Send and receive regular text messages through the Voice website or apps on any device anytime - even with multiple devices being connected simultaneously.No one you're talking to will know the difference. Make and receive calls using your standard number on any device - phone, tablet, or even desktop computer.Quirky as it may seem, that arrangement ultimately frees your digits from their traditional shackles and allows you to communicate in all sorts of convenient, efficiency-enhancing ways. Instead of being connected to a SIM card and tied specifically to a single physical smartphone, your number lives in a fluffy Google server and is controlled entirely by Google software. In its simplest form, Google Voice is a cloud-based service that manages your phone number for you. We'll start with the basics - and go back to that question I posed at the beginning of this conversation: What exactly is Google Voice? Without exaggeration, it'll completely change the way you think about your modern mobile devices and what a phone number even is.Ĭonsider this your unofficial guide to getting started with Google Voice and then getting the most out of the underappreciated but potential-packed service. Īnd especially if you're using your phone for any manner of business, it can make a night-and-day difference in your ability to stay as connected and productive as possible, no matter where you're working or what type of device you're using at any given moment.

But it's also one of its most powerful - if you take the time to figure out exactly what it does and how it can work for you. Google Voice is one of Google's most complex, confusing, and poorly promoted services.

It's a question even the most giddy Google-appreciating geeks struggle to answer succinctly - and for normal, non-tech-obsessed Homo sapiens, the answer typically falls somewhere between 'Huh?' and 'Wait, is that the same thing as gChat?' All right, quiz time: In a single sentence, can you tell me exactly what Google Voice does?

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