By If you haven’t already heard, Google’s now offering up the ability to port any existing mobile number you own to their Voice service – something which will cost you $20 (or more) to do.
I say “or more” because you may be subject to your particular carrier’s early termination fee as this is considered ending phone service to leave to another carrier. Google explains how you can continue to make and receive phone calls here.
And if that isn’t enough, we’ve just learned through TechCrunch that Google bought a company named SayNow, who develops a voice messaging application. The team will merge with the current Google Voice team to work on the service’s existing voicemail features.
Is Google suddenly starting to sound like a phone carrier to anyone else? There were rumblings that they were going that route before, but these latest moves make it seem all the more likely.
Correction: not “any number you own”, but “any mobile number you own”.
I don’t think they can port landlines.
Too bad Google Voice took a turn for the worse as soon as they opened up out of BETA. The delay is over a second long most times. Very annoying. I hardly use it anymore.
What about supporting canadian numbers?
@ThinkOpenly I think it’s obvious what I was trying to say, but I’ll edit.
@thinkOpenly
Why not land lines?? We port in land lines every single day. Voip ports in land lines as well….
Wouldn’t it be easier to just get a new Google number, I mean you’ll have to pay early termination, and end up with a new number anyways. So why is this a great thing to do? Wukdnt it be wiser to just keep tour old number and get a free Google number .
@ Ryan
Way to hate, /b/ro.
Would love to use GV instead of my Packet8 number… which I dont want to get rid of now…wonder if i could port my packet8 number to a cheap cell no contract service and then get it ported to GV…ohh well…
@Ryan
Yeah, none of us here in my little world of 7 Android phones have ANY delay. Sure it’s not your phone or user malfunction?
Just don’t port your mobile number that is still under contract…then you’ll be paying temination fees.
Everyone can port landline numbers, it’s not the service that’s being transfered it’s the number. Porting lets you take your “number” to any provider no matter where it’s from. When I sold cell phones I had people getting home service for a month so they could get a local number, then they got a cell phone and ported their landline number… this was back when porting first started :-)
Landlines are portable numbers, it is just that Google isn’t porting them. I tried, they won’t take it.
Don’t care until they have mms
Well if I can take a land line to a mobile carrier. Why not transfer it out to google in the 14 day trial period.
@ lu
Waiting for MMS myself. That’s the unicorn we’ve all been waiting to see. Usually everyone I know takes my tech recommendations, but I can’t sell anyone on Google Voice because there’s no MMS capability.
I have a landline number that has already been ported to Verizon and Google Voice will not accept it. Don’t know if it is the number or the area code that it uses that prevents it from being ported to GV.
I’m another one that would love to port my landline of 25 years.
Google voice won’t take it (they even have a disclaimer about landline and corporate phones right on the porting page).
Surprisingly, they won’t even accept my pre-paid mobile phone. I checked two verizon mobile phones and those could be ported.