On 2/25/2022 2:07 PM, RJH wrote:
<snip>
> Every voip app does what Google Voice does, don't they?
> What does Google Voice do that the rest of them don't do?
Google Voice doesn't charge you for an incoming number, nor does it
charge for outgoing calls or SMS (to the U.S. or Canada). That's what
makes it unique.
When you get rid of "free" there are a bunch of VOIP apps that can call
an actual phone number anywhere in the U.S. (or the world), and that
provide an incoming phone number that people can call from a regular
phone, and the call can be picked up in an Android, iOS, or Windows App
or forwarded to a real phone number.
Apps that require that both parties use a specific app on their phone
(WhatsApp, Facetime, WeChat, Skype (without renting a phone number or
using Skype Out), Viber, etc.), and that don't provide an actual
incoming phone number, are not comparable to Google Voice or other VOIP
apps.
I provided a list of some services similar to Google Voice in an earlier
post. The two that I would consider are:
Callcentric <
https://www.callcentric.com/>
Incoming Number: $1 per month (limited choice of area codes), $5.95 per
month (any area code)
Incoming calls: no charge
Outgoing calls: $0.0198/minute (to U.S.) or various buckets of minutes
LocalPhone <
https://www.localphone.com/>
Incoming Number: $0.99 per month in U.S., many other countries available
at different prices.
Incoming calls: no charge
Outgoing calls: $0.005/minute (to U.S.) or various buckets of minutes
One problem with Google Voice is that you can't send international
texts. Callcentric also doesn't support international texting, but
Localphone does, with some caveats.
I like the fact that when you're traveling internationally that with
Localphone you can rent a local phone number in whatever (mostly)
country you're visiting. But remember, in Europe, and in India, most
people are using WhatsApp for calls and messages, and in China most
people are using WeChat, so the need for something like Google Voice or
other VOIP app is minimal.
What's really useful with Google Voice is that you can port your main
cellular number to Google Voice then forward calls to whatever U.S.
number you want, or pick up calls using the Google Voice App via data
(Wi-Fi or mobile). So when you're traveling internationally you can
still receive your calls even if using a prepaid SIM (including
data-only prepaid SIMs which are becoming more popular). You can also
receive your SMS over the Google Voice App and via e-mail.
Another issue with Google Voice is that you can't forward calls to
international numbers (even if you're willing to pay that cost). What
you _can_ do is to forward a Google Voice number to a rented Localphone
incoming number then forward the Localphone incoming number to a foreign
number, and pay the per minute rate, which is pretty low (less than 1¢
per minute to landlines in most western European countries, but much
higher to mobile numbers because of the crazy "Caller Pays" system in
much of Europe).