I really like Google Voice. I was using it before Google acquired it. What do you need to know?

Mainly I'm wondering if it's a good idea to port my existing number or not - on the one hand, if I have to terminate my cell service in order to do so, I'd probably have to pay an early termination fee but on the other hand I've had this number for almost 15 years and I don't really want to have a different one.

I really like it, except there's no VOIP app for it (unless I've missed a Hangouts announcement, and that requires Google+, which chaps my ass).

Otherwise, it's my main phone number, which rings at home and on the cell and sometimes at work. I've set numbers up for my J'can family.

Downsides: a) you can't image text with it, and any you receive will be converted to emails. b) limited international texting.

Upsides: a) multiple outgoing messages including a nice straight-to-VM option b) very cheap long distance, and you can use your land phone for best reception. I also like the text message interface better than Android's default.

I got a new phone number similar to my cell number and it was a dumb idea because I had a cell number similar to my home number, and it all gets confusing.

I don't think you'd have to terminate cell service, since you'll still need a cell provider, right?

I don't think you'd have to terminate cell service, since you'll still need a cell provider, right?

In order to port your existing number, you have to terminate your contract and get a new number from your existing cell provider.

What do you mean there's no VOIP app for it? You mean it can't make calls over wifi?

I hadn't thought about text messages. So my texts would still come from my existing # and voice calls would go through Google?

You mean it can't make calls over wifi?

Yes. Which was great for travelling and conserving minutes.

Your text texts can come and go through GV fine. Just no image attachments. That's the most annoying part for me.

In order to port your existing number, you have to terminate your contract and get a new number from your existing cell provider.

Ah. Clearly not something I looked into. But makes sense. Verizon or whoever can't hold onto the number, but your phone needs its own.

(I have GV set up on all my tablets too--I can text, but right now I am out of a phone app for them, which is disproportionately disappointing)

Your text texts can come and go through GV fine. Just no image attachments.

Yeah, but I have little kids...I text pictures a LOT.

I would not encourage switching whole-hog to Google Voice at this point. It has gotten more and more finicky for me over the last two years and it has not seen a major update in a LONG time. I'm expecting it will get integrated into Hangouts in a more thorough way after a while (which will be a big deal and may make it worth it again) but until then I wouldn't dive in completely. The lack of picture messaging in text messages is especially annoying, since we Americans don't seem to want to join the rest of the world in switching to better messaging platforms (WhatsApp, Hangouts, whatever) that aren't tied to phone numbers and can better integrate pictures and so forth. And I actually don't like at all that I have access to dozens of really good text messaging apps on Android that DON'T work with Google Voice text messages. Even the hacks I've found don't work very well. I'm kind of over it but am too lazy to change/port my number.

My suggestion would be to create a Google Voice account, then set your cell phone to forward all voicemails to GV. There are instructions on how to do this in your Google Voice account. There may still be the occasional voicemail that goes to AT&T (if your phone is completely off, perhaps) but most will go to GV and you can test out if you like them better for voicemails. If you like it so much more that you want to figure out how to port, there are ways to make it work and even to work out MMS - you can simply send MMSes from your normal messaging app. It will come from your non-GV number, but if you're sending pictures to these people they are probably close enough to you to figure it out.

Oh, the voicemails! Yes, having them visual and a good shot given at transcribing them is very useful. I only have to listen to voicemails from my Jamaican family now.

What's going on when Chrome (and now Webkit Opera) say a page is unresponsive. The idea that my cursor doesn't change when I hover over links makes me mad, dammit, just because I haven't been by for a week.

I keep a lot of windows open in a lot of browsers--Safari slows down my whole system, which is clearly a bummer, but I still use Classic Opera for fic-reading which means 30 odd windows open, and it's always responsive. Chrome, what are you really trying to tell me when I can't click "Buffista Home" the next morning?

I don't know what the "page is unresponsive" message means, but I get it pretty much every morning at work opening up google (for gmail access). So if their own page is unresponsive on the regular...I don't even know.

And that's on first starting up Chrome, no other windows open.