Google Voice seems like magic

August 1, 2009 8:04 AM

If I use Google Voice for a central phone number, and someone from Sprint calls me and I pickup on my Sprint cellphone (even though it rang on my Sprint phone, my home phone, and my work AT&T cell), will it be charged as Mobile to Mobile time on my Sprint bill and my wife's Sprint bill?

Right now, both my wife and I have Sprint phones. When we call each other, it doesn't count as minutes because of Mobile to Mobile calls on the same network aren't charged.

How does Google Voice work with this? Is it just going to see the forwarded call as Sprint and count it Mobile to Mobile?

posted by cmm to technology (5 answers total)

I think it does not count as mobile to mobile. Each of you are separately connected to the Google Voice number.

This is why tricks like this work, where you set your Google Voice number as a Tmobile "myFave" and get unlimited minutes.
posted by losvedir at 8:09 AM on August 1, 2009 [1 favorite]

I am doing something similar with Vonage's "simultaneous ring" feature, where someone calling home will ring both the home VOIP line as well as my cell.

When I pick up on my cell, I use up cell minutes, even on calls that would be mobile-to-mobile. From the cell provider's point of view, it looks like two separate calls, both of which involve the VOIP provider (which they have no special relationship with).

Since I actually have the cheap Vonage plan, where I get 500 minutes, I actually burn up minutes on both Vonage and my cell provider at the same time. This doesn't apply to Google Voice, as it's essentially unlimited minutes, but it's a worthwhile "cost" to be able to pick up the home line when I'm out and about, especially since I don't go over my monthly allocations.
posted by chengjih at 9:05 AM on August 1, 2009

No. The phone number is from area code 406. It doesn't qualify as a Sprint number.
posted by arimathea at 10:32 AM on August 1, 2009

To be more specific, this is the process.

Your Google Voice Number is [phone]
Person B dials this number.
Your Google Voice account dials your Sprint number [phone].
The call is actually from Google Voice, (406) xxx-xxxx. The Power of 406.

Now, the presented caller ID may be from a Sprint user based on options you set in Google Voice. But Sprint will probably ignore this; there are ways to determine whether the call is actually coming from Sprint's network despite the caller ID.

I do not work for Google.
posted by arimathea at 10:37 AM on August 1, 2009

The phone number is from area code 406. It doesn't qualify as a Sprint number.

This is a bit confused and is also a bit of a red herring. First, there will surely be Sprint numbers in area code 406 so that is irrelevant. And in no sense is your Google Voice number have a 406 area code attached to it when you make outgoing calls—both for Caller ID and ANI purposes your number is the same Google Voice phone number you give out. 406 numbers are used for incoming calls on Google Voic.
posted by grouse at 11:18 AM on August 1, 2009