Does anyone here know how to use Google Voice?

[True Colors]

Hello. I have recently signed up for google voice. It seems to work great for incoming calls. As far as I can tell, everything in regard to those is fine.

However, whenever I try to make an outgoing call, it does not work. I click on "call" and I enter the number that I want it to dial, it ACTS like it is calling the number, but it does NOT actually make the call for me.

What am I doing wrong?

Thanks,

TC

[aedipuss]

did you try google voice support?

[jman98]

Yes, I have used Google Voice. Long story short - I had a fairly easy to guess (I admit it) password on a Skype account. I got hacked and hackers used up about $8-9 of my remaining credits. I found out and changed my password and they were kept out and did no further damage. I contacted Skype and they admitted that the calls were all fraudulent. Care to guess how much they reimbursed me for? ZERO. They said basically "We know the calls weren't made by you, but it cost money to make them and we already paid for the calls so since you got hacked you have to pay for them". So I got PISSED OFF big time and I got a Google Voice account. I paid for $10 worth of Google Voice credits because I sometimes make calls internationally and I was really unimpressed. I had a LOT of weird issues making international calls with Google Voice. In the end I had so many issues that once I used up the credits I grumbled and went back to Skype only I am now using a very secure password. I should mention that my issue with Skype happened BEFORE Microsoft bought them.

Google Voice works well for US based calls, but there is one thing you need to understand. It will NOT call certain numbers. There is a free conference line system that can be reached by a toll call (what I mean is that the use of the conference system is free, but the number to reach it is not a toll free number in the USA) that I use for a meeting once every two months and no voice over IP service will connect to the number. The ISPs refuse to allow calls to this site. It is really an ISP issue rather than a Google issue, but that doesn't solve the problem. Also, it's tricky to find the Google Voice setup and if you are using a headset you need to be aware that by default Google Voice will try to use something other than your headset to make calls and you have to explicitly tell it via a config option to use your USB headset. Finally, you do know that Google Voice requires a plugin to be installed on ALL operating systems, right? If you did not yet install the plugin, you cannot make outgoing calls. Any of these things could possibly be tripping you up.

[jimdagys]

I have limited computer ability and I have been using Google Voice for making the occasional call for years. Therefore, I would say that it has passed the user friendly test. I've used it on Windows xp public computers (download the plugin), but generally on Windows7 public computers, you cannot download the plugin, and therefore can't make any calls.

[bevills1]

I initially had the same problem but finally realized the cause. In Google voice just below where number you're calling is a drop down window with 2 options. If the choice of Google Talk is selected, it won't make the call to you, but selecting the Home option from the drop down will call you. There's also a box to check to "Remember my choice" for the drop down selection.