So calls to/from any cell phone are 100% free with the Sprint plan I will be picking up. How does this work if I’m using Google Voice (through the app) to call? What if someone using a cell phone calls my GV number and I answer with my Sprint Android phone? Will both of those be those free calls with Sprint?

I want to use GV for all calling and texts (i.e., I don't even want to give my new Sprint number to anyone- I’ve already provided all my contacts with my GV number as my new number). What do I need to know to make sure I’m using GV the most effectively and seamlessly with Sprint/Android (EVO 4G)?

people who call your cell via GV will count as regular minutes, not mobile. even if you want to call another cell does it not have a google line call you THEN connect you to someone?

If you don't want to be charged for minutes, you'll have to use a SIP provider like Gizmo5 (owned by Google) and the Sipdroid app to receive calls. It's not really any less clunky than using the Google Voice app with your normal phone app, which uses the google voice app to initiate the call then the phone app to pick it up.

I did this for a while on my iPhone but the 3G network was not reliable enough to abandon the cell service completely. Maybe it will work better on 4G, I'm sure plenty of people will be trying it. Good luck.

[This message has been edited by bpl07 (edited 5/14/2010 11:01a).]

I just reread your message, and realized you have unlimited minutes. You won't need to use SIP since Google Voice will just show up as a normal phone call for your unlimited minutes.

To use Google Voice most effectively, you'll want to use the app to initiate and respond to all your calls and text messages, that way the other person never sees your cell number. Luckily for you, the android google voice app can receive text messages without needing to forward to your cell number.

For me on the iPhone, I ended up forwarding my text messages to my email instead of my phone number, and responding to text messages using the email app. As long as I have push email, the functionality is the same.

To clarify, I will have 450 minutes but calls to/from cell phones don't count. Not unlimited minutes.

Ok in that case GV calls to your cellphone and out of your cellphone will eat up your 450 minutes.

dam

bpl07, can you explain in more detail how you did that on your iphone? did it need to be jailbroken for you to do that?

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Ok in that case GV calls to your cellphone and out of your cellphone will eat up your 450 minutes.

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My sinister plan has failed.

GV is marketed for people with multi-lines not to cheat your cell bill! I think.

I've used mine right now just for voicemail. Sprint BB hasn't been blessed with visual voicemail.

I already had a Gizmo5 account, so I just set up google voice to forward to my Gizmo5 number instead of my cell number. The best results I had were actually by using the Gizmo5 app by Acrobits in the Apple app store. It sends a push notification to your phone when you receive a call, and you can launch the app from the lockscreen. It works over 3G now too, so you don't even need to use something like 3GUnrestrictor.

Placing calls is more difficult because the html5 webapp for google voice wants to use your cell number to route calls by default. The Google Voice jailbreak app is much better for this purpose.

The main issue I had was not receiving the push notifications in time. It also couldn't handle switching data sources (Edge/3G/Wifi) during the call, but ATT's cell service isn't much better in this regard. Call quality is noticeably better over Wifi compared to 3G too.

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GV is marketed for people with multi-lines not to cheat your cell bill! I think.

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I was joking about the sinister plan and cheating Sprint isn't my intention. I was just wanting to consolidate to GV for convenience/features AND be able to take advantage of the free cell-to-cell calling.

bpl07, I meant how did you set up your iphone for your texts to be forwarded to your email? and then have the email push the notification, so that you could know when you got an email/text?
thanks

There's a Google Voice setting under the "Voicemail & SMS" tab to forward text messages to an email address. I use gmail, which supports push through the standard mail application or other third party apps. When you reply to a Google Voice email, it's converted to a text message that the recipient sees as coming from your GV number. I only really use the GV app to initiate the conversation and then my email app for everything else.

thanks for the explanation!

This might seem overly geeky and complicated to some, but if it works, it could me $40 a month on my wireless bill AND it will give me full GV coverage. I've been testing this on my iPhone this weekend, with an eye toward doing this on my EVO (and the 450 landline, day time minutes in the basic plan) when I get it...


I dropped $30 for a year of Skype Out. I run Skype in the background on my jailbroken iPhone. I configured my Skype Out Caller ID to display my GV number to the person receiving the call.

My GV number, meanwhile, forwards to my Gizmo5 SIP number. I use that through the iPhone Fring app. I run that in the background, too.

Here's what I end up with: People dial my GV number and those calls come in on Fring. I call out, using my GV number, on Skype. Both are running constantly thanks to 3G Unrestrictor.

It sounds unnecessarily complicated, but I might only have to use it a few days a month if I'm burning through minutes. Also, I can replicate the setup using Gizmo5's desktop client and Skype on my laptop, thus saving more minutes.

(I can dial out on Skype all of the time and maintain my GV integrity. I can switch GV to forward to my Fringe app as needed)

I haven't experimented with Fring yet to see if Skype calls, made from the Fring app, will display my GV number on Caller ID. If so, I can run a single phone app in the background.

As I said, this setup will save me $40 monthly.

[This message has been edited by A_History_Of_Violence (edited 5/16/2010 9:05a).]

[This message has been edited by A_History_Of_Violence (edited 5/16/2010 2:06p).]