Thx for liking, but I simply MUST insist that you also weigh in! I want to get some good Google Voice info out of your comments... here, on the Current.com page, Facebook, whatever. - Sarah Lane

What, you gonna deny a poor little woman with a brain tumor? I think not. ;) - Sarah Lane

Also! My Google Voice number is in this segment for all to admire. And so's my cell phone number, but I tried pretty hard to blur that one out. :) - Sarah Lane

I have some good stuff, will post tomorrow during the living hours. - Eric @ CSTechcast.com from iPhone

Sorry, Sarah - can't be monitoring FF *all* the time... :) I honestly haven't used Google Voice much for some of the same reasons you mentioned. For some reason my number is firmly stuck in my head, but I haven't given it out to many folks (more out of laziness than anything, since my friends all have my cell number already). Haven't run into the issue with voicemail (even though I have the iPhone) mostly because I don't screen calls that often and I have my cell near enough to answer a disturbingly high percentage of the day. :) I think if you have multiple phones (someone like Leo who tests a bunch of cell phones) or if you like sending SMS through the computer then GV might be more useful. I know I'll find a use for it at some point - just need to figure out what... - Thomas

Sarah - you're right - it pretty much sucks if you don't give out your Google Voice number. The lack of Visual Voicemail integration is also a big let-down. I've experimented with it by distributing my GV number to Facebook contacts who I don't want stalking me (I made a group for them). I've found that the inbound calling, and SMS forwarding is really cool and works flawlessly. Outbound calling and voicemails requires a visit to the GV mobile page (which I keep open in Safari on my iPhone). - Ankush Narula

Thinking about it some more, I can see a use where you give the GV number to all your creditors and potential telemarketers. I use my land line for that now, but eventually I want to get rid of that. Another use - if you want a number in a different area code. As someone who wants to eventually sell a screenplay, it might behoove me at some point to get a number in the 310 area code to give the illusion that I'm local to L.A. instead of an hour's flight away in Sacramento. So, there might be potential in this thing yet... - Thomas

One more thing. Here are a couple of useful links I found courtesy of LifeHacker: Making the Transition - http://lifehacker.com/5311254... and Potentially getting unlimited calls with GV - http://lifehacker.com/5382770... I'll need to try out both... :) - Thomas

awesome, thx for those Thomas! - Sarah Lane

I love Sarah because she hasn't abandoned FriendFeed like the rest of the geeks. Keep using it Sarah! I'm even more a follower now than ever. - Jesse Stay

Happy to help :) - Thomas from FreshFeed

I agree that giving it to people who I really don't want to have my number is nice. If you don't really want to hear from them, just let it go to voice mail. And if you do, no worries, you can add them to your friend group. Also if you're in some networking environment, you really don't have to worry about who exactly you give your number out to. I did try to tie it to my Skype account but it did not like that at all. - Jerry Perez

I like GV's send to VM between certain times. So when I sleep I don't have to hear a phone ring unless so are so important to me I allow your call to come through. This way I can sleep but still receive potentially emergency phone calls. Also, I have used one is a home phone replacement so if people call it, it will ring my phones, my gf, and the kids. And I can see other great potential uses for example easily being able to record a call when dealing with a difficult ex (or always sending them direct to VM) - Philip Griego

Google Voice works really well *if* you have a good application to deal with the Voicemails. I installed GV Mobile on my (jailbroken) iPhone. Since they recently added the "use GV as voicemail" feature, I find that I'm using it a lot more than before. The basic problem with GV is that it's not a voicemail replacement, as such (though it has that sort of functionality now). It works best if you have several different numbers and need one-number-to-rule-them-all. On the other hand, there are lots of various handy uses for it beyond that. Example: Make a call widget that goes only to voicemail and post it on your webpage. Easy way to get voice-only feedback from people. Probably useful for podcasting, sort of thing. - Otto

I'm using Google Voice and like it. It's still better than the crappy voicemail from the cable company or cell phone company. I don't have any app to run it on my phone and don't need one. I voice dial to get the messages. Works great. - Dave Friedel

I use GV as the voice mail for my Podcast. Works great for that. Also use it for all of my phones, ...well, that is mmm, okay. I really wish it was a bit more flexible. - ‘-.-’ Tutivillus Grift

Hate the lack of support to visual voicemail and that I have to go to Google Voice's page to make a call if I want my number to show on outbound calls. LOVE the fact that I can give my GV # to potential employers so they don't have to worry about reaching a number I'm not at. - ChiliMac

If I could get Google voice to just let voicemails go to my IPhone I'd be happy. - ChiliMac

google voice just seems redundant. unless you give up your cell phone (which nobody will do) its just another way to do the same thing with (as you said) one more phone / log in / password / gadget. It wont last. Friend feed, Skype, and Twitter are NEW ways to communicate. I just got rid of my TV to watch everything online (Hule, Twit.tv...etc.) This was a way to get rid of a redundancy. Creating consolidation tech is where its at, not new ways to do old things, I think it will fade away. Gr8 vid. - echostreamer

The real feature for GV is small business. So many telcos have SMBs over a barrel with terrible features. These people can't afford a PBX with forward and follow features. They could hook up a GV number, including their established line, and allow for forwards to any number, without the need to put 5 different numbers on their business cards. This is really a killer feature, and visual voicemail won't matter to those people. (also posted to current) - Eric @ CSTechcast.com

I'm probably a minority here, but since I have an Android phone I'll chime in: GV works like a charm (including masking my number on outbound calls/sms) using the GV app for my phone. - FFing Enigma (aka Tina)

My use case is probably different then most. I use GV almost exclusively as a web based PBX. Very rarely do I use it on a cell phone unless the number is being forwarded there. I also use the number experimentally with widgets or by posting on developmental sites to track conversions that take the route of inbound phone traffic as opposed to an online sale. I also like the fact that messages are recorded online so I can forward them as needed. - Eric Logan

Favorite Google Voice feature: voicemail transcription sent to my cell via SMS and/or email. - Shea from BuddyFeed