dcman

Has anyone used Hangouts/Google voice over T-mobiles free international data?

If so how was the quality and did you have to use a US based VPN?

My understanding is the data is passed from the international carrier too T-mobile then to Google. So Google would not see my international IP only T-mobile's.

joshwex90

Thank you! It finally worked, and something that seemed so obvious from the get-go (GV ringing on Android) has finally come around

joshwex90

Does anyone know if it's possible to forward Google Voice calls to an international number for free?

I know that natively, GV can't forward to an international number.
I know that by using "extensions" I can do, but for a potentially high cost (such as TollFreeForwarding in which I can get an American number that will forward to an international number, and I can set up GV to forward to said American number).

I was wondering if anyone is aware of anything like the 2nd option, but for free?

It's nice that GV rings on my phone now, but data connections, especially over 2G and 3G (2G when traveling) just aren't so good, so would like a more reliably connection. Thanks!

CatJo

I don't think there is any way to do this for free - someone has to pay for that international call. An easy (and relatively inexpensive) way is to forward GV to a Localphone Incoming Number (which costs $1/month) and then in Localphone you can choose to forward that Incoming Number to the international one of your choice at their low rates.

lhrsfo

This is exactly what I do - works very well. I used to do essentially the same thing with Skype but would suffer from large numbers of dropped calls. So far that has not been an issue with Localphone.

Rocky2

I have an iphone 4s unlocked. I do have a plan here where i can use it with local calls or long distance calls to the usa but its more expensive. I previously was in canada and called the usa using my goolge voice on my laptop and it worked calling the usa. When i got back to usa, i got a google voice number and then noticed as long as i have wifi or data on... i can call and receive calls to my google voice number


When i went to mexico, i still used my google hangouts on my iphone and on gmail and it worked calling the USA. Recently however, i uninstalled hangouts on iphone because it had some problems then installed it again. When i try to make calls from google hangouts to usa number, it will say it cost 1 cent a minute. Is this b/c they see im actually in mexico and not usa/canada now? I assume this was b/c i uninstall and installed hangouts which is probably why they noticed? Earlier i had no issues at all. Or did something change with google hangouts?


However... it does seem i could make calls from google hangouts on laptop to usa number .... however... it doesn't work anymore. Back then it always worked even in mexico. Can someone give me advice on why i can't use google hangouts anymore? right before i call on laptop, says call to usa and canada are free. But im guessing they notice im in mexico now? I have no clue.


What are other alternatives to calling to the usa? Would it work if i pay and get google voice credit? Thus $10 and its 1 cent a minute? Or would that not work either? Or should i get skype? Skype seems more expensive as pay as you go is 1.7 cent a minute plus a connection fee for 3.5 cents each time or so. The only good thing would be get unlimited skype and pay 5 dollars a month or so but does this include receiving calls as well?


Is there any alternative to call free from Mexico to usa? I guess when google hangout worked, i thought great b/c its free so i would talk a lot on it back to the usa. Also i would be calling a voip number back in the usa or mobile. Thus i know if other person use skype etc, then its free since skype to skype.

jrmstr33

Just wanted to provide my .02 here. I've been using Google Voice on a regular basis for the past 5+ years. I have an iPhone 6 setup with the a SIP Gateway and Groundwire as my SIP client currently. I will be testing this out first hand in Italy next week. Seems to work just fine over Verizon LTE here in the US. Hoping to report the same for overseas.

In my past travels, I've had success with GVJack in Thailand (connected to a reliable wireless connection at the hotel). http://www.pcphonesoft.com/gvjackappdetails.html Also, back in the hay day found success using Talkatone in Brazil and around Europe. But I believe those days are long gone since Google dropped XMPP support last year.

State side, Obitalk cannot be beat. I have both an Obi110 and Obi200 (the latter which I plan to take with me (with wireless adapter) on my travels as a backup to the softphone solution).

jrmstr33

Just following up after a week in Rome.. The setup I described above with the Groundwire iOS app over TIM LTE (4G is how it shows up on the phone) and even their 3G (HSPDA+) worked flawlessly per my tests. Didn't even bother testing the Obi solution, as the soft phone route was more than sufficient for my needs

Insiderdude

OK, just bumping this thread - newbie question:

I have an iphone 6 on Verizon here in Cali. My primary cell number is via Google Voice, using only the native Google Voice ios app. I do NOT use hangouts, or any other third party app. I like dialing out using the GV app using my Verizon minutes here stateside. Overseas, I want to use the GV native IOS app to use my phone - I'm OK roaming on minutes and paying for long distance (it's a company phone) SO LONG AS I get to keep on dialing out showing my Google Voice number which I use at home all the time. I don't want to mess with wifi calls, hangouts, etc.

Problem is that when I tried to dial out using the native GV ios app when I landed in Dublin, it gave me some type of error and won't allow me to dial out ... I'm fully activated on roaming / overseas dialing and data (I can call and surf on the base verizon number on this iphone 6). By using GV, I thought I was just dialing the GV access number in the US and it will route me like normal as if I was stateside? Again, I don't care about wifi calling, etc., I just want to use the GV ios app and dial the US access number like I do at home, showing my GV number. (Inbound calls to my GV number work just fine; it just forwards it to my roaming base VZW number and I pay for roaming minutes when I pick up). As for my outbound calls, what's wrong?? Is it because the GV ios app detects the fact I'm not using a US or Canadian IP address? BTW, I can do this perfectly fine in Canada ... using the GV ios app calling outbound like I do normally here in California.

Help?

sal930

I live abroad, but my business is US-based, so I need a US number to ring to me. Skype is absolutely horrible, so I was thinking of switching to Google Voice, because I can also send/receive texts.

I was thinking of porting from Skype > T-Mobile > Google Voice, but I was wondering if I was going to have problems using Google Voice outside the US. It seems all I would really need is a VPN that would give me a US IP and I'd be all set? Has anyone used a US IP abroad with Google Voice and had success? If so, does it affect phone quality at all?

Thanks in advance!

Dubai Stu

I can't help but think that the problem isn't Skype but your internet connection. If your internet connection isn't good this switch won't help you. I would test the quality of the connection in terms of latency and speed first. If you have a mediocre and pile a VPN on top of it, you're going to have a problem.

Where are you? Are you using dedicated hardware or a soft client on your mobile phone? Are you using wired internet or relying on cellular internet?

gfunkdave

Agree with Stu - though I'll also say that I've used Google Voice outside the US without a VPN without trouble.

marcelinhio

Hey guys,

Had the same issue the last few weeks while trying being a digital nomad staying in several countries but continue working.

I tried sonetel.com (great looking website, crap service -> they route your calls through their service to your local sim) so sound quality was always good but the app is just too buggy

Skype for business or skype number didnt have a number for singapore so there for useless for me.

Then i found a great startup from france backed by 500 startups www.aircall.io

They recently launched the iOS App and have a mac app as well. You can either use it private or with your companies as the UI is simply amazing and you can see on their trello board what will be up next (vote for features)

As this service had the most numbers available and porting is also possible and everything just worked i choosed them. If you use it for your business you can also connect it to zendesk.

Really awesome. If you have any other service close to that let me pls know - am always curious to find alternatives.

nkedel

What's do you find horrible about Skype?

If it's their pricing on Skype-to-phone, this might be a good plan, but IME, they tend to have the best voice quality over slow/bad connections, and if you can't get good voice signal on them, in my experience, you won't on Google Voice.

You also need at least temporary access to a US phone number separate from the one you are porting; they can detect other Google Voice numbers -- I don't know if they can detect other VoIP providers.

You only need the VPN to set up the account (and should not use the voice connections over VPN, which is likely to make any voice quality issues worse.)

It does work if you have a fast enough connection (I've used one of my prior employer's VoIP servers while abroad, and that required using the corporate VPN) but there is no reason to do so with Google Voice.

GUWonder

I know lots of people who have Google Voice US numbers by setting them up using US cellphone or US Vonage numbers and have been using Google Voice in conjunction with say Vonage without issue (even without using VPN or any other kind of routing games) for years.