Confessions of a Six Figure Professional Blogger

Using Google Voice To Give Your Blog A Phone Number

December 29, 2009 | Services

I am a self-proclaimed Google whore. I use many of their free services and there is rarely a time when I don’t have at least one of my browser tabs open to a Google property.

Picture 2 This last week, I was reminded of Google Voice. I was reading the revised edition of the 4-Hour Work Week and he mentioned Grand Central. Since that was written, Grand Central has been terminated and it is now Google Voice.

Essentially, you can get a phone number for free from Google. Here is why I dig the service so much:

  • Custom voice mail greetings depending on who is calling.
  • Selectively allow some people through to your actual phone while only taking messages from everybody else.
  • Block calls from spammers or other annoying people.
  • Voice mails managed in a Gmail-like interface.
  • Voice mails transcribed to written text so you can read it (not perfect, but pretty good)

So, the beauty of it should be clear: This can be a public phone number and you don’t have to worry about your phone ringing off the hook. You have control over the incoming calls.

Another cool thing about the service is that you can use vanity phone numbers (numbers with words in them). This is great for branding. However, this depends on availability of the number you want. You might need to use a different area code to get it.

They also have a call widget you can place on your blog. You can choose to have those calls from your readers actually ring your phone or simply go to voice mail.

I’m actually changing my main business phone over to a Google number and will be canceling Vonage shortly. Sure, Google isn’t an out-going phone (you can do that for a fee if you want), but I will just use my cell phone for conversations. Besides, honestly, I prefer to deal with most of my communications via email anyway (it is much faster and more efficient), so I prefer to have a phone number just go straight to voice mail.

You can check out Google Voice. I believe they are still on an invitation basis, but I bet if you tweet about an invite code, somebody will hook you up. :)

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Enter email:

  • I've been wanting to try Google voice and received an invitation after submitting my e-mail to them, however, I was disappointed to discover that Google Voice is currently only available in the US. I'm in Canada, so that means I can't use it! :(
  • Would love an invite if anybody has one..
  • Anonymous
    You can make outgoing calls with Google Voice anywhere in the US for free..
  • Sam
    Great idea David. My favorite Google Voice trick is using it and a modem to dial contacts in Outlook.
  • You have to pat yourself on the back when Mr. Google Voice himself, Craig Walker, posted your blog about this on his Twitter page!!! =) I've been using Google Voice since it was released, and I love it. I mainly have it setup so when people call my cell, its forwarded over to GV and they can leave a voicemail, and they don't have to learn my GV number at all. I also have the custom greetings setup also, it's pretty easy to setup. I mainly use my GV for voicemail. I use the free calling and SMS once in a great while when i don't want people to know my cellphone number. And yes, you can set it up to use with your faves and also friends and family with Verizon Wireless. =) But overall, GV is the best service offered by Google, next to Gmail, Youtube, and Google Search of course!
  • Dave Smith
    I tried to call your Call Widget in this post but it is just an image...where's the real Call Widget? You gotta believe:)
  • I love my Google Voice! I have the click to call feature on one of my sites that goes to voicemail just as you suggested. I'm also considering adding it to my blog as well, just haven't see much reason for it until I recently started offering community management services. Now I will have a way for people to instantly contact me.

    There's also a dirty little secret that someone might be clever enough to use with their cells and their "faves".
  • I heard about Google Voice a while back but didn't pay much attention to it as I didn't see it as a benefit for my needs. With 2010 coming our way and new opportunities on the rise I think it's one of the many things I will check out!

    Thanks!
  • YOU are a total bum! I was going to write about this! :P
  • Robert Simmons
    Erica, I have been following David for almost a year now. Through his blog I was pleased to discover your site this week. The two of you are my top favorites! Thanks for the work you put into your blog and career.
  • Thanks! Glad you're enjoying :)
  • Great info, David.
    I will definitely check into this, sounds awesome. Thanks for posting this, I was totally unaware. :-)
  • Robert Simmons
    David, Interesting you mentioned the Four Hour Work Week. I am just wrapping up that book and believe it is fantastic. I was going to ask if you had read and suggest maybe you do a piece on how blogging would fit into that business profile. As always, I am interested in your views.
  • Be aware that Google voice is currently available for the US
  • I have been a skype fan. and yes, I use a lot of Google services making them one of my top suppliers. I will give it a try. David, your articles are good. Keep up the good work!
  • Thats awesome! I did not hear of Google Voice before. Thanks for bringing that into my radar.

    I think its a cool tool and can think of lot of uses for it.

    Thanks again.
  • Currently only available in the US... bugger :-(
  • I've seen the phone numbers on several blogs via Google Voice and kept meaning to look more into that. Thanks for sharing the benefits, I think I can see some use of it now.
  • I also love Google Voice :) Have been very happy with the service so far. I wouldn't sweat the invite though. You still need one last time I checked, but I only had to wait for a week or so. If you aren't successful getting an invite from a friend, you probably can get one straight from Google without having too much of a wait. Transcribed voice mail is a big plus for me!
  • That looks pretty awesome. I wonder how it works in Europe, will have to check. Custom greetings puzzles me a bit. How is that done? I mean how does Google identify different people?
  • I don't use the customized greetings. I feel it's too over the top. Just my take on it. Perhaps you can customize greetings by contact category instead of on an individual basis. To me, that would be cool. I haven't looked into that yet.
  • Not sure about Europe. As for your other question, it works in conjunction with your Google contact list. You assign contacts to certain groups, then you can specify that anybody from that group gets a particular voice mail greeting when they call you.
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