When someone sends you an SMS to your Google Voice number, that message not only goes into your inbox online, but we also forward it out to all of your mobile phones (assuming you told us you wanted to receive SMS messages on those phones). When you receive it on your mobile phone, you may have noticed that the message does not appear to come from the sender's actual number, but from a (406) number (which spells "GOO" btw), with the sender's number (or name if they are in your address book) at the start of the message. We do this so you can reply from any of your phones and keep a record of the entire conversation online in your Google Voice inbox.
But when you - a Google Voice user - send a text message to another Google Voice number from one of the forwarding phones on your account, you probably want Google Voice to display the SMS as from your Google Voice number rather than from a (406) number. This way, the Google Voice user to whom you sent the SMS will see your Google Voice number as the originating number, the single number that reaches you everywhere.
We had been doing this automatically on all accounts up until now, as we felt it was more logical to display your Google Voice number rather than a (406) number when sending an SMS to another Google Voice user. After further reflection on this, we realize that you should decide if you want this feature or not (rather than us) so we've made this a user selected option rather than the default setting. If you like this behavior, its easy to set up. Just go to "Settings > Calls > Caller ID (out)" and select "Display my Google Voice number".
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Today we're pleased to announce we've acquired Gizmo5, a company that provides Internet-based calling software for mobile phones and computers. While we don't have any specific features to announce right now, Gizmo5's engineers will be joining the Google Voice team to continue improving the Google Voice and Gizmo5 experience. Current Gizmo5 users will still be able to use the service, though we will be suspending new signups for the time being, and existing users will no longer be able to sign up for a call-in number.
We've acquired a number of small companies over the past five years, and the people and technology that have come to Google from other places have contributed in many ways, large and small, to all kinds of Google products. Since the GrandCentral team joined Google in 2007, they've done incredible things with Google's technology and resources to launch and improve Google Voice.
We welcome the Gizmo5 team to Google and look forward to working together to bringing more useful features to Google Voice.
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Military families face dozens of challenges every day. The life of a military spouse and a military family is never easy. It's a life of sacrifice and patience, but it's also one of pride and patriotism.
To help families better stay in touch with their loved ones, this Veterans Day we're partnering with Blue Star Families to give priority Google Voice invitations to the families of U.S. service members involved in the organization. Blue Star Families is a group of military spouses from all over the country who work hard to educate civilian communities and leaders about the hardships faced by military families.
Military families encounter unique challenges and frequent separations, so staying in touch is vitally important. With one Google Voice number, families won't have to worry about missing calls from service members abroad.
Google Voice can make communication one less worry for these families, and hopefully bring them a little bit closer to their loved ones.
Posted by Jason Toff, Associate Product Marketing Manager
