As was announced back during the Sprint Open Developers Conference last month, Sprint has finished rolling out free conditional call forwarding out to everyone so folks with a Google Voice account can start using the Google Voicemail service while keeping their Sprint number as their primary number.
Gone now is the $0.20 per minute charge for no answer and busy call forwarding, replaced with the ability to manage your voicemail visually with Google Voice online and with programs like dkGoogleVoice and gDial Pro right on your webOS powered handset of choice.
Conditional call forwarding uses the *28xxxxxxxxxx code, where the xxxxxxxxxx is your phone number. Note that your original number still rings before forwarding happens and you'll need to futz with your Google Voice settings if you want to send calls directly to voicemail before rining your Google Voice number. There's plenty more information in this forum thread. Dial *38 to turn it off. Direct *72 call forwarding still costs you $.20 per minute.
While everyone's Sprint account should be updated as of this posting, it may not be a bad idea to call Customer Service (dial *2) before enabling this feature just to make sure.
Thanks to everyone that sent this in!
Comments
I am in Puerto Rico, and i was invited to google voice... but then it said it was not available for my region... am i not supposed to be "part" of the U.S?
It's the number you want to forward to, so it's your GV number.
Thanx.
xxxxxxxxxx is ur 'phone' number, or ur GV# ?
xxxxxxxxxx is ur 'phone' number?
Or is it ur GV# ?
It would be your Google Voice number (or whatever number you want to forward to).
So for example, if your Google Voice number was (555) 123-4567, you would enter *285551234567 on your dialpad to turn on the conditional forwarding to your GV number.
Thanx, Inspector.
Ok - so I got my GV invite, but is there a difference between the two options when setting this up through Google?
Should I get a new number?
Should I use my existing phone number?
I would assume that getting a new number would still allow me to conditionally forward my voicemail to it, but I don't wanna select something incorrect and be stuck down that road...
is there a way to port your current # to google voice?
No.
ok, but does this mean you still use your sprint minutes when you use google voice on your cell phone?
Good question! I echo this question: when you call your voicemail, are you using minutes or data to make that call?
Until the apps support playing the voicemail as the MP3 file that Google makes available of the voicemail.
Unless Sprint policy has changed recently, you always used your regular minutes to call voicemail. It was listed as one of the shady practices cell companies used to get that extra dollars in a few years back. This could have changed however.
You will be charged for minutes if you use your cell to access google voice (as voicemail or other) unless you finagle a work around. Or you can listen to google voicemail online.
I ran a quick test, and forwarding works. Unfortunately, I tried to open the email with voicemail link, and the Pre refused to stream the file saying there was an error.
Same thing happens to me ... everything works fine but I receive an error when I attempt to play the message.
You are not able to play the message from the web its not supported you have to do it from a computer or call your google voice number.
Also cannot listen to voicemail in gDial Pro...
Any other ideas on how to listen to voicemail from the phone? Wouldn't want to have to go to a PC every time I get one.
Can't you just call your GV number and listen to them like normal?
Yes you can listen to voicemail in gdial. At least with the precentral.net version you can. I have done it.
I just realized that when I have my ringer switch off, I can't hear the voicemail. When I turn ringer on I hear the VM from my speakerphone. I'm guessing that is because it is downloading a file, not sure.
I called Sprint and they said that this news is not correct, they still charge for forwarding. To the editor, please make sure what you are reporting is accurate.
Sprint customer service reps aren't always the most up to date on information. It is very likely this was told to some reps and...maybe the rep you spoke to didn't get the info. Or maybe your account hasn't been updated yet. Either way it would be good to go up the chain a level or two before you take an answer to heart.
But still it's a good idea to check (like the article says).
You are an idiot....
I am sorry, but can you please explain why you called me an idiot? It is not nice to be insulting.
I just called Sprint as well - the guy sounded completely dumbfounded at first as to what "conditional call forwarding" is, but then after a while of looking it up and what-not he came back and told me that he has made sure that I will *not* be charged for conditional call forwarding when I set it up with *28____________.
It's sad when the customers have to inform the CSR's about the service. I always seem to be telling the CSR's new things whenever I call in.
Are you sure the rep knew you were asking about conditional call forwarding?
Unconditional call forwarding is still $0.20/min on Sprint, so it may have just been a miscommunication.
P.S. WTF, Sprint? You are still the only carrier who charges anything more than airtime for call forwarding.
Yes Sprint has enabled free "CONDITIONAL call forwarding" the rep you spoke to might have confused it with "call forwarding" which is what you said in your post.
Well thats great. Interesting side note I signed up for YouMail yesterday and the instructions given were to use *72 not *28 which will charge the per minute.
I think they have it backwards .....
Interesting tidbit - according to the InsideSprintNow blog, Sprint might be removing the $0.20/min charge entirely for the Simply Everything Plan. Now that would be interesting ...
http://insidesprintnow.wordpress.com/
(see the last bit on the "Google Voice & Sprint... 11/08/09" entry)
For those that are familiar with YouMail, Syntactix is working on a visual voicemail app to work with their service.
I've called twice in the past two weeks. The Sprint CSR reps really don't know about this. The first rep. said that Nov. 8 was the implementation date, but I called again on Nov. 9th and that rep. had no clue and said I should call back. Be careful because .20 cents a minute can get pricey quick :).
Now if someone can just make a patch that links the Voicemail button on the dialer to ones GV #. And perhaps have an unread counter too... :-) (Another thing that would be cool is some way to forgo "calling in" and have the button launch the appropriate page in gDial :-) Just an idea.
you can set gdial to check for updates automatically. Plus you can set it up to get text messages in GV when you get a new voicemail.
Why not just create a new contact called 'Voice Mail' and use your GV number?
Well seeing as we have the ability to patch I figured this would be useful. It also helps that whole "deep integration with GV" thing closer to reality :-) I mean It's not a showstopper but the VM button is there why not use it :-)
But I do have gDial set to behave as you describe already :-) Thanks for the tips though.
Let me set this straight for all of you
*28XXXXXXXXXX and press send. It doesn't say anything, it just beeps. If you hear a beep or it just hangs up the call it is now setup.
*28 is busy or no answer - FREE
*73 no answer - FREE
*74 busy - FREE
*72 forward call immediately to GV number - COSTS .20 CENTS
*38 to cancel
There is nothing else you need to ask, here is the info.
Thanks for that pyrognome. I don't know why this is so difficult for people to grasp.
The main difficulty is that Google's instructions indicate that Sprint is rolling out free conditional formatting, and you may be charged in the meantime. And Sprint's reps are saying to some that it's not free yet.
So I'd proceed with caution, until there is official confirmation that it's truly free.
call sprint. ask about CONDITIONAL CALL FORWARDING. it is now free as of nov. 8th.
You have to ask them the right questions. Remember, if you are a member of this site you know more than the reps do.
If they don't know, ask them to let you talk to someone who will. But I have confirmed this with my account. If may be different for other accounts.
For those confused, if you login to Google Voice and go to the 'Phones' tab, you'll see a link to 'Activate Google voicemail on this phone'. It will give you the exact code to punch into your phone (*28[GV Number]).
ok...so what good does sending your calls to gvm if you can't listen to them on your device. the biggest thing users want is the visual voicemail and to be able to listen to them right on the device. someone needs to come up with a way to have the actual file emailed as an attachment.
I agree that we need to be able to listen on the device (although I don't mind calling in to VM, as I have tons of minutes left over each month). The main advantage is that you get a transcript of the voicemail as a text message....great for being in meetings and not wanting to pick up, but also being neurotic about wondering who's calling.
I just don't get it. How can people come to a site like this, be the 40th person to post on an article like this and not read at least one of the current posts already up there? You CAN listen to your GV voicemail on the device. It is through the app gDial Pro. If you install it and can not hear the voicemail on your phone, your ringer switch is in the red on the top of the phone. Switch it back and you will hear GV voicemails on your device when you click the "listen" button.
This is phenomenal timing! I'm heading to Europe next week and (obv) my phone wont work, but I can now check my VM wiith GV! Sweet! But I will definitely call Sprint to dbl verify... Thanks guys for keeping me in the loop!
I have been using it since annouced, works fine, I can play voice in app aswell
so if you have the voicemail emailed to you, you can click on the link and it plays the file for you???
yep
well that is crap...mine doesn't play...however i get all my work voicemail emailed as wav files and have no problems!
I just called sprint and confirmed that as of november 8th conditional call fowarding is free. The rep I spoke to was very informed and as soon as I said conditional call fowarding she knew what I was talking about.
Has anyone tried Youmail (www.youmail.com)? If so, what have you experienced with it so far? I'm seriously thinking about using Youmail since I have not yet received a Google Voicemail invite.
Why does everyone feel the need to listen to their voice mail? I hooked up google voice and now they send me a text of my voice mail. just as good a visual voice mail. no need to listen anymore. listening is annoying!
i have used that voice to text and too many times it messes up the whole voicemail. it's just not accurate.
Just got off the phone with Sprint. Conditional call forwarding is free as of 11/8/09. Now I'm setting up my google voice =)
Couldn't get Sprint to confirm conditional call forwarding...google voice webpage tells me it will be on as of mid-november. whats the deal?
i just want to make sure everybody knows this. i was able to easily enable google voice as my voicemail. I then decided to call sprint based on the disclaimer that precentral put at the end. I called alot of times and for the longest time Customer Service didnt even no what i was talking about. i finally got someone who had read something that sprint sent out to address the issue. He told me that it was true that they would enable free conditional call forwarding however if you didnt just get a plan after nov 8 you dont have the forwarding enabled. I had to switch my plan to something else and then switch it back for the new update to take effect. The bottom line is he told me the update does not automatically take effect. i'm not sure how true it is but make sure you check and see.
The way I understood it is, its "Visual Voicemail" that can be streamed or viewd on a PC or your handheld. I set it up on Sunday and it works like a charm. Today I got a call from a bill collector and instead of me answering the call it went to GV and sure enough, moments later I rcvd a message that I could read via SMS.
I set up Google Voice and cal forwarding last night and all my voice mails went to GV all day. Result: Disaster. About a dozen messages and not a single one transcribed correctly. They were so garbled I could not make out a single message. What good is trabscription of such a poor quality? Has anyone else had this problem?
To add insult to injury, today my home phone swicthed over to Vonage. They also have visual voice mail. Every single Vonage voice mail was 100% correct! I could have all my cell calls forwarded to my home Vonage number, but then when my family was home they would be picking up my calls. I asked Vonage if I coudl just get a second voicemail box but they said that would require a second line at another $25/month.
Anyone know a GOOD (as opposed to GV) Visual Voicemail company that is cheap enough to make it worth the cost? If so please let me know. I am desperately looking,
I wish Google would clean up their voice transcription.
Google Voice was recently purchased from Grand Central. GV has improved quite a bit since Google took over give it time, also you can go to any computer log into your GV account and listen to your VM's or call in. Hope this helps. Oh and its FREE!
I just received this confirmation from our Sprint Dedicated Field Rep who helps us manage ten of thousands Sprint/Nextel devices for our clients:
"Starting 11/8/09, all Sprint price plans will include free conditional (no answer/busy) call forwarding (*73,*74,*28). No action is required by the customer. Unconditional (immediate) call forwarding (*72) will remain $0.20/minute. Simply Everything customers will also begin receiving unconditional call forwarding (immediate) included in their plan beginning late November."
Want to leave a comment? Register for free!
In an effort to reduce comment spam, you need to log in to comment. Registration is fast, free, and easy and gives you access to comment, discuss the Palm Pre on the largest Pre forums on the 'net, enter contests, and much more. Join now!