Comments on: So I Bought a Google Voice Number in Wisconsin. Yes, I Live in Pennsylvania.

By: Avazed

Avazed — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 21:28:54 +0000

Very interesting, linking all your numbers to one place. In the long run, people who want to call you shouldn’t worry about which number to use or which device to call (your mobile or home or office), they should be calling a person, not a device. So there should only be one number per person for life, and we should be able to decide which device should ring depending on where we are at any given time! Google is getting us one step closer to that by linking all our current phones to just one number…

BUT the thing that Google hasn’t been able to do though, is to link people’s *old* phone numbers to the google number. Or their old emails, or skype IDs, or all the other online ID’s. Ideally, we would want to get our one and only google number to “replace” all those other bulky or outdated contact alternatives too… Btw, http://www.avakit.com is a great help with that, highly recommended!

By: HSK

HSK — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 04:17:43 +0000

My new one matches my existing cell phone except for the prefix – 850 instead of 294. Easy for me to remember that way instead of a vanty number!

By: marty

marty — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 02:34:29 +0000

yea, i live in chicago but the number i got is from detroit. not tooooo bad, but then i did some research and the same 7 digits that i wanted were not even being used by 2 of the local area codes.
so i emailed google asking if they can buy that number for me so i can buy it from them.

By: Boca

Boca — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 01:50:38 +0000

Brian…

I have had a Blackberry for 7 years and I never knew this! Bloody fantastic.
You will have meade me a hero of my collegues if this works.

A virtual pint of the best ale is on its way to you.

By: Kristina

Kristina — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 01:37:43 +0000

I love that you got a Hartland, WI number. I lived there from age 11-18.

By: JohnB

JohnB — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:58:00 +0000

Regarding the “DNS for people” idea, isn’t this what ENUM is supposed to do? See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ENUM

By: CSMR

CSMR — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:55:25 +0000

I think it will be great when area codes are abolished and numbers are just like e-mail addresses. But maintaining compatibility with simple phones with number pads without letters will be difficult. Maybe there can be an internet code in addition to country codes, with some guarantee in major countries that this won’t cost more to dial than a local call.

Hard to see this happening, so as an international person I’m stuck paying for and remembering several Skype numbers.

By: DaveZatz

DaveZatz — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:43:34 +0000

I’d like to change for free. My original Grand Central number is plagued by the bill collectors. Quite a few *ZATZ and *DZATZ numbers are available… but I don’t think I care.

By: HG

HG — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:19:55 +0000

This is great I must log into my account and see what I can come up with. I sure do hope they do let you port a number into GV, this would nice. Since I can call anyone in the U.S. with my mobile phone with no long distance charges, I will be calling Kevin Wisconsin… or is that Pennsylvania? ;)

By: Brian

Brian — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:49:41 +0000

You can dial a name on a BlackBerry. Just hold down the ALT key!!