[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] jondoe1482:
yes, android 7.1.1

build NMJ32F

---------- Post added at 07:14 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:00 AM ----------

UPDATE:

Interesting afternoon. De-integrating Google Voice still seems to have solved the duplicate text problems. Since that time, text have been working perfectly. However, after getting rid of Voice, I no longer had voicemail. Figured that would be a simple thing to set up the regular ol' voicemail dial-in on the phone, but soon found out that this was not the case. Spoke with Sprint chat and over the phone tech support up to the 3rd tier with no resolution. Could not activate voicemail on my phone. On Sprint, the Essential has no voicemail app. Should be able to just dial the phone number to get it, but this just repetitively gave me a busy signal. So, after striking out with tech support again (6 hours of this crap today), I decided to try to find my own workaround, oddly enough, using Google Voice. I signed up for a new Google Voice number (different number than my Sprint #) through the Voice website. I then used Sprint's call forwarding to forward unanswered calls from the phone to the Google Voice number, which triggers Google Voice voicemail. I downloaded the app onto the phone again and signed in, but skipped the integration steps for text messaging to make this a voicemail only service. Everything seems to be working just fine!!! Hopefully it stays that way.

These instructions were in the Sprint Community Forum regarding call forwarding (I only did the *73 step. The rest may be useful to others, but I didn't need it):

"SPRINT CONDITIONAL CALL FORWARD

Conditional call forwarding is free and included in all plans.

There are two types of Conditional Call Forwarding you can choose from:

Line Busy – Only sends calls to an alternate number if you have two calls active at the same time (e.g. you are on a call and have a call waiting)

No Answer – Only sends calls to an alternate number if you don't answer your phone

Note: You may opt to forward your calls to two different numbers for Conditional Call Forwarding by simply completing both steps 1 and 2 below. You can forward calls to one number when your mobile number is busy, and a different number if you do not answer.

Setup instructions and Star (*) codes for managing each type of conditional call forward are listed below. After each * code,

- You might hear a robotic confirmation and/or beep, then you may disconnect.

- Test and verify the change by calling with a different phone.

1. No Answer (*73/*730)

• Turn on just Conditional Call Forward - No Answer

Dial *73 plus the 10-digit number you are forwarding your calls to (e.g. *73555-555-5555).

Press Call

Your calls will now forward to the 10-digit number you entered for when your mobile number is busy.

• Turn off conditional Call Forward - No Answer

Dial *730 >> Press Call

Google Voice will no longer receive your voicemails.

If you do not answer, calls will default to Sprint Voicemail (if set up) or not take voicemail.

2. Line Busy (*74/*740)

• Turn on just Conditional Call Forward - Busy

Dial *74 plus the 10-digit number you are forwarding your calls to (e.g. *74555-555-5555).

Press Call

Your calls will now forward to the 10-digit number you entered for when your mobile number is busy.

• Turn off Conditional Call Forward - Busy

Dial *740 >> Press Call

All your calls will begin ringing on your phone again.

If you do not switch calls, they will default to Sprint Voicemail (if set up) or not take voicemail.

All other "google voice not working" issues

I followed all the Sprint instructions here

Sprint and Google Voice: Known issues and solutions

https://www.sprint.com/landings/googlevoice/?ECID=vanity:googlevoice

- I am not a corporate, et al, customer.

- I am not using call tones or ringback tones

- My account is *not* suspended, on seasonal standby, marked as lost or stolen, or past due.

I followed all the Note 4 specific Sprint instructions here

Troubleshoot issues related to Google Voice on your Samsung Galaxy Note 4

http://support.sprint.com/support/article/Troubleshoot-issues-related-to-Google-Voice-on-your-Samsun...

- Mobile data verified turned on

- PRL updated

- Verified that Google Voice settings are configured correctly.

- I performed a battery-removed soft reset

- Signed out of Google Voice app

- Cleared all cache from Google Voice app

- Cleared all data from Google Voice app

I also followed the instructions by Red Letterman (first post) here

https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/voice/Oz_4Eazekr8

- Signed out of Google Voice/powered off and on again

- Logged into Google Voice online and deleted the phone from Google Voice service

- Rebooted all the things (phone and browser)

- Added phone back to Google Voice again and dialed 2 digit code to verify

- Logged into Google Voice app on phone, skipped integration"