yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[General Topics] tokuzumi:
If you have calls to your GV number forwarded to the cell number associated with the sim card, it will always use the plan minutes. Wi-Fi, no Wi-Fi, mobile data turned off, etc. The only way GV calls will not use cellular plan minutes is to use a VoIP service. For the next week, I'm using Talkatone (until Google drops XMPP support). Calls to my GV number ring my talkatone app. No cell plan minutes are used, because it's a VoIP call. If I make outgoing calls via talkatone, it is VoIP, and doesn't use my cell plan minutes.
[General Topics] TheDannemand:
Exactly.

[MENTION=2558301]Caebron[/MENTION], I think the confusion may be that you were expecting the GV app to also provide VoIP (calling over WiFi or Mobile Data). But Google only supports VoIP calls with Gmail on a computer and from Hangouts on iOS. We're all hoping and expecting they will do the same for Android users after May 15, but nothing is confirmed yet.

The GV app only serves to send/receive SMS from your GV number AND to direct outgoing calls through your GV number -- but still using minutes.

Using your GV number to make/receive free calls and SMS is actually quite a hassle -- although it's doable, either with apps such as Talkatone or GrooveIP or (even more complex) through SIP. That's why I recommend waiting a little longer till Google has told us their intentions.
[General Topics] andy o:
A warning though, Voxer is a bit shady. They don't only use your contacts' numbers to build the contact list on their app like most others (Whatsapp, Viber, Line, Kakao, etc), but they "match" you with other contacts. Which means, if someone has your number on their phone they will show up to you even if you don't have them in yours. So keep in mind that you'll be broadcasting some people that you've got their numbers on your phone's contact list.
[General Topics] wideasleep1:
Yep. I think Skype and Vonage do this too.
[General Topics] tokuzumi:
Here's a question to which I have yet to find an answer; I know you can make VoIP calls via hangouts in iOS, but can you receive calls through the app, if someone dials your GV number?
[General Topics] TheDannemand:
I would assume, yes, but I really don't know as I haven't tried it myself. I never owned or used an iOS device. Hopefully others can say.
[General Topics] Caebron:
I might still end up porting at some point. That way I can make free calls within the US and low cost international calls from my PC using GV while only having to give out one number to people. If someone wants to get ahold of me, it should still ring through to my cellphone when I'm not at home (I hope).

I'll wait until after May 15th though, and then possibly bundle with some other service such as Skype - or just use GV standalone. Worst case scenario I can always un-port the # from GV and go back to what I have now.
[General Topics] tokuzumi:
Keep in mind there is a $20 charge to port the number to GV, and I think there is a charge to port the number away from GV.
[General Topics] adrman:
Not if it's a number you ported in.
[General Topics] Caebron:
How do you toggle which number shows as Caller ID when calling or texting people? Once my TMo # is ported to GV , I want that number to show as Caller ID.

Currently it shows my T-Mo # on outgoing calls and texts - not my GV number.
[General Topics] tokuzumi:
Send texts via the Google voice app. You will need to find another way to send mms for the time being. And in the setup of Google voice on your phone, set it to make all calls through Google voice.
[General Topics] andy o:
Skype is old-school, you add someone and they accept it or not (via their Skype name). Vonage does it like the others I mentioned, only reads your contacts list and tells you which of them have Vonage installed, but it does not tell them you have their number. Conversely, if you appear in their Vonage contact list, then they must have had your number in their phone's contacts in the first place.
[General Topics] Joshmccullough:
I was in the same boat as you: prepaid doesn't support call forwarding, GV doesn't really work on prepaid plans like it does for postpaid, etc. Tons of people on these forums offered helpful tips, none seemed to work. One day: POOF, it just worked like I wanted it to. I wish I had a great recipe for how it happened, but for some reason the wireless gawdz just smiled on me one day.
[General Topics] wghisd:
Talkatone has its advantages. It's free and functional if you have a data signal.

If your data signal isn't strong enough your calls will not be clear. Text and mms works fine. Setup isn't as complicated and it doesn't use any plan minutes. It saves all of your texts and VMs in your mail inbox.

sent from S3 mobile
[General Topics] adrman:
For texts, you may also want to take a look at Sliding Messenger Pro It's a much better interface than the GV app, let's you pick a default # to text from or case by case and will also remember your preference for a given contact. Make sure to read the docs on how to set it up for GV notifications though.
[General Topics] serty4011:
From the situation you described, T-Mobile's prepaid "Unlimited data, texts, and minutes" $50 plan as shown here: http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-plans may suffice. The downside of course being the increase in price along with 4G access limited to the first GB. You'll save a few bucks on tax by purchasing your refill cards through http://www.callingmart.com
[General Topics] Joshmccullough:
If you're doing everything through GV, including texts, just set it up under Settings to use Google Voice to make all calls and it'll show your GV # for all calls.

As far as texts go: if you use the GV app exclusively for texting, it should show your GV #. There's no option un-rooted to have GV as your default texting app, tho. What I do is either us a CM or CM-based ROM which will include Voice+, which routes all texts through any app (I'm using Evolve SMS at the moment) through GV, or use the XVoice+ Xposed app to do the same thing for non-CM ROMs. This way, all in- and out-bound texts go through GV.
[General Topics] sirxdroid:
There's a chance the GV app as we know it may be killed too next week, functionality moved into Hangouts:

http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/0...hints-of-google-voice-smsmms-backup-and-more/
[General Topics] lchiu7:
Long post with lots of questions. Others have answered some of the queries so I will focus on your uncle;)

Get a Callcentric number and free DID. You can then setup the OBI100 for that service (there is a wizard in the OBIHAI configuration screens for Callcentric). Forward your uncle's Google Voice number to the Callcentric number. That means if somebody calls the GV number it will ring in Egypt.

For him to make low cost or free calls, then one way is for him to initiate calls from his PC using Google Voice (there is a plugin for Chrome). When you dial a number using Google Voice from a browser you get the option to use different lines based on what phones you have setup in Google Voice. The main choice is Google Talk which calls from the PC. But that might not be useful. Choose the line you have Callcentric assigned to. Google then calls the number you dialled and when it rings, calls your GV number back and presents you with a ringing tone for the originally called number. That of course will now be the phone attached to the OBI100. That call is now free to you.

As for setting it up remotely I would suggest using Teamviewer. I find it works great for remote accessing a PC.
[General Topics] trueiceman:
Is GV gone right now?

I think they pulled the plug, is hangouts working?
[General Topics] sirxdroid:
Still working for me, both via a OBI device and GrooveIP. I decided to not make any changes to see when and how it dies. What's very surprising is that there's no word from Google, nothing. Business as usual?
[General Topics] tokuzumi:
I have noticed that Talkatone won't allow me to connect to my Google Voice account. Gives me a "Talkatone contract with Google Voice has been terminated as of May 15, 2014", or something to that effect. It probably has more to do with programming on Talkatone's end, than it has with Google ending the XMPP support.
[General Topics] trueiceman:
ok my GV apps and Groove IP still work......for now, lol
[General Topics] sirxdroid:
Talkatone may have just decided to stop allowing access. I think they now have their own VOIP solution (paid?) so you can see why they'd want to push that too.
[General Topics] vitere:
Thank you
[General Topics] tokuzumi:
5gb
[General Topics] andy o:
Groove IP was updated today, they're using the ring.to service, and apparently calls are free, and setup is easy. Ring.to is a forwarding service though, like GV, so if you go online to your account you can set up forwarding to that number. If you don't have an account, I recommend setting it up through Groove IP. I made the mistake of opening the account on my PC, and I don't think there was an option to get a new number, only to port your current number. I decided to port my other GV number, for which I had to pay $3 to unlock. When I logged in with Groove IP though, right there in the app it asks you to choose a new number, so I canceled the port, and I'm out of $3.
[General Topics] lchiu7:
I noticed that also. I just deleted the app and now will use Vonage to make outgoing calls and my GV number forwarded to a SIP account attached to the phone for incoming calls. When Vonage start charging I will just use Google Voice callback to my SIP number
[General Topics] tokuzumi:
I wonder when Google will update Hangouts to merge Google Voice capabilities (at least sms/mms)? Not that I expect them to make this top priority, but would be nice to know what they have planned for Google Voice.
[General Topics] sirxdroid:
Meanwhile I hope they leave XMPP on until it breaks for other reasons as opposed to just shutting it down forcefully.
[General Topics] tokuzumi:
In doing a search for XMPP in the Play Store, I came across the following app:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.moplus.gvphone

It does allow you to make calls from your GV number. I am also able to receive calls. I set it up just like I did with Talkatone. In your GV settings (must be done on a computer), put a check in the "Forward calls to Google Chat".

This app hasn't been updated in a while, so I'm not sure how much longer this is going to last. But it allows you to wring the last drop of support for the XMPP exploit in Google Voice.
[General Topics] sirxdroid:
So does the older version of GrooveIP, still works, just don't update to the latest version.
[General Topics] muyoso:
As does my Csipsimple and PBXes setup. Just tested it again.
[General Topics] Ash359:
I ditched the spare phone app and have been using magic jack app to make voip calls.

However the calls keep dropping every 4 minutes.

I went and checked spare phone in the play store and it looks like they updated it so that it no longer places outgoing calls via Google voice.

However the older version still works.

I restored the previous version with titanium and so far so good.

If you haven't updated spare phone don't do it.

Is there a way to extract the .apk from titanium so I can keep it safe in my drop box?
[General Topics] sirxdroid:
If you don't find a way to do it with TiBu, ES File Explorer can backup apks, it's under App Management.
[General Topics] andy o:
Is there a reason you're doing that, since now Groove IP actually lets you do both incoming and outgoing for free on its own? Setup is even easier than with GV. There seems to be a bit less lag too since GV is not forwarding anymore.
[General Topics] sirxdroid:
Does this ring.to just use SIP or some other proprietary protocol?

And you would have to port your GV number to ring.to, from their web site it doesn't look like forwarding from GV to ring.to works, they are aware of the issue but there's no fix.
[General Topics] lchiu7:
Actually I didn't realise that. As soon as the new GrooveIP app came up asking me to join Call.To I deleted it.

Anyway based on your post I tried again and it seems to be fine. I got a number in an area code that I wanted, but the number wasn't that great in terms of ease of remembering it.

But it doesn't matter since I have forwarded my GV number to this one so people ringing my GV number will ring my cell via GrooveIP. I didn't like the fact that outgoing calls will show the new number so I will continue to use Google Voice Callback to make outgoing calls. It works pretty fast. Dial a number, GV Callback intercepts the call and asks if you want to dial normally or use callback (you can create a rule or number mask when GV Callback is invoked). I choose callback and within a second or two Google calls me back on my GrooveIP number and presents a ringing tone to the originally called number. And my CallerID is my GV number.

And it's free!
[General Topics] whitedragonz83:
Another option is Facebook messenger has a decent VOIP solution for taking to people you know on Facebook. I use this with my brother occasionally. Helps Dave minutes with the people I would talk to most.
[General Topics] sirxdroid:
Does this actually work? Ring.to says it does not:

https://bandwidth.uservoice.com/kno...-call-forwarding-not-working-via-google-voice
[General Topics] andy o:
That specific scenario is a "double forwarding" issue. Groove IP gives you a new number, which you can forward to from GV. You can also use that Groove IP/Ring.to number as a forwarding number (just like on GV you set up numbers to which that number will forward). Apparently if you just use that new number as an actual number and not a forwarding number (to a third number), it does work. I don't see why it wouldn't.

Ring.to, as it is on the website, sells itself as a forwarding service, not unlike Google Voice. But if you activate it through Groove IP, it is an actual VoIP service. And it's the only one that is fully free from what I can tell. Remains to be seen for how long.
[General Topics] lchiu7:
I think that is correct. I didn't check until I read the post about forwarding not working, but for just forwarding from my GV number to the one GrooveIP gave me, that works fine. I can't see forwarding again - not sure why.

As for the GrooveIP free number with Ring.to, does that apply only to the paid app (which I have) or to the free one also?

Let's see how long this works for.
[General Topics] sirxdroid:
How do you make outgoing calls via ring.to from GrooveIP? Do you just dial the number or you have to dial some other callback number first? Also, does anyone know what protocol ring.to uses? Plain SIP or something proprietary?
[General Topics] andy o:
I think it works in the free app too, though you probably will still see ads. No harm in trying.

You have to register your account through Groove IP. If you do on the web it doesn't let you create a new number, but only gives the option to port your existing number. Also, from what I can tell it's not a SIP account, you need to use Groove IP.
[General Topics] lchiu7:
You dial from the Groove IP app or from the native Android dialer. In the latter case you can tell the native dialer always to use Groove IP or only numbers that follow a certain expression.

I'm not using Groove IP to call because it sends the wrong caller ID for me so I call with Google Voice callback and have Google call back my ring.to number.
[General Topics] andy o:
So I've noticed something weird when doing this. Usually when you use callback, your phone will ring first and after you answer, the phone you're calling will start ringing. When I do this with the Groove IP number, both Groove IP and the phone I'm calling immediately start ringing. If the phone I'm calling to gets answered before, that person will hear ringing until I answer. This does not happen when using callback on my cel # and my callcentric account (using CSipSimple). I'm using Voice+ for callback.
[General Topics] acegolfer:
Free GV incoming/outgoing calls using Vonage Moible App

http://xdaforums.com/nexus-4/general/free-gv-incoming-outgoing-calls-using-t2754991
[General Topics] sirxdroid:
But ReachMe seems to stay active only for 2 weeks at a time, I assume you need to re-activate it every 2 weeks which is a pain, so it's not a permanent solution. And you probably get a different DID every time you re-activate, I doubt they assign you a permanent number.
[General Topics] acegolfer:
Excellent point.

I'll set the 2-wk interval to coincide with my paycheck date so that I remember to renew ReachMe.

BTW, with XMPP shutoff, is there any other way to make free incoming/outgoing GV wifi calls? (Please don't mention grandfathered methods.)
[General Topics] sirxdroid:
I think you can get a free incoming Callcentric number and run CSipSimple or similar on your phone (even the native Android dialer can be configured for SIP though the quality was not very good last I tried it). You forward your GV number to your Callcentric number to get free incoming calls. Then for outgoing you can pay Callcentric, but you said free, so you could use the GV callback method, GV can call you on your Callcentric number and connect you to the other party. Again not the perfect solution but it should work.

Or for outgoing you can use the Vonage app and set your GV number as the CID.
[General Topics] acegolfer:
Once again you are correct. How can I forget that trick as a paid callcentric customer?

However, my experience with that method 2 years ago was increased audio lag because GV was relaying 2 calls.

How's the quality these days?
[General Topics] joew134:
Not for me I hardly use any talk and prefer the 5gb of data
[General Topics] lchiu7:
I do that and do notice audio lag and sometimes echo on the line.

I think using GrooveIP might be better in this respect. Forward your GV number to the Ring.to number that GrooveIP assigns you. That seems to be work better than the SIP client in Android connected to Callcentric. Then for making calls use Google Voice callback but have it call the GrooveIP client instead of the SIP client.

With calls 1c/minute on many SIP providers, many people might think it's hardly worth the effort to do callback, but there is the satisfaction of getting free stuff;)
[General Topics] acegolfer:
If you are ok with GrooveIP call quality, then it's a no brainer. Keep the old GrooveIP apk and continue using it.

Unfortunately, my experience with GrooveIP (2 yrs ago) using Nexus 4 was the worst among 10+ different VOIP solutions. It was like talking into a tin cup. Has GrooveIP improved the call quality significantly in the last 2 years?
[General Topics] Joshmccullough:
+1

---------- Post added at 11:35 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:33 AM ----------

Speaking of all things VoIP and GV-related: has anyone heard/read anything more about when Google's flicking the switch and integrating GV into Hangouts and what that'll all look/operate like? There was a small flurry of activity the last couple of months and I've neither seen nor heard anything else about it.
[General Topics] acegolfer:
I have been monitoring this for a while because I use GV number for my cell phone and also for my home phone. From what I read, gtalk XMPP is still working but there's a risk that Google may shut it off at any time.

Not to take any risk, I have decided to go with Vonage for cell phone and callcentric for home phone. Both don't rely on XMPP. I can continue to use the same GV number as my number in both services.
[General Topics] lchiu7:
I am waiting to see also. My primary use for XMPP was for the Obitalk adapter that I use to keep in contact with my daughter. I have had her set the phone to connect to Callcentric with her GV number forwarding to it. but when we talk I just dial her Obitalk adapter using the **9300nnnnnn sequence. It's way less complicated for her :)
[General Topics] Anderson2:
Just got a text from T-Mobile telling me that my "requested change of plans" has gone through effective today. Since I have the $30 100 min unlimited data and text Walmart plan and had not requested any changes (!) I called to see what "changes" they had made. If I understood her correctly (she had a thick accent) they just added international texting for free. Not bad.
[General Topics] adrman:
Yeah I got the same thing a couple of weeks back when my monthly payment was debited. Usually it just says your account is renewed.
[General Topics] tokuzumi:
$50 plan only offers 1GB of data. $30 plan offers 5X that. The only benefit to the more expensive plan is unlimited talk. Both plans have unlimited texting.
[General Topics] muyoso:
The main drawback of the $30 plan is something no one ever talks about. There is no roaming at all on that plan. You are limited to T-Mobile towers only. I personally don't mind, but this means that when I take a road trip from DC to Cleveland for example, my smartphone is completely useless from 20 miles outside of DC to around 30 miles outside of Cleveland. So for 5 hours of the nearly 6 hour trip its no different than a flip phone. If you travel a lot this should be a major concern.
[General Topics] tokuzumi:
At that point, I'd probably use something like straight talk, using at&t. In my neck of the woods, I had great signal, even when traveling from Atlanta to myrtle beach.
[General Topics] ski522:
Not completely correct, there is some data roaming on AT&T's network per the fail bid by AT&T (apparently there was a penalty clause that if the buy-out didn't happen AT&T had to open up some of their network to T-Mobile). You are not charged extra for this and have occasionally found myself roaming onto AT&T's network, a T-Mobile rep told me about this when I was working on some issues with my N5. It does require you to turn on roaming and as the T-Mobile rep wrote me in an email:

"Most people turn data roaming off. It gives such a scary message about possible charges, and no one wants an unexpected bill. You have my written assurance right here that this won't happen within US boundaries."
[General Topics] whitedragonz83:
Cricket/AIO Wireless has been great for me. I miss aspects of T-Mobile, but wanted better coverage and unlimited minutes.
[General Topics] tokuzumi:
I only used it for 6 months, using at&t towers, because my at&t gs3 didn't do well with T-Mobile. I was never without signal, and even when traveling, I would only rarely see edge. But that was in unpopulated sections of highway. I only tried T-Mobile again when I bought my nexus 5, since it had support for all of their bands. I plan to stay where I am for now.
[General Topics] Gaffadin:
There is no data roaming on the $30 plan, but there is voice roaming. I believe voice roaming uses 2 minutes for every 1 minute you use, but I'm not 100% on that.
[General Topics] tokuzumi:
While not t-mobile related, when will google voice be integrated into hangouts? I'm tired of sending texts through the Google Voice app.
[General Topics] ski522:
That's not correct, there is some data roaming (including prepaid) on AT&T's network, but not all of their network. This was a penalty clause from the failed merger between AT&T and T-Mobile. You can check http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-coverage for coverage...the map list partner coverage.
[General Topics] tokuzumi:
Check the fine print (click on the "Important Coverage Details" at the bottom of the map):

"$30 and $35 monthy Pay-In-Advance plans, mobile internet pay in advance plans, and $2 and $3 Pay-By-Day plans do not include service partner data coverage. Pay as you go plans do not include data."