Thread: Google Voice vs. Vumber

After 3 years of using my personal cell phone number for dance purposes, I've decided it's time to keep me and my alter-ego separate but equal and use a service like Vumber or GoogleVoice. It skeeves me out to think that prospective employers can Google my cell phone number and find nothing but photos of me wearing sparkle-bras and playing with swords. Plus, those awkward moments when somebody calls your number and doesn't leave a message, and you don't exactly know how to announce yourself when you call back!

So which service do you ladies and dudes recommend? I just signed up for the free trial of Vumber, but a few friends have told me some nice things about GoogleVoice.

Halp!

No input, but I was going to post this same thread soon, so I'll be watching closely. :)

Do both services allow you to mask your real number on their caller ID when you call people back?

I'm not sure about masking your real number from caller ID. Good question!

I'm namely concerned with keeping "business" and "personal" separate, but this would be good to know.

Google Voice actually sounds cool because it sends transcribed voicemails to your gmail account. How cool is that!

Somebody chime in for us ..g.:

I have Google Voice and I really like it. You can use it to make calls as well as receive them and have specific messages for people based on who is calling even though I haven't set that part up yet. (Ex: unknown callers will get Mahsati's welcome/class/performance message but I will set up a group for my students so they will get the shorter 'Leave Mahsati a message' one) I am slowly switching everything over to it now.

Originally Posted by SatinWorship19

I'm not sure about masking your real number from caller ID. Good question!

I'm namely concerned with keeping "business" and "personal" separate, but this would be good to know.

Google Voice actually sounds cool because it sends transcribed voicemails to your gmail account. How cool is that!

Somebody chime in for us ..g.:

Yes - you call your google voice number from your cell phone and then dial the number you want and it will show as the google voice number.

Oh - and the transcribed voicemails are cool, but don't expect perfect accuracy LOL

Oh, wow, how cool is that!

I was so excited when Anjela reminded me of this option the other day. There's nothing about Google that's not....awesome.

I use Google Voice and I love it. Along with the awesome features mentioned above, it's also supposed to allow you to block certain numbers from calling you - hope you never need to use that, but we all need tools to keep the pervos away. Plus it seems to be completely free (there's an account balance that displays when you log in via Internet, but so far I have never had to pay for anything), whereas with Vumber you have to start paying at some point.

Whatever service you use, I definitely advocate having a second business line... keeping you "separate but equal," as you say.

Skype also offers a phone service (Skype In). I haven't used it. But I know you can get a phone number and basically use it like a VOIP.

I think a friend of mine just got the Google service and mentioned the transcribing feature. He's also been a fan of the Google pages and the tons of other features Google offers.

I'm still on AIM and feel like a Luddite at times.

I have the same concerns about keeping my dance and grad school lives totally seperate.

For an alternate number, I use Phone Power (Internet VOIP), which is about $8 per month if you buy two years up front. On top of that, I am in the lab all day and can't answer all my dance phone calls so I am paying $7 on top of that to YouMail that does voicemail transcription and sends it to me as an email and also as a text message. I love this service and it has lots of cool features, but if Google Voice combines the two services I use for less than $15 a month, I am definitely going to change services.

I did request an invitation for Google Voice. How long does that normally take?

Originally Posted by mahsati

Oh - and the transcribed voicemails are cool, but don't expect perfect accuracy LOL

I have had some really funny transcriptions from YouMail. I have also had important words like "not" missing because the person leaving the message was not speaking clearly. Make sure to double check voicemails with your own ears if they are important ones!

I love Google voice, but don't count on the voicemail transcripts. I had a restaurant owner call me during the work day/while I was at a meeting (and I didn't recognize the number) and the v-mail transcript said a completely different name (so I thought it was a new venue, etc, I could call back later). Since I thought it was a new number/venue, I was going to call after work or in the early am. Turned out it was a gig for the next night that I missed out on since the restaurant owner I'd previously worked with called someone else....gah. Will NEVER not listen to the audio file again.

Another good point about Google voice is that it's easy to use when you have a Google account and use their services...easy to keep track of phone #s, move them to emails/spreadsheets etc. I received my account less than a week after the request---it depends how high the demand is in your area, from what I understand.

I love my Google Voice! The transcribed voicemails are hilarious. And I love how it's all tied into my gmail.

When you get an incoming call, is there any way you can get a separate ringtone or something so you know if they're calling your cell phone or your Google phone? As of now, I'm not getting any sort of prompt when somebody calls my Google number..

Originally Posted by SatinWorship19

I love my Google Voice! The transcribed voicemails are hilarious. And I love how it's all tied into my gmail.

When you get an incoming call, is there any way you can get a separate ringtone or something so you know if they're calling your cell phone or your Google phone? As of now, I'm not getting any sort of prompt when somebody calls my Google number..

You can set up things a lot of different ways here: https://www.google.com/voice#callsettings

My phone plays a different ring and when I answer it prompts me with the caller information so I can decide whether to answer or not.

you could probably set that up on your phone, but I haven't done that. I just screen my calls on the phone's monitor. I've had Google Voice since it first started as Grand Central and have been in love with the service from the beginning. It's nice to completely separate my dance self from my private self; I've always been concerned with that.

I have a Motorola Droid, and I use Google Voice with it. It's nearly seamless.

Frankly, unless Vumber has something you're willing to pay for, I'd go with Google Voice. It's insanely powerful, free, has apps for every major "smartphone" save the iPhone (thank Apple for that), and does just about everything you need. There are services that have better transcription, but they do it with a combination of machine and human transcripters that cost.

There's also a desktop Adobe Air app, Gvoice, for Google Voice. I use it to send/receive SMS messages on my desktop, so I text using a full keyboard while I'm working on other stuff.

Also a related great point: if you're a heavy SMS/texting user, sending them via Google Voice is free to you.

I have a Motorola Droid, and I use Google Voice with it. It's nearly seamless.

Frankly, unless Vumber has something you're willing to pay for, I'd go with Google Voice. It's insanely powerful, free, has apps for every major "smartphone" save the iPhone (thank Apple for that), and does just about everything you need. There are services that have better transcription, but they do it with a combination of machine and human transcripters that cost.

There's also a desktop Adobe Air app, Gvoice, for Google Voice. I use it to send/receive SMS messages on my desktop, so I text using a full keyboard while I'm working on other stuff.

Also a related great point: if you're a heavy SMS/texting user, sending them via Google Voice is free to you.

I have a Motorola Droid, and I use Google Voice with it. It's nearly seamless.

Frankly, unless Vumber has something you're willing to pay for, I'd go with Google Voice. It's insanely powerful, free, has apps for every major "smartphone" save the iPhone (thank Apple for that), and does just about everything you need. There are services that have better transcription, but they do it with a combination of machine and human transcripters that cost.

There's also a desktop Adobe Air app, Gvoice, for Google Voice. I use it to send/receive SMS messages on my desktop, so I text using a full keyboard while I'm working on other stuff.

Also a related great point: if you're a heavy SMS/texting user, sending them via Google Voice is free to you.

I am SO confused by GoogleVoice.

How do I assign my "belly dance" voicemail greeting to people who call my Google number? I just tried calling my regular mobile number from my landline and my BD greeting came up. Kinda defeats the purpose of having two personas. Am I missing something? ,r:;

okay I had to look at my own account and realized that I still had the generic voicemail greeting!! I know I created a personalized greeting, but it is nowhere to be found. It must've been erased after the Google Voice buyout, I don't know....anyways, I don't have the problem of my bellydance voicemail being used for my regular mobile phone. I noticed a "Google Voicemail" option on the settings-phones tab. Do you have this activated? I'm not sure if that would create the issue, but it sounds like if you disable it the problem may disappear.

Originally Posted by SatinWorship19

I am SO confused by GoogleVoice.

How do I assign my "belly dance" voicemail greeting to people who call my Google number? I just tried calling my regular mobile number from my landline and my BD greeting came up. Kinda defeats the purpose of having two personas. Am I missing something? ,r:;

If you called your regular mobile number, it wouldn't go through the google voice system at all as far as I know. Here is the help file for setting up the different voicemail greetings and groups: SMS and Voicemail - Google Voice Help

OK, I toggled around with a couple of settings and I think it's working now. Turns out I had to uncheck the box that forwards my Google number voicemails to my mobile phone.

Don't mind me, I'm a recovering technophobe! ..l;,

I love having a separate phone number for the Bellydance Intensive. It sure does make my life easier. I use RingCentral, although I think any service that helps you separate your belly business from the mundane stuff is fabulous.

I can now answer the phone appropriately, I can set "hours" so I don't get calls a 3am, I get .wav files emailed to me, and I was able to set up extensions for my staff members.

Originally Posted by crystalllized

I did request an invitation for Google Voice. How long does that normally take?

It took 4 months!

YEAH I finally got my Google Voice number!!!!!
It took me a half hour to decide whether to get a new Google number or use my old phone number with PowerPhone. In the end I decided it was worth it to print up new business cards and just get a Google number.

I even got the word "belly" into my new phone number :)

For the purpose of dance and and having a "business line," I bought a Magic Jack and it works perfectly fine. It has voicemail and number caller ID. I've never tried this Google service but I wanted to suggest the Magic Jack for anyone else considering a separate phone line.

You choose whatever area code and number you want and you can even get a "vanity" number like (555)BELLY-DANCE dirt cheap. You get your number right away, and you get 911 access.

You just plug it into a USB port on your pc or laptop and plug a regular house phone into it. You can even use it to fax.

It's only $39.99 and you can get it at CVS or Walgreens. $39.99 includes your first year of service and it only costs $19.99 a year. To use a Magic Jack it's costs about $1.67 per month but you only pay for service once a year and you can either buy one year at a time or five years at a time. What's even more neat about the MJ is that you can take it with you along with a house phone when you travel in America or abroad and you can make phone calls home and it's like dialing locally so there's no long distance charges.

That's what I use for my bellydance business. It not only separates everything but it's way cheaper than getting a phone line at home or running up my cell phone minutes.

Am I really the only one who uses 2 cell phones? .w.:

Originally Posted by saheli

You choose whatever area code and number you want and you can even get a "vanity" number like (555)BELLY-DANCE dirt cheap.

I got a vanity number for the Intensive, although it was hard to find one that wasn't already taken. We got 1-888-LV-RAKS-U (1-888-587-2578). It was the closest belly related term that wasn't taken, although it's generally only actual belly dancers that get it. I don't use is on ads geared towards the general public because of it.

I am going to look into some of these options - I've been meaning to do this forever; since I like to screen my bellydance calls (because I really, really hate having my work day interrupted by someone asking for info about my classes that is CLEARLY spelled out on my website) I usually just ignore my cell phone, which pisses off my actual friends and family!

Here's another comical G-voice translation:

"Hi, it's Sharon, I'm at Harvard"

when the caller said

"Hi, it's Jan, I'm at Starbucks"

whoops!!

I still like the service, but make sure to listen carefully ;)

hahahaha Here's my favorite so far:

Hi Crystal, this is Doctor from Seattle mice so forth. And of course we 778 have a M. Benidez scene for my delivery. Did T is supplemental on July 17th okay. Hi V, about how I was. Please call me back. Might 788 at equipped or 6. Thank you.

OMG, are these for real?? LMAO!!