Google Vocalism for Google Workspace is a VoIP (Voice over Cyberspace Protocol) phone service that allows you to make and receive business-related calls and messages.

Virtual phone numbers are changing the manner entrepreneurs run their minor businesses. The best small business telephone systems use the cyberspace, as opposed to a cell tower — allowing you to place and take calls from all your devices. As y'all know, this makes communicating with your clients, colleagues, and business connections mode more attainable — and easier equally yous don't have to worry nigh clients calling your personal cell number or worry about SIM cards when you're overseas. Can you say goodbye to prison cell plans? This is a comprehensive guide on what Google Vocalism for business organisation is, how information technology works, and if it's the right service for y'all and your pocket-sized business.

How does Google Vocalisation work?

Google Vocalism for Google Workspace is unlike from a Google Vocalisation personal plan. While a Google Voice personal plan is free, it offers very limited features, is not fit for teams, isn't available outside the US, and is difficult to take more than than one Google number. Google Vox personal gives you lot a phone number for calling, texting, and voicemail — that'due south it. It doesn't offer any productivity or team collaboration features to actually run a business organisation.

Since Google Voice is a VoIP service, information technology uses your Internet connection to transmit calls and letters.

To use Google Voice, y'all need a smartphone, tablet, or computer with cyberspace access. It works via Wi-Fi or a information plan, so y'all tin be connected on the go.

You can get a new Google Vox number or port your existing phone number. You can too become a Google Voice number and forward calls coming to that number to any other phone number you own — whether it's your personal jail cell phone number, office landline (though who has those anymore?), or home telephone. With this arroyo, you don't need to take a smartphone with cyberspace access — you can simply forward Google Voice calls elsewhere.

How to set Google Voice for your small business

Screenshot of Google Admin panel to get started using Google Voice for business

If y'all want to go a new Google Vocalism number for Google Workspace, the setup requires some heavy lifting:

  1. On your computer, get to the Google Voice website.
  2. Click "Get Started." (If information technology prompts you lot to select a pricing program, do so — you volition have to re-select your selection in footstep 5.)
  3. You volition be prompted to sign in to your Google Workspace account (just Workspace customers are eligible to use Google Voice for business). Don't accept an account? Create a Google Workspace account. Google Workspace plans commencement at $6 per user (that's on peak of whatever programme you sign upwards for on Google Vox for Google Workspace!).
  4. Once you're signed in, click "Add together or upgrade a subscription."
  5. Click "Google Vocalism" in the left sidebar. Yous can cull betwixt three plans: Google Voice Starter, Google Voice Standard, or Google Voice Premier. Select your programme by clicking "Get Started."
  6. Click "Get Started" again, then "Checkout," and "Identify Society" when prompted.
  7. Set your main or secondary locations (your country or region) in the Google Admin.
  8. Assign licenses for everyone in your team (even if you lot're a solopreneur, you lot will need to assign yourself a license before using Google Voice).
  9. Finally, you're ready to assign area codes and phone numbers to your team. Y'all can let employees choose their own number or assign a new number for them. (Annotation: To assign phone numbers outside your home region or to assign a Canadian number, you'll need to have a Premier subscription.) Google Vox does not support toll-free numbers.
  10. If y'all want to keep your old number rather than cull a new one, you'll need to port your number (only available in the United states of america and Canada) to Google Voice. Starting time a port guild, then fill up out your port details to brainstorm the request.
  11. Now that your Google Voice account and telephone numbers are prepare to go, yous can also ready your Ring Groups (so multiple numbers can answer the same incoming phone call) and auto-attendant — if you have a Google Voice Standard or Google Vocalism Premier plan.
  12. You lot're now ready to employ Google Voice on your computer, set up call forwarding for incoming calls, or install the Google Voice app for your mobile device.

How can you lot use Google Vocalism for your own business

Small business owners employ Google Vocalisation in the post-obit ways:

  • Customer service: Using Google Vox as a customer service line is useful for small businesses that offering phone back up to their clients.
  • Using numbers exterior your service area: If y'all're serving clients in a specific surface area, but don't have a local phone number for that region, getting a local business phone number in that state or city would be very handy.
  • Privacy: You shouldn't be using your personal cell telephone number for your business for many reasons — one being the complete lack of privacy. Google Vox allows your business phone number to forward to your cell telephone.

Ready business organization hours: Yous tin also configure Google Voice then your telephone only rings during the specific hours you set up so you're non answering calls all through the night.

Google Vocalism for Workspace limitations

Google Voice is a VoIP solution with an affordable pricing model. Unfortunately, information technology comes with several limitations, including:

1. Lacks flexibility

Every bit a rule, each Google Phonation user tin only have one phone number associated with it. If yous need multiple phone numbers (i.e., if you serve multiple states and want to appear local to various clients) you should cull a Google Vox culling. Additionally, every bit previously mentioned, Google Voice for Google Workspace is but available in:

  • Belgium
  • Canada
  • Denmark
  • French republic
  • Federal republic of germany
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Netherlands
  • Portugal
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland
  • U.k.
  • United states of america (only non US territories)

If yous're based outside these countries and want a Usa number (or Canadian), OpenPhone is still available to yous.

2. You lot accept to take a Google Workspace account

To apply Google Voice for business, you must accept a Google Workspace account. Since Google Workspace isn't a free service, this adds an boosted $6 per month to your plan (at minimum).

3. No toll-free numbers

Toll-free numbers (i-800 numbers) are of import, especially for small businesses looking to take care of their customers and allow them to accomplish you lot without having to pay a long-distance fee.  If you offer customer support across the country (Canada + the U.s.), having a price-free telephone number for your support line will be beneficial. Google Voice doesn't provide 1-800 numbers, just alternatives like OpenPhone do.

4. Porting limitations

If you determine to move away from Google Vocalisation for Google Workspace, porting your number to another service can exist difficult. For Us numbers, the accost in the port request must match the primary location you set upwardly in the Google Admin console.

https://www.youtube.com/sentry?v=XRmEcRfMZ7Y

Looking to port an existing phone number from Google Phonation or some other service? We can port it over to OpenPhone. Fill out this 1-minute porting form and we'll take care of the residuum for you.

5. No external integrations

Google Voice just integrates with other Google Workspace apps, including Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive, and Google Run into (formerly Google Hangouts). Your phone system won't integrate with other providers, such as CRM systems (like Hubspot), Zapier, or Slack.

6. No team collaboration

With Google Vox, yous tin't hands bulletin your teammates (and Ring Groups come up at an added price). Instead, you take to switch to another app — Google Conversation — to enable squad messaging. Plus, Google Vox doesn't allow teaming upward on a conversation.

With Google Voice, you tin can't save fourth dimension on repeat letters you demand to send throughout the day past using motorcar-replies or snippets. Instead, you have to individually craft responses for each customer question or message, which wastes time and increases your workload.

​viii. You can't launch text marketing campaigns

With Google Voice, text messages are meant for i-to-one conversations simply. In other words, text messaging is meant for texting individuals — not one-to-many texts. You can't launch marketing campaigns that send promos or special offers to clients or prospects.

9. More than difficult to take hold of upwards

In Google Voice, calls, texts, and vocalization letters all alive in carve up inboxes. If your squad needs to review advice it can be far more difficult to get up to speed, creating major bottlenecks for any squad that wants to stay responsive.

Is at that place a better alternative to Google Voice?

Were there some deal-breakers in that limitations list? Not surprisingly, many OpenPhone users have ported their number over from Google Vox due to the lack of features.

OpenPhone is a clean, simple, and convenient modernistic phone number service that is specifically made to fit you and your small business.

Hither's what our users love about OpenPhone and why they made the switch:

Better customer support: Email customer support at OpenPhone to get help.

I decided it was worth paying a small amount for a more business-oriented solution. Google has no real-time help bachelor, only a agglomeration of previously asked questions with answers. I was sick of searching the internet for a fashion to fix issues with Google Phonation.

More than reliable: Is Google Vocalisation not working for you? With OpenPhone, not merely do you go unlimited calls and texts – yous get crystal clear audio quality both incoming and outgoing. This includes iPhone, Android, and desktop.

I am porting away [from Google Vox] because we become too many dropped calls, poor connections and are unable to take multiple greetings (after hours).

Team flexibility: You can invite your team members to get access to your OpenPhone business concern telephone number. This style, you can squad up on responding to customer calls and letters. Plus, all texts, calls, and messages associated with a specific number are in 1 box so anyone on your team can keep the conversation. Information technology's affordable, too, with plans starting at merely $10 per month per user.

The primary reason for switching is to allow more than than 1 person to pick upward calls on their mobile devices and respond to vocalism mail service or text letters. Google simply allows one mobile number to be tied to a Google Voice account.

Here's how OpenPhone measures up against Google Phonation for business concern:

OpenPhone Google Voice
Pricing Starts at $10 per month per user Starts at $10 per month per user, plus $vi per month per user Workspace account
Unlimited calling ✓ ✓
SMS, MMS ✓ ✓
Voicemail to text ✓ ✓
Set business hours ✓ ✓
Additional phone numbers $v per number Varies
Number porting ✓ ✓
Telephone call recording ✓ ✓
Shared phone numbers ✓ X
Dedicated business organisation address book ✓ X
IVR (phone menu) with extensions ✓ X
Team Messaging ✓ X
Group text messaging Up to 10 business contacts Upward to 7 contacts
Car-replies ✓ X
Snippets ✓ X
Slack integration ✓ X
Zapier integration ✓ 10
CRM integration ✓ 10
iOS and Android apps ✓ ✓
Spider web-based app ✓ ✓

​Switch from Google Voice to OpenPhone

Screenshot of the OpenPhone desktop and mobile apps

Google Phonation is an affordable VoIP service for modest businesses. Unfortunately, the setup is rather rigorous, it hinders team collaboration, and it lacks external integrations.

OpenPhone is the Google Vox culling that's easy to prepare, strengthens squad and client communication, and offers thousands of integrations through Zapier. Plus, OpenPhone offers a number of avant-garde features Google Vocalisation does not, such every bit auto-replies, snippets, and shared phone numbers.

Set to make the switch from Google Voice to OpenPhone? Sign upwards for a new OpenPhone business phone number and try a seven-24-hour interval gratuitous trial today.