geek is a verb.

I have been eagerly awaiting my invite to Google Voice – and it has arrived.

Now the typical use of Google Voice is an interesting one – a virtual number that you publish as your phone number, then configure to ring your home, cell, or another number you want, or ring them all! One number you provide to friends and colleagues, then configure to work the way you want to be contacted.

You can read about all the features at Google, but the feature I have been waiting for is the free voice transcription. I am now able to configure my cell phone to send voicemail to Google Voice, which will then convert the message to text and either email or sms the message to me. This handles any number of scenarios where I can get away with peeking down at my phone, but not picking up the phone and dialing into voicemail.

Here is how it works!

First, configure Google Voice to answer the phone, take a message, and send you a transcription:

1. Logon to your Google Voice account and, click on “Settings” in the upper right hand corner of the screen
2. On the “General Settings” tab, enable “Do Not Disturb” and “Voicemail Transcripts”
3. Also on the “General Settings” tab, set your desired notifications – I SMS them to my phone but you can also get email notifications.

Then, configure your cell phone to forward callers to your Google Voice number instead of the cell phone providers voicemail.

1. If you have GSM like me (AT&T) read GsmFeatures and pay attention to the call forwarding section. Alternatively, blindly follow my instructions. You may want to check to confirm any forwarding charges for your cell phone service provider.
2. If you have a non-GSM provider (check here), skip the remainer of these steps and use the correct ones for your cell provider to forward unanswered calls to your google voice number. I googled instructions for Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile to save you some time, but since I cannot test them, you’re on your own…
3. Enter the following into your phone: *61*NNNNNNNNN*11*15# and press “Call”. “8005551212” is replaced with your google voice number. The “15” at the end is the number of seconds you want your phone to ring before going to voicemail. It can be 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, or 30. If it’s going to be 30, why even bother doing this, nobody is going to wait that long to leave a message except your mom.
4. If you panic, you can undo it by entering “##004#” and pressing “Call”.

All set. Now someone calls and if I don’t answer, they leave a message with magical Google Voice who kindly transcribes it and sends me an SMS. The transcriptions aren’t always 100%, but they are almost always good enough that I “get the message”. Plus, since I am an Apple fanboy, I have decent iPhone application, GV Mobile, that lets me listen to the messages just like AT&T Visual Voice.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Welcome! I have proudly worn the mantle of geek for many years now. I spend an enormous amount of my time “geeking” around with technology – i.e. tinkering and trying this and that until I get it just right. I hope you enjoy my findings and they enrich your life.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites