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Google is my Saviour

S

SomeDudeAsking

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Nov 23, 2010
1,250
2
Google Voice now lets you port your own phone number

We'd be lying if we said we hadn't been waiting on this feature since the service's debut. As one reader just notified us (and verified by a number of staffers), Google Voice now lets you port your own phone number into its system -- as in, that 10-digit hometown relic you've been holding onto as long as you've carried a handset can now live in the cloud and grant you freedom to start afresh / forward to your many on-hand devices. Check under phone setting to see if "change / port" is now an option. The cost of porting is $20 and, as you may guess, it'll terminate your current service plan and probably prompt the carrier in question to charge applicable early termination fees, but that's pittance for saving your old line for the indefinite future.
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http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/19/google-voice-now-lets-you-port-your-own-phone-number/

Damn it, Google. Get to Canada. I've had enough with the traditional cell phone companies.
 
sweet! i was waiting for that. now you can drop all your phones and have it go to your pc
 
callmemike20 said:
Wait. What's the point? Don't you need a number that google forwards your calls to anyway?
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Yes, but you can go for cheaper plans since Google Voice can also do VOIP and can ring multiple phones, including your home phone / computer. It also makes it much cheaper to call long distance/internationally.
 
Oh this is terrific! I have been waiting forever for this to happen.

The only snag it that it is for mobile numbers only. I want to port my ATT landline I've had for ten years. Seriously considering porting it to a cell and then to GV. Anyone know if you can port to a wireless carrier without being stuck with a contract/ETF?
 
callmemike20 said:
Wait. What's the point? Don't you need a number that google forwards your calls to anyway?
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Yes but now you can switch to Google voice without having to tell everyone you know about the new number.

Also, you now get a new cell number that you tell no one about. If you did it the old way some people would still call your cell phone even though you had given them your google number. That's the biggest flaw with the old way. This totally avoids that.

In other words, Google Voice just went from 'useless' to 'super awesome.'

EDIT: (The only thing that would be better is if you could somehow do this without breaking your contract. So it's not perfect. But at least it's a system that can be useful for some people!)
 
Small White Car said:
Yes but now you can switch to Google voice without having to tell everyone you know about the new number.

Also, you now get a new cell number that you tell no one about. If you did it the old way some people would still call your cell phone even though you had given them your google number. That's the biggest flaw with the old way. This totally avoids that.

In other words, Google Voice just went from 'useless' to 'super awesome.'

EDIT: (The only thing that would be better is if you could somehow do this without breaking your contract. So it's not perfect. But at least it's a system that can be useful for some people!)
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i would hardly call it useless in its previous state
 
Ok, I am really serious about trying to get my landline over to GV. Quick search shows that on TMobile you can port in a number to pre-paid account. So does anyone have a TMo prepaid phone number they can check in their GV account to see if it is portable?

I also have a Line2 number -- they have free porting in. I tried that number with GV but it not portable at this time, per GV.

I may move my number to Line2 for the time being. Could forward that to a GV number, and port it in when (hopefully not if) GV expands the numbers able to be ported.
 
Great for keep your number, especially if your already out of contract and don't want to enter a new contract with any carrier just to keep your number.

But I do wonder if it's as easy to port the number back to a carrier.
 
Now we just need Google to start offering SIP access and make it a proper solution.
 
Small White Car said:
In other words, Google Voice just went from 'useless' to 'super awesome.'
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Annnnnd back to useless, again:

Update 2: Ninja vanish! Looks like the option to port is gone -- for now, at least. Just keep an eye on your settings pane, it's bound to resurface sooner or later.
 
Small White Car said:
In other words, Google Voice just went from 'useless' to 'super awesome.'
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I wouldn't call it "useless". Many of us have jobs that require for us to have a local phone number. Before GV, the only alternative was to get a landline. Now, one could just get a "local" GV phone number and have it forwarded to your "out-of-town" cellphone. I'm saving $20 a month now. Google has been a savior due to just this.
 
kas23 said:
I wouldn't call it "useless". Many of us have jobs that require for us to have a local phone number. Before GV, the only alternative was to get a landline. Now, one could just get a "local" GV phone number and have it forwarded to your "out-of-town" cellphone. I'm saving $20 a month now. Google has been a savior due to just this.
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SIP/VOIP has allowed us to do that for a long time as well.
 
profets said:
SIP/VOIP has allowed us to do that for a long time as well.
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SIP/VOIP has the ability to assign an individual their very own unique local phone number that they can use (people can call this number to reach you) forever? Hmm, never knew that.
 
dukebound85 said:
i would hardly call it useless in its previous state
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I would. If I can't port my primary cell # that everyone has, it's useless. What sucks is I just re-upped that # w/ AT&T for the iPhone 4. Now I have to call CS to see if I can talk them into swapping contracts on lines so I can port the # out from the line w/ almost no time left on the contract (family plan).

asleep said:
Annnnnd back to useless, again:

Update 2: Ninja vanish! Looks like the option to port is gone -- for now, at least. Just keep an eye on your settings pane, it's bound to resurface sooner or later.
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)(@#$&#$&@)(*&%_(#@!!!
 
kas23 said:
SIP/VOIP has the ability to assign an individual their very own unique local phone number that they can use (people can call this number to reach you) forever? Hmm, never knew that.
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There are numerous voip providers. voip/sip gives a lot of powerful options. You can get multiple numbers for all sorts of locations/countries and even 1-800 numbers. You can assign numbers to different accounts, setup all sorts of routing/forwarding, use conditions, setup ring groups so multiple locations ring at once.. I could go on. If you're not familiar with true voip/sip you'd be surprised how much you can do. I'm sure google is going toward this as well since they have acquired 2 SIP/voip providers in the past year.
 
dukebound85 said:
i would hardly call it useless in its previous state
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kas23 said:
I wouldn't call it "useless". Many of us have jobs that require for us to have a local phone number.
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Ok, let's go with 'useless for the vast majority outside of a few special cases.'

It's disappointing to see the option vanish. I wonder if it's something on Google's end or if the other carriers did something to block it somewhere. Hopefully it will return soon.
 
Small White Car said:
It's disappointing to see the option vanish. I wonder if it's something on Google's end or if the other carriers did something to block it somewhere. Hopefully it will return soon.
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I'm guessing they let a few ppl through for testing then closed it for a bit to make sure these go well. That or ran into an issue.
 
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