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Old May 14, 2016 | 11:47 am
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Google Voice Drawbacks?

I'm really sick of calls on my Verizon account from "Unknown", "No Caller ID", or from a huge, shifting assortment of specific numbers that turn out to be marketing calls or political solicitations.

So I'm pretty much ready to sign up for Google Voice, or a similar service. What's stalled me is a possible issue around "number porting," or retaining the same phone number. According to Google, when you do this the carrier cancels your current plan, which for me is a joint plan with my wife.

Is there likely to be an issue reinstating the exact same plan with Verizon once the number is ported? Are there other services that do the job better than GV, or is it preferable just to bear the hassle of getting a new phone number when signing up with them?
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Old May 14, 2016 | 1:04 pm
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Originally Posted by Explore
I'm really sick of calls on my Verizon account from "Unknown", "No Caller ID", or from a huge, shifting assortment of specific numbers that turn out to be marketing calls or political solicitations.

So I'm pretty much ready to sign up for Google Voice, or a similar service. What's stalled me is a possible issue around "number porting," or retaining the same phone number. According to Google, when you do this the carrier cancels your current plan, which for me is a joint plan with my wife.

Is there likely to be an issue reinstating the exact same plan with Verizon once the number is ported? Are there other services that do the job better than GV, or is it preferable just to bear the hassle of getting a new phone number when signing up with them?
I think if you inform them you're porting the number but want to keep the account open with a new number they should be able to accommodate.
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Old May 15, 2016 | 9:51 pm
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Originally Posted by Explore
I'm really sick of calls on my Verizon account from "Unknown", "No Caller ID", or from a huge, shifting assortment of specific numbers that turn out to be marketing calls or political solicitations.

<snip>

Are there other services that do the job better than GV, or is it preferable just to bear the hassle of getting a new phone number when signing up with them?
Sync.ME is an app that performs reverse phone lookups and blocks calls from known spammers and unwanted callers.
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Old May 16, 2016 | 3:54 pm
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Originally Posted by Explore
I'm really sick of calls on my Verizon account from "Unknown", "No Caller ID", or from a huge, shifting assortment of specific numbers that turn out to be marketing calls or political solicitations.

So I'm pretty much ready to sign up for Google Voice, or a similar service. What's stalled me is a possible issue around "number porting," or retaining the same phone number. According to Google, when you do this the carrier cancels your current plan, which for me is a joint plan with my wife.

Is there likely to be an issue reinstating the exact same plan with Verizon once the number is ported? Are there other services that do the job better than GV, or is it preferable just to bear the hassle of getting a new phone number when signing up with them?
Just forward your cell number to the GV number. Problem solved.
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Old May 16, 2016 | 9:02 pm
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Originally Posted by Explore
So I'm pretty much ready to sign up for Google Voice, or a similar service. What's stalled me is a possible issue around "number porting," or retaining the same phone number. According to Google, when you do this the carrier cancels your current plan, which for me is a joint plan with my wife.
It depends on the carrier, but assuming you are out of contract, cancelling one line of a family plan usually does not cancel the whole plan. That is something you should confirm with Verizon, however.
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Old May 16, 2016 | 10:23 pm
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Porting to Google Voice won't stop spam. Download Truecaller which helps identify and block spam
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Old May 17, 2016 | 3:52 pm
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Originally Posted by joshwex90
Porting to Google Voice won't stop spam. Download Truecaller which helps identify and block spam
Actually, GV's SPAM blocking has been quite good for me. I get about one SPAM call a year. When I get that call, I log into the GV portal and flag as SPAM to improve their detection.

Edited to add: I just logged into my GV account and looked in the SPAM folder at all the calls I never got. The voicemail transcripts are pretty obvious:

Originally Posted by Spammer
To receive a free cruise to the Bahamas so congratulations you have heard correctly it is a cruise to the bahamas for 2 people and like most cruises all the expenses are included we would like for you to participate in a short survey and at the end of the survey you will be awarded your free cruise. Let's get started, okay. I'm sorry. I didn't hear you clearly to receive your complimentary cruise tickets and to start the survey please say yes, otherwise please say know to be removed from National statistical survey studies. Okay, sorry to a bothered you we will remove you from our list immediately.
Originally Posted by Spammer
A complimentary stay in one of our five star hotels for further details press 1 now to be placed on the do not call list press 2 now.
Originally Posted by Spammer
To receive a free cruise to the Bahamas so congratulations you have heard correctly it is a cruise to the bahamas for 2 people and like most cruises all the expenses are included we would like for you to participate in a short survey and at the end of the survey you will be awarded your free cruise. Let's get started, okay. I'm sorry. I didn't hear you clearly to receive your complimentary cruise tickets and to start the survey please say yes, otherwise please say know to be removed from National statistical survey studies. Okay, sorry to have bothered you. We will remove you from our list immediately.
Originally Posted by Spammer
To your current credit card accounts. There's no problems currently with your accounts. It is urgent however that you contact us concerning your eligibility for lowering your interest rates to as little as 6.9% your eligibility expires shortly, so please consider this your final notice please press 1 now on your phone to speak with a live operator and lower your interest rates or press 2 to discontinue further notices. Thank you and have a great day.
Originally Posted by Spammer
I'm sorry. I didn't hear you clearly this is Lisa with the green study survey company can you hear me okay? Sorry to have bothered you today.
Originally Posted by Spammer
I'm sorry there could be a bad connection this is Jennifer with online reward Center, Can you hear me okay?
Originally Posted by Spammer
h position available for a business like yours and can guarantee front page placement with unlimited clicks 24 hours a day at a flat rate on google press the one key right now to see if you qualify and are interested in receiving calls from customers locally searching for your type of business please press 1 now or press the two key to be removed thank you
Seems like Google Voice filters SPAM to me!

Last edited by elCheapoDeluxe; May 17, 2016 at 4:05 pm
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Old May 18, 2016 | 10:51 am
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Originally Posted by elCheapoDeluxe
Actually, GV's SPAM blocking has been quite good for me. I get about one SPAM call a year. When I get that call, I log into the GV portal and flag as SPAM to improve their detection.
In addition to the spam filter, I use Google Voice's caller announcement/screening for those not in my address book. This means even if it is not totally spam, but I don't recognize the number, but after i hear the name, and it is not a call I'm interested, I can reject the call. Useful for things like annoying sales people that call way too often and such but wouldn't totally classify as "spam".
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Old May 20, 2016 | 7:25 am
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The only issue I have with Google Voice is not receiving images over text. Need to go online to view them.
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Old May 20, 2016 | 10:03 am
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Originally Posted by newaarondavidson
The only issue I have with Google Voice is not receiving images over text. Need to go online to view them.
The MMS can be a little annoying because it is handled differently, but if you have the MMS sent to your gmail account you can still get it on your phone.
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Old May 22, 2016 | 5:54 pm
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Originally Posted by newaarondavidson
The only issue I have with Google Voice is not receiving images over text. Need to go online to view them.
Originally Posted by elCheapoDeluxe
The MMS can be a little annoying because it is handled differently, but if you have the MMS sent to your gmail account you can still get it on your phone.
It also works fine if you're using the Hangouts app on your phone (Android or iOS). I've had MMS from Verizon take a few minutes to show up occasionally, but otherwise it works great.
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