Low-latency alternatives for Google Voice

March 19, 2020 8:58 AM

I've been testing Google Voice as an option for people who need to work from home and will be using their cell phones, but the latency is just ridiculous.

There's a delay of at least half a second between the time "person A" says something and the time "person B" hears it. The latency makes it difficult to have a normal conversation. This is an issue on at least three cell phones that we tried. Looking for a low-latency, low-cost alternative that people can use on their smart phones (so they would dial-out using the app on their phone). We're looking about about ten users right now.

(By the way, I know about dialing *67 to block outgoing caller ID. We still want to give staff entirely different phone numbers, in case the person they're calling needs to call them back.)

MightyCall looks promising, but I'm seeking opinions from people who have direct experience with this.

posted by alex1965 to Technology (2 answers total)

Are you certain about this? I've been using Google Voice since it was GrandCentral and have never experienced any kind of lag or latency.
posted by yellowcandy at 10:17 PM on March 19, 2020

Response by poster: I've had Google Voice myself for about two years. I use it for a small business I own. The latency has always been terrible (see also this Reddit discussion about the same problem). Conversations are difficult because the two parties keep interrupting each other, and my conversation partners probably think I'm being rude. The only reason I haven't dumped Google Voice is because I don't need to use it very often, and my phone conversations are usually pretty short (a few minutes tops).
posted by alex1965 at 4:21 AM on March 20, 2020