numbers only, and starts at about $10 per month and also offers SmartLine Toll Free for about $20 per month. Burner offers monthly (roughly $5 per line, per month) and yearly subscription options, as well as prepaid options for minutes and texts. Individual or personal phone number providers, such as Burner or TextNow, focus on letting an individual gain a second number to use ( Figure C). serves individual/personal needs, while Workspace with Voice scales to serve large enterprises in several countries. For example, Google Voice serves both: the free Voice offering in the U.S. The distinction tends to be whether the service lets an administrator centrally manage multiple numbers, as well as whether or not the service offers advanced features. Second number providers generally seek to serve either individual/personal use or business use. Upgrade options that offer more features are available for both Workspace and Voice.įigure B Currently, Google Workspace with Google Voice is available in 13 countries around the world, including the U.S. Then, to that you’ll add a Voice subscription, for as little as $10 per user, per month for Google Voice Starter edition. First, you’ll need a Google Workspace plan, which starts at $6 per user, per month for the Business Starter edition. This option requires you to be a paying Workspace customer. This is Google’s business-oriented phone service that works well with Workspace, and can scale to handle a variety of business-oriented needs, such as call forwarding, ring groups and multi-level auto-attendant routing. or much of the U.S., you might consider Google Workspace with Google Voice ( Figure B). Workspace with Google VoiceĪs of now, if you’re in Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, U.K. It’s an excellent way to add a second phone number for calls.įigure A Google Voice is the obvious choice for people in the United States who need an alternative to phone calling in classic Hangouts. Google Voice lets you place and receive calls from your assigned Google Voice number on the web or with mobile apps (Android and iOS) ( Figure A). SEE: How to become a Google Docs power user (free PDF) (TechRepublic) Google Voice for personal useįor people in the U.S., the simplest option may be to sign up for a free personal Google Voice account. If you used classic Hangouts for phone calls, the following options are potential alternatives. That’s convenient, since it allows people to protect the privacy of a personal device’s phone number, while also making it possible to manage calls for a second number for work, for example. Several services let you place and receive calls from a number other than the phone number provisioned to your device by your mobile carrier. That means people in Canada who may have relied on the classic Hangouts phone call feature unfortunately can’t switch to the free version of Google Voice. and Canada, but free Google Voice numbers and features were available only in the United States. Put simply, classic Hangouts phone calling worked in the U.S. Google Voice as a classic Hangouts replacement presents a bit of a challenge. What's hot at TechRepublicĬhatGPT cheat sheet: Complete guide for 2023Ħ best alternatives for 2023 (Free & Paid) The features of an all-in-one app split into five (or so) other apps. Need phone calling? Go with Google Voice. Currently a Google Fi customer? Switch back to that and maybe the Messages By Google app. Need individual or group discussions? Use Chat. Here are some additional options to explore.Īs Google continues its quest to replace classic Hangouts and moves features and functions to other apps, some app transitions are apparent. For people in the United States, a move to Google Voice makes sense, but the free version of Google Voice isn't available everywhere.
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