For simple computer to computer video conference I use and recommend VSee ( http://vsee.com/ , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VSee ). It works well even with low bandwidth and unlike skype, google and others it is not intrusive with your personal info. I hate this state of things where everything is linked to everything else and they all have all your information. Vsee is stand-alone and will not ask you who you kissed last night.
It also has window sharing but for more focused desktop sharing I use Teamviewer which I also recommend. Teamviewer also has video conference but I tend to use each progam for its primary intended purpose.
Both are free and not linked in any way with Microsoft, Google, facebook, or anything else. They are completely independent.
When using vsee for videoconference on my computer I use a cordless headset which allows me to move around the house while we talk. It is very convenient to the point where I hate regular phone calls where I have to hold the phone to my ear.
If you get the Android app called GrooveIP, you can make GV calls through your smartphone’s data/wifi connection.
Or you can call through GV on your PC as described above, but if you’re somewhere that has a landline (but that would charge long-distance for a call to Canada), it’s best to just use the landline to call through GV at crystal clear quality for absolutely free.
Hey all. I just made a phone call with it on gmail using my webcam as the microphone. It works and the calls are crystal clear. My question is, is that phone number that is displayed always going to be my phone number? im from nyc and this phone number that is displayed on the other end when i call my cell phone… it shows a california area code. Is that my google voice number always?
Another question i have is i see how i called to another usa phone number its free. But if i try calling outside the usa and outside canada, then the phone dial won’t go through because it would say i have to buy credits correct?
I don’t know about calling with a generic GV number (because I never have), but you can signup to get your very own, dedicated GV phone number for the very low price of free! (I was even able to pick my number so that part of it spells my last name. Cool eh?!)
ETA: Here’s the instructions on how to get your free GV number. Once you have a GV number, you can have calls to that number forward to any of your real phones, then give out that new number from now on. Then you have complete control of all calls to that number, and can work all kinds of magic, distinctive rings/greetings for specific callers/groups, block specific callers/groups, all kinds of goodness.
Correct. Calls to US and Canada are free, but there is a very reasonable charge for international calls that you would have to purchase credits for.
Yeah, it shows your Google Voice phone number. You can pay $10 (I think) to choose a custom one within the bazillion area codes that they have.
Yeah. I wouldn’t pay more than a few bucks in it at once to see how the voice quality is for wherever you’re calling. When I call my mother (in Taiwan), the voice quality is just tolerable and not great… YMMV.
It’s free to get a *new *GV number (unless that’s changed, but I don’t think so). But there is a charge to port an existing number *into *GV, or an existing GV number out.
Were you calling through a PC when you had that marginal quality? All my GV calls through a landline are always perfect quality, but I’ve never tried calling Asia.
I meant if the OP wanted to change his/her existing GV number (that s/he just got, apparently with a California area code).
I call through the PC and through my cell phone. Everything sounds like crap on my cell phone (not sure if it’s GV’s fault). It’s a lot better on the PC, but sometimes the long distance calls still have a delay, an echo, dropped seconds, or some combination of those. It’s not bad enough to make me switch to another service, but it’s also nowhere near landline quality. SkypeOut or calling cards usually give me better quality but GV’s integration with everything Google is why I keep using it.
I could be wrong, but it didn’t sound like the OP got their own assigned GV# yet, they were just calling through their PC and got a generic one. Even if they did get an assigned one, you could still just get a new Google/gmail account and sign up for a new GV# with whatever area-code is desired/available and you can even search for available numbers (that might spell certain desired words, if you’re lucky) within the desired area-code.
If/when possible, call through GV via a landline, and you’ll get much better, if not perfect, voice quality.
Got one last question. Can i make google voice calls from canada to the usa free of charge as well? At first i thought yes but then wouldn’t the google voice number not be a us number but a canadian one?
If you’re doing it all over the PC (instead of a cell phone or landline), it shouldn’t matter. The VOIP happens on their end; for you everything just gets transported over the internet instead of the telephone network.
I just got an OB100 Google voice landline bridge and it works better than advertised. You need a broadband internet connection and a landline phone (or phones) as well as a Google Voice number but all calls within the U.S. and Canada are indeed free (you can call other countries internationally too fairly cheaply but you have to add money to your Google Voice account to do that). You can also use it for free calls to anywhere internationally forever if the person you call has the same adapter.
I hooked mine up in about five minutes. It is small and just connects straight into your broadband router and doesn’t depend on a computer. I hooked mine into a basic cordless phone system and now I have regular landline service throughout the whole house that sounds and works exactly like a paid landline phone plan and the sound and coverage quality beats the shit out of any cell phone.
Total cost was $39 for the OB100 phone bridge and $40 for a three phone cordless system new. There are no more charges after that if you only use it for the U.S. and Canada.
Yes, it rings for incoming calls. It is indistinguishable from any other landline phone once you set it up and that process is relatively painless. It works and sounds the same as any other landline and it is always on as long as your internet router is turned on. I don’t know about the Google contacts question.
I am not associated with the company that makes the OB100. I am just an impressed customer who was waiting for something like that to be invented. I had a MagicJack before it and that only worked about half the time and mine required my computer to work and it has an annual fee. This one doesn’t. It literally duplicates regular landline and gives you completely free calls after you buy it.
Yeah, it rings for incoming calls and *works *just like a landline (except if you lose power or internet service, or need to call 911), but if you want to get technical, it appears as a “Google Chat” in Google Voice. That’s how it works - it just reroutes what would usually be taking place on your PC (in Gmail, Talk/Chat/Hangouts) to your phone lines. The device logs on to Google with your Google account credentials.
I don’t know, there are probably advanced “SIP phones” that would work, but if a smartphone would suffice for your purposes, you could just use that with the ObiOn smartphone app. Of course, if you were going to use only smartphones and not regular phones, you could do that without the need for the Obi in the first place.