Google Voice is an extremely useful utility. I’m sure I don’t have to explain the values of having one phone number as a front door to all of the different ways of contacting you, or having a different outgoing message for different groups or call screening abilities. It is like having a switchboard at your disposal, something usually reserved for companies willing to shell out big bucks for such a service. Now, Joe Savvy can have a personal operator for free.
Unfortunately, the program is still young. There are a few features that are not available that would be really helpful, and while I’m sure they will be coming down the pipe eventually, they are sort of needed now. One thing in particular that I’m referring to is the inability to easily make a call from your cellphone through Google Voice when you are away from a computer.
Right now, in order to make a call you have to:
- Dial your GV number
- Press 2
- Dial your contact’s number
- Hang up, because you don’t know your contact’s number
- Wait til you get to a computer
I don’t even know my own mother’s phone number. It’s not that I’m a horrible son, it’s just that nobody really needs to remember phone numbers anymore. On my old phone she was in my speed-dial as “666″ (M-O-M). Now it’s just a tap on the Favorites screen. (Yes, despite her speed-dial moniker, she is one of my favorites!) The issue is if you want to be a hard-core GV user, you probably want to always make your calls and texts appear as if they are from your GV number. In lieu of an actual Google Voice app (I’m glaring at you, APPLE) we have to settle for using the mysterious 406 numbers that we see.
What are 406 numbers used for?
Whenever somebody sends a text message to your GV number, you get a text from a heretofore unknown 406 number. The text includes your contact’s name, followed by the contents of the text message. What you have to do is save that 406 number to that contact. This number is a Google Voice user-specific number that has been assigned to that contact. If you easily want to text or call that person using your GV number, call or text that saved 406 number.
This must mean that Google has taken over all of Montana’s telephone numbers to be able to assign a number to one of 6 billion people and each of their phones, right? No. Each number is user-specific, meaning that if you and I each dial 406-888-8888 from our respective GV-linked cellphones, I will get one person and you will get a different person. When Google Voice gets a call to one of these 406 numbers, it uses the caller ID info sent from your phone and the numbers in your contact list to determine your account and who you are calling. Essentially each person that sends you a text message is assigned a number that you can text back so it appears that your response is coming from your Google Voice number. As far as anybody knows so far, these numbers are permanently assigned to your contacts. Google employees have hinted that these numbers have other secret potential as well, so you can expect to hear more about this in the future.
So to recap: instead of dialing your GV and hanging up in frustration, just dial the 406 number that you saved and your contact will receive a call from you behind your GV number.
Great explanation, I always had a hard time explaining this. Now I will just point people here. Thanks!
It’s too bad that one can’t get a 406 number for a landline, or get a 406 number on demand through the Google Contacts manager. Long-distance phone charges also make calling 406 numbers impractical from home and office phones. But hey, they’re still useful!