Use Google Voice to Give Your Family a Local Number to Call You On

If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm big into Google online services.  One of my favorite little known Google tools is Google Voice.  Google voice is a telephone service that allows you to tie multiple phones (land line, mobile, work) into one phone number.  For instance, you can set up Google Voice to ring your cell phone when your Google number is called, it will forward the incoming call and even the caller ID to your mobile phone.

Google Voice doesn't stop at call forwarding - it also offers free text messaging, customized voicemail greetings, voicemail transcription (sent to your email, or SMS), and even custom calling schedules so calls from work won't come to your personal phone after hours.

You might be thinking to yourself, "I don't need all that fancy telephone stuff."  That's where I was not too long ago when I first heard about Google Voice.  Then this great idea came to mind.  I have family members who do not have cell phones or free long distance.  Since I live in another state, my family members were paying money to call me.  What I decided to do was to create a Google Voice account with a number that was within my family's area code (they let you choose local numbers).  Since all of my family live in the same area, they can now call my Google voice number using the free-for-them local number and it instantly forwards the call to my cell phone.  And there you have it, FREE long distance calling for my family.

Check out the video below to learn more about Google Voice:



How about you?  Do you have any clever uses for Google Voice. Leave your tips and tricks in the comments section.