Recently Google Voice launched a VOIP phone service called Google Talk where users could make and receive phone calls straight from their Gmail accounts. Calls to the United States and Canada are free, while calls to international numbers cost a few cents per minute.
As a devoted MagicJack user, this new feature from Google piqued my interest. I already had Google Voice set up for voicemail on my cellphone, but could I eliminate my MagicJack entirely if Google decides to keep this service and save $20 a year?
While MagicJack is my primary phone number, there are three main downsides to the MagicJack service:
1. It only works on Windows or Intel-Based Mac computers (still no Linux support, despite the numerous promises).
2. Sometimes the physical phone you connect to the MagicJack device will not ring (or dial out). To correct this you must restart the MagicJack service and/or your computer.
3. If you are working on the computer when a call comes in, any keypress will be registered as a refusal to take the call. You then have to wait for the call to finish with voicemail before you can call them back.
While using Google Voice as the voicemail system on my cell phone, I have been very pleased. I can get the voicemails transcribed and texted to my cell phone, saving minutes and fees, while the original voicemail recordings are saved in my Inbox. As a result I decided to play with the two services (Google Voice and MagicJack) to see how well they worked both separate and together and determine if this new phone service was a MagicJack killer.
For the purposes of this experiment I have both my cell phone and my MagicJack assigned to my Google Voice account. The cell phone is through AT&T.;
Google Voice & Talk is still in Beta, and as a result has some downsides:
1. The ability to call any number is only promised until the end of 2010.
2. When incoming calls ring on the computer, the notification tone is not very loud and can easily be missed if one is playing music or has sounds in the background.
3. Google Voice failed to forward calls to either my MagicJack or my AT&T; cellphone. Therefore I was unable to test the simultaneous ringing of multiple phones or the in-call switching that is one of the features of Google Voice. No one I know has a landline phone these days to conduct further testing of these features. The Google Voice number would only ring to Google Talk in Gmail, and no where else.
4. Google Talk does not have the physical capability to use a standard telephone handset on the computer. A headset or a microphone and speakers are required to use Google Talk.
Since I was unable to get the Google Voice number to forward to either of my other two phones, the forwarding feature of Google Voice did not work for me during these experiments. However, I did discover an interesting combination of the three services (Google Voice, MagicJack and AT&T;) that solved both downsides to the MagicJack service, provided potential cell phone savings, while providing a single number for everyone to call.
I configured the MagicJack to forward all calls to my cellphone (which has Google Voicemail), then instructed Google Voice to attempt a Google Talk conversation on all incoming calls before going to voicemail. When someone calls the MagicJack number now first the cell phone rings, notifying me that I have a call. If I don’t answer the cellphone, it is transferred to Google Voice, and I can pick up in Google Talk or allow it to go to voicemail as I desire.
This setup solves the problems inherent in both the MagicJack and Google Voice services:
1. It eliminates missed calls because the MagicJack interface failed to ring the external phone or one was unable to hear the Google Talk chime. The cell phone rings regardless, and now rings whether users call the cellphone number or my MagicJack number.
2. It eliminates Google Voice’s apparent inability to ring or forward calls to either of my phones (my MagicJack or my AT&T; cellphone). Instead of giving out the Google Voice number I can give out the MagicJack number.
3. As an added benefit, I can save money on my cellphone with this setup. On days that I do not wish to use the cellphone I can wait and pick up the call in Google Talk with no one the wiser as to what I’m talking on. This will save the $20 a year I pay to MagicJack alone.
4. One can now make and receive phone calls on the computer regardless of what operating system they are in. Therefore, MagicJack users are longer trapped in Microsoft Windows if they are expecting an important phone call.
5. I now have a single number to give to everyone, but it ended up not being the Google Voice number that I anticipated.
6. I no longer have to worry about missing calls. All phone calls will route to my cell phone, which is with me everywhere. I have the ability to answer or not wherever I am at, depending upon importance.
7. The calls are surprisingly clearer in Google Voice than they were on the MagicJack. I can not only hear my calls clearer (though I had no complaints with MagicJack on this issue), but those I talk to are now commenting that they can hear me much better than they could on the MagicJack. I’m not sure what causes the difference, but I have received numerous comments on the improvement in call quality.
I have used the MagicJack service for 21 months as of September 2010, and have been content with the service and the price despite of the few downsides I have encountered. Adding a Google Voice number to the mix, while not accomplishing my goal of replacing the MagicJack at this time, made my telephony easier, less expensive and more convenient.
I was disappointed at Google Voice’s apparent inability to forward to my cell phone or the MagicJack. I even removed the voicemail on the cell phone to see if that would resolve the forwarding issue, but it did not and experimented unsuccessfully with two Google Voice accounts trying to find some type of combination using a Google Voice number that would ring the cell phone or the MagicJack.
If Google Voice would forward calls to my cellphone and enable me to choose between answering in Google Talk or on the cell, I would recommend this as a possible MagicJack killer should Google decide to keep the service (even if they charged a fee). However, my experiments proved this to be an unworkable goal at this time.
Google, you are close, very close to having a MagicJack killer here. Work out a few bugs and this service could easily beat MagicJack in popularity!
Source:
Personal experimentation
Special thanks to Kelli Shepperd, whose patience and numerous phone calls to a variety of numbers enabled this article to be written.
