Use Google Voice Voicemail on Sprint

**pizzaclub** · 10/27/2009, 08:54 AM

I want Google to take over the voice mail on my Sprint phone. I already have a Google Voice account, so what do I need to do?

**DesertSilver** · 10/27/2009, 08:58 AM

Originally Posted by pizzaclub

I want Google to take over the voice mail on my Sprint phone. I already have a Google Voice account, so what do I need to do?

I would start by re-reading the first 2 posts of this thread.

**pizzaclub** · 10/27/2009, 09:06 AM

Originally Posted by DesertSilver

I would start by re-reading the first 2 posts of this thread.

I did. I'm not clear on what exactly I need to be doing. I don't want to have to give out my Google Voice number to replace my "real" number. Am I just forwarding my "real" number to my GV number? I guess I'll wait until that's free.

**commonplace** · 10/27/2009, 09:15 AM

Originally Posted by pizzaclub

I did. I'm not clear on what exactly I need to be doing. I don't want to have to give out my Google Voice number to replace my "real" number. Am I just forwarding my "real" number to my GV number? I guess I'll wait until that's free.

No, people call your Sprint number and it rings your Sprint phone. If you don't answer, it rolls over to your Google Voice number which you then set to go directly to voice mail. Thus anyone reaching your voice mail by calling your Sprint phone actually gets your Google Voice voice mail.

Make sense? You're not forwarding all your calls to your Google Voice number, you're just changing the number that your *voice mail* forwards to. This used to require Sprint customer service's intervention, and success with having Sprint change your voice mail forward number was spotty at best. JeepJay is saying you can do this yourself now.

I think that sums it up. Now, hopefully I'm correct in what I said.

/Kevin

**pizzaclub** · 10/27/2009, 09:15 AM

Nevermind, I see where it is. It's under Settings > Phone > "Activate Google voicemail for this phone"

When I tried it, it gave me the message about possibly being charged for it. I'll wait for it to be free, which would be amazing.

**quietstorm21a** · 10/27/2009, 09:57 AM

Does anyone know for certain if sprint is still charging for voicemail forwarding since its a supported carrier for google voicemail?

**lastdetailwd** · 10/27/2009, 10:18 AM

Originally Posted by QuietStorm21A

Does anyone know for certain if sprint is still charging for voicemail forwarding since its a supported carrier for google voicemail?

I can confirm the 20 cent/min charge. I tried this all out early this morning and sure enough, I have 1 minute used for call forwarding with a 20 cent charge. Lame.

**lastdetailwd** · 10/27/2009, 10:20 AM

Originally Posted by commonplace

No, people call your Sprint number and it rings your Sprint phone. If you don't answer, it rolls over to your Google Voice number which you then set to go directly to voice mail.

You do not need to set your GV number to go directly to voice mail. If your cell phone is activated to use GV, then once it gets forwarded to your GV number, the voice mail picks up right away.

**commonplace** · 10/27/2009, 10:39 AM

Originally Posted by lastdetailwd

You do not need to set your GV number to go directly to voice mail. If your cell phone is activated to use GV, then once it gets forwarded to your GV number, the voice mail picks up right away.

Good to know, thanks! I was just going by what Google's page said, which is that if you didn't want a delay of a few rings, you'd need to change the GV setting to be voice mail immediately.

I guess that's only if the cell phone isn't activated for GV, maybe?

/Kevin

**Crackbone** · 10/27/2009, 10:52 AM

It's the only negative I can tell you regarding Sprint so far.

I have GV, and I want to use it for my phone, but, I can't justify getting burned for .20 every VM I receive.

Sprint needs to drop the charge.

**quietstorm21a** · 10/27/2009, 10:59 AM

Originally Posted by lastdetailwd

I can confirm the 20 cent/min charge. I tried this all out early this morning and sure enough, I have 1 minute used for call forwarding with a 20 cent charge. Lame.

That sucks even though its a small charge it can add up very quickly.

**commonplace** · 10/27/2009, 11:02 AM

Originally Posted by QuietStorm21A

That sucks even though its a small charge it can add up very quickly.

Yep. For every five or ten voice mails, you could have bought an app. hehe I know I don't want to pay 20 cents just to hear a reminder from the dentist or spam about my non-existent car warranty expiring.

Hopefully Sprint drops the charge.

The more people that ask, the more likely it is to happen. Sprint's customer service has a poor reputation, but they really have improved over the past couple of years, imho.

/Kevin

**lastdetailwd** · 10/27/2009, 12:56 PM

Originally Posted by commonplace

Good to know, thanks! I was just going by what Google's page said, which is that if you didn't want a delay of a few rings, you'd need to change the GV setting to be voice mail immediately.

I guess that's only if the cell phone isn't activated for GV, maybe?

/Kevin

Right before my sprint voice mail was to kick in, you could tell it was forwarded to GV and it rang one additional time before google voice mail picked it up. So it was 1 extra ring. I think this will happen even if you have 'go directly to voicemail' enabled because it still needs to forward the call. But yes, I think GV recognizes the call is being forwarded from your cell and therefor eliminates the need to ring 4-5 times again before voice mail kicks in.

**KevMeister** · 10/27/2009, 12:57 PM

Great thread.

That said, it should be ported to the CDMA and GSM portions of the TC discussion board. That or a new separate TC section on teleco technologies.

**appreciate** · 10/27/2009, 04:02 PM

First post! At Businesswire.com, an article was recently posted about the Ninth Annual Developer Conference. I am unable to link as this is my first post. It appears to have the information about call forwarding people are looking for:

"Sprint Outlines “Open” Approach at Ninth Annual Developer Conference

Sprint Offers Developers the Tools They Need to Be Successful

Application Development Addresses Voice Services and Data

Voice services continue to play a central role in mobile communications, even as data grows. Application developers have created a number of voicemail and messaging services that take advantage of call forwarding capabilities. Sprint announced today that it will not charge customers for certain types of call forwarding. Conditional call forwarding for busy calls or calls not answered using the customer’s wireless phone will be free, beginning mid-November. (Standard charges will continue to apply for immediate call forwarding.)3 This change will give Sprint customers the opportunity to access third-party voice services, including the new voicemail feature in Google VoiceTM."

Hope this helps!

**jhoff80** · 10/27/2009, 04:06 PM

Sprint | News Release: Sprint Outlines "Open" Approach at Ninth Annual Developer Conference

**nlbenton** · 10/27/2009, 06:35 PM

November 8th is the date that was released on a memo today. After November 8th, conditional call forwarding (ie *28) will be free.

**crazyazn23** · 10/27/2009, 06:46 PM

I recently deactivated google voicemail to my pre. But now when someone calls my google number, it goes to my pre's voicemail. Before it just went straight to google voicemail. Is there a way to change this back?

**gabbott** · 10/27/2009, 06:49 PM

So if my pre goes to my google voicemail will people just hear the default VM greeting or depending on who is calling will they hear the custom greetings?

**dpchmode** · 10/28/2009, 01:21 AM

Thank you Jiron2000 for the google voice invite! Your the best!

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