said by hfrisch :

From looking at GV and setting up my mobile on an existing account, it seems that the "new" Google Voice is no different from the old one. To set up Google Voice mail for the mobile, they give instructions on how to forward your phone (T-Mobile in my case) using the T-Mobile Call Forward Busy/No Answer feature. The call then goes to the regular Google Voice account. None of the other GV features work since GV is terminating the call after it came from T-Mobile rather than being first in line for the incoming call.

For an outbound Click to Call, it sends the Google Voice number, not the mobile number - nothing there is changed.

said by hfrisch :

It is the same service as before - you simply forward your phone to a number that they give you. This could be your Google Voice number if you have one, or it could be a different number.

said by hillsdalebob :

Hmm, I just got a new GV account for my mother. It assigned her a number. There was no choice about it - if we wanted to set up an account we had to pick a number. When she makes a call using click2call that number shows up as the caller ID.

said by dyrewolfe :

or is this what your talking about?

said by dyrewolfe :

or is this what your talking about? The option to use your existing number? This is from the account I haven't set up yet. First time I've seen this choice.

said by prestonlewis :

He is talking about the new feature in Google Maps. You lookup an address in Google Maps and there is a business balloon with the business name, address, etc. There is now a "call" button. You enter your phone number, Google calls you and connects you to the business' phone number.

It was formerly called "Google Connect" but they've changed the name to click2call apparently.

Right now, it's only available in the US and only works for businesses that show up on Google maps. It's called the "click to call advertising program".

Google is not sharing your phone number with the business due to privacy concerns. CallerID is blocked for the business receiving the call via Google.

Google is paying the phone bill at the moment, not the business, so they have no right to your phone number.

For your convenience, Google says they will store the numbers you call using this new feature for 4 months on your computer in a cookie. The idea is that if you want to call the business again or need their number, you'll still have it. There is some opt out for the cookie, haven't tried that yet so I'm not sure how it works nor do I know how you go about looking up a business you've called.

Here's a link to the privacy page for the new click to call advertising service:
»www.google.com/help/privacy_clicktocall.html

said by tom thomas :

no this is not what i am asking about! see above!

said by andre2 :

I don't know why they introduced such confusion into the product.

said by RockyBB :

They are targeting a piece of market that doesn't need any additional out-calling options, but would benefit from a single voicemail box, and its features.

they couldn't care less if a small subset of existing GoogleVoice customers are confused.

said by andre2 :

He's talking about the new "Use your existing number" option for GV (as opposed to getting a GV number). I thought it was perfectly clear from the subject line, since GV had just introduced this option.

Edit: Looking at your link, it appears that Click2call is available with "Use your existing number" (see the 2 pictures at the bottom), but it doesn't say which number is shown in the outgoing caller ID.

Edit: The question was asked in the following Google Voice Help thread:

»www.google.com/support/forum/p/v···7d&hl=en

The answer, from joejmac on 10/31/2009, was

It will display your voicemail number they give you. What makes this "use your own number" option so pointless is that they do actually give you a number. The other features, however, are disabled and they just give you directions to use your cell phone to check voicemail. This is a feature that is able to be done with the google number as well. I don't know why they introduced such confusion into the product.

said by tom thomas :

if they are really giving out voice mail numbers(as opposed to using shared numbers that determine the voice mail box to forward to based on the number called) i think it would be reasonable speculation that they are looking at this being the new free service with the original setup being a possible paid premium option. if true than hopefully they will grandfather in the current beta users.

said by josephf :

Google stated in a very recent FCC filing that it has no near-term plans to charge its users for using GV services.

said by josephf :

Google stated in a very recent FCC filing that it has no near-term plans to charge its users for using GV services.

"Google pays for the costs of operating GV and treats the service as part of its larger suite of free Web-enabled software applications for consumers. GV's philopsophy regarding pricing is to provide as much functionality and service as possible for free to all of our users. When underlying costs do not allow this, GV may decide to charge a fee in order to continue to provide the features and functionalities currently offered by GV. Google has no near-term plans to charge its users for using GV services."

»google.com/googleblogs/pdfs/goog···2809.pdf

said by josephf :

Why specifically Ooma buyers? You're comment should be applicable to every VOIP provider.

said by tom thomas :

presumably the whole OOMA business model of 'unlimited for life' after purchasing the device is to go after the cost sensitive crowd. these are the people most likely to go for a free service.