Will google phone change the wirless industry?

After being added to the list of google phone customers I realize this works. How does it change the wireless industry? All you need anymore is a phone able to run the google phone app and a data connection through your carrier. Guess what? No more minutes and no more sms text charges. I just added the app to my Blackberry Tour and it works as stated, just getting used to it now and it's lowering my phone bill by about $70 a month.

Anybody else think this is a game changer? I can see now why ATT is fighting it tooth and nail.

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Comments

7lowe

I don't see how it hurts AT&T much since you still use the same number of minutes for calls. Now, if you have US Cellular, Verizon, or T-Mobile you could get by without using any minutes. That along with AT&T's crappy coverage/service is why I'll be looking to leave as soon as somebody else offers a decent phone.

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JockVSJock

I've gotten an invite however I don't have a smart phone. I need to read up more on this.

I would love to lower my monthly cell phone cost, however don't know if I can afford the dataplan for a smart phone, currently not pulling down enough money, and I really need to watch the budget.

7lowe

A lot of people don't understand how Google Voice works. It doesn't require a data plan and you don't need a smart phone it just makes it a little more convenient. You can just call your own GV# and punch in your PIN and then select "Make a Call" and punch in the # you want to call. Then you hang up and Google calls you and the other party. So, in that scenario you would use about 1 minute of airtime to make the call, but then the rest of the call would be incoming.

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msteinhilber

7lowe wrote: »

A lot of people don't understand how Google Voice works. It doesn't require a data plan and you don't need a smart phone it just makes it a little more convenient. You can just call your own GV# and punch in your PIN and then select "Make a Call" and punch in the # you want to call. Then you hang up and Google calls you and the other party. So, in that scenario you would use about 1 minute of airtime to make the call, but then the rest of the call would be incoming.

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I have Google Voice but I only signed up to test it. I don't see myself using it much if at all except for a phone number to hand out if I need to but don't care to give out my mobile number. I'm not sure which carrier you use, but many of them still count incoming calls towards your plan. This would save some cash in terms of long distance, but most carriers don't bill additional for long distance (throughout the US at least). So for me in that regard, it's a bigger hassle than it's worth to use Google Voice.

I like the narrated voicemail feature as well as the texting feature, but I'm not sure I would want to start using my Google Voice account heavily given how Google tends to utilize everything they collect for targeted advertising.

7lowe

I have AT&T and like I mentioned before it doesn't really help with them since they charge the same for minutes no matter what. But, if you have US Cellular then you get free incoming. And, T-Mobile and I think Verizon both have "Fave Five" or similar plans where you can pick a few numbers which you will get free calls to and from. So, you'd just have to pick your GV# as one of those numbers. I don't know about Sprint.

The main reason I wanted GV was to have one good easy to remember # that I can use for all my phones and continue using if I move or change service or whatever. Plus, having voicemails transcribed and e-mailed to you and the ability to record incoming calls is pretty cool too.

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