Heading off to college usually means packing up the car and saying goodbye to your family and friends, so the Google Voice team put together a bunch of ways to make it cheaper and easier to stay in touch while you’re on campus. We also thought back to our own days living in dorms and cramming in the library to create a list of student-friendly tips for getting the most out of your phone while you’re away at school.


1. Save your money for something better than minutes

• Send unlimited text messages for free--from your phone or the web
• Make free long distance calls in the US and to Canada with Gmail
• Call friends studying abroad or call home if you’re an international student for as little as 2 cents/minute

2. Use your phone the way you actually want to

• Setup a free Google Voice number that will ring all of your phones at once (dorm phone, cell phone, Gmail, etc.) so you never miss a call (a number that stays with you even if you forget to pay your bill or change cell phone provider)
• Get voicemail transcriptions via email and text during class
• Enable do not disturb to send your calls directly to voicemail when you want to sleep in on the weekends or need to get some studying done

3. Make calls when your phone can’t
Calling in Gmail makes it possible to call phones from right inside of your Gmail account. This makes a super handy alternative to your mobile phone for things like:

• Calling from dorm rooms with non-existent cell phone reception
• Locating a mobile phone that is buried in the couch
• Ordering a pizza when your phone battery is dead

Posted by Michael Bolognino, Product Marketing Manager