.
  • Worked well with iOS
  • Provided reasonably good transcription
  • Allowed for accurate caller identification
  • 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
  • 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.
Google Voice at the peak of its adoption did serve as a very real and effective solution. However bugs persisted, and innovation lacked, and support for the product soon declined. However, there are several other solutions provided that focus on making one product as best as it could be. Google made it clear to me as a customer, that this was a backup for a backup. When you look at the simplicity on its own, it appears to be fantastic, however as you dive deeper, and experience its lack of smooth edges, you find that it's been built by engineers who were given a scope, rather than solving for a use case and listening to customer feedback. Many of the other solutions available on the market, see this opportunity. This is why voice communication is a growing SaaS vertical, albeit competitive. Understanding the customer here is key, and Google understands what drives value to the larger organization. As a business owner, I understand, that when a business has to allocate resources, another department, or service suffers. Unfortunately this product feels to be the one that has met that fate.

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

No

Are you happy with Google Voice's feature set?

No

Did Google Voice live up to sales and marketing promises?

No

Did implementation of Google Voice go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Google Voice again?

No

In the past, I would have happily recommended this for small business use cases. Due to its affordability, versatility, and low barrier to entry as well as its simplicity to use. Google Voice was integrated into the Chrome Browser, it was easily accessed from Gmail, and integrated into Gmail and could even be leveraged in such a way to when phone numbers were clicked on, Google Voice was the tool used. However over the past few years and more, in the past couple of years from 2021 to current, this tool seems to have lost favor with the Alphabet suite of tools. With the lack of integrations, it's becoming less stable, and people are just opting more for Google Meet Voice. The biggest area where this is less appropriate and where opportunity has opened for others is its lack of features, like virtual attendants, call recording, call transcription, SMS, MMS, CRM integration, and other key features even 1 or 2 person business really needs in this day and age.

Google Voice Feature Ratings

User templates
1
Call reports
1
Directory of employee names
1
Message alerts
2
Mobile app for iOS
4
Mobile app for Android
Not Rated