[flyte]

Is it possible to use Google Voice on the Desire? Would Telus prevent people from using it?

 

[BGY11]

I don't believe Google Voice is available for Canadian users unfortunately.

 

[TKG26]

its running on my chrome desk top browser on my netbook.. in ottawa

 

[TKG26]

while it works on my netbook, i have it downloaded to my desire but it does not work. Basically saying usa only.. intresting? Might be a matter of time

 

[Coop]

I've been able to go to www.google.com/voice on my iPhone, here's what happens. First it ask's for you to signed into you google account.

As the page loads I get a pop up that say's, "Before you can make your fist call we need to know this phone number... Loading..."

Then the next pop up say's, "Network Request Failed" click OK

When the site does load. I can see the dialer, my contacts open on one tab and I can even add a $10 credit but when I go to any of the configuration tabs I see the "Network Request Failed" pop up

I've done this through Safari but with Opera I just get the "not available in your country page".

 

[North_of_Calgary]

If you go to the google voice web site google.com/voice and then switch from the webkit optimized mode to the full website then you can setup a call just like you would from your computer. And of course if you have your cell phone registered as one of your google voice phones (assuming you're in area code 403) then you can use that as the google voice phone to use and it will setup the call as an incoming call to your cell. Not VOIP - just incoming vs. outgoing or even LD outgoing.

I've tried that on the N1 and the iPhone and it works.

Now if you use the Android Google Voice application for some strange reason it will call a Google access number first and then setup the VOIP call. When I did that I ended up with a whole bunch of 1 minute LD calls to the Google area code 760 access number on my bill. So don't use that to initiate a Google Voice call.

All that being said I think some people on this thread might be mis-using the term "Google Voice". Don't confuse that with Gmail dialing. The later is what was released this week. BGY11 & TKG26 - I'm not sure if you're replying about Gmail dialing or Google Voice?

 

[TKG26]

Lol both and neither. I thought they where the same. I have confusion with both lol.

 

[North_of_Calgary]

Yeah the naming is definitely confusing - they need to pick abstract words or nouns for products

The new thing that they just released is actually a phone dialing extension to Google Talk or Chat : gmail.com/call

Google Voice comes from Grand Central and is the service that they initiated in April 4, 2009: google.com/voice

And to make things more confusing, the two can integrate.

Back to the OP's question: if on your mobile browser you go to the full "desktop" website for GV, then it works as I described above on Android (tested on the N1), on the iPhone, and I just tested it on the iPod Touch and iPad - it worked fine on both.

So while I don't actually have a Desire in my possession, I see no reason at all why it wouldn't work. I'd say it's almost a certainty that it would. TKG: if you have a GV account maybe you can try from the "desktop" web page and confirm for us.

 

[BGY11]

Interesting.

I did understand the differences, but always thought the original Google Voice feature only worked in the US. I know when I saw the app on the Android Marketplace, it mentioned US only as well.

Guess I'll have to read up more on Google Voice and see if it's something I should try.

(edit: when I go to www.google.com/voice I get a dialog box saying it's not available outside the US). Now I'm really confused.

 

[North_of_Calgary]

It's discussed in the Google Voice thread in the voip forum. The summary is:

1. Yes, it's only available officially in the US meaning you need to pick a US number.
2. You can forward to US phones (incl. for activation) and area code 403 (Calgary) which seems to have slipped in there by accident.
3. As well as a US or 403 phone number, you'll need to either be in the US or use Hotspot Shield for the initial activation (after that you'll be fine)

Since we're getting OT here, I'll leave it that for this thread.

 

[outinthornhill]

WRT the unavailability of Google Voice in Canada, I read the most convincing explanation of why recently. It was in a report on the launch of Google's competitor to Skype; i.e. calls to land-line numbers from what was Google Chat in Gmail. The report noted that Google has to concern itself with being branded a telecommunications carrier in Canada and thus subject to CRTC regulation. That would also explain why Skype does not offer Skype-In numbers in Canada to accept calls from the public telephone network.

Now that's understood, I don't foresee the arrival of Google Voice or Skype-In north of the border any time soon.