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Google Voice voicemail notifications?

S

SLDroid

Newbie
I use google voice for voice mail. I have it set up to send me a gmail when I get a voicemail, and it usually works great. But on my train commute, there is one section that is underground and does not get any voice or data service. This is followed by another section that gets voice service but no data service. When someone tries to call me when I am in the no voice/data service area, I do not get a voice mail notification until I am back in the full voice/data service area. Due to the train being stopped in the voice but no data service for some time, I did not get the notification for about 20 minutes.

My question is, if I set up google voice to SMS instead of email voicemail notifications to me, will I then get the notifications as soon as I am back in voice service territory? That is, does SMS use voice while email requires data service? I have a limited text message plan, so I was hoping to not use up text messages with voicemail notifications.

Also, I never received a notification from the Missed Call app. Is this because google voice picks up the call before it even reaches the phone when I am not in a voice service area?

Thanks for any input on this.
 
Good question, and I don't know. But I am pretty sure that Google Voice needs the data collection to actually pull the voicemail down. So even if you could get an SMS notification through voice coverage, you'll need data coverage to play the voicemail on Google voice.

So here's an alternate plan, assuming the issue is long stoppages and you want to see if you got a voicemail -- if you get a "missed call" notification, call your Google Voice number over the voice airwaves and check the voicemail the old fashioned way. You'll have to enter your PIN and make your settings are set to "Yes" under Voicemail access.
 
The more I think about it, SMS uses voice coverage. It has to -- it works on phones with zero data capability.

But the solution I typed above would avoid having to receive SMS notifications, and hopefully the "voice coverage but no data" while missing a call is rare.
 
Good point. I believe the sms notification from google voice will include the caller phone number and at least a partial speech to text message. So, if I set it up to use sms notif instead of email, at least there is a good chance that I will know who called as soon as the phone is back in voice service territory.

I guess this is the one negative of google voice voicemail. If you are not in an area covered by voice service when the call comes in, the call will never show up in the phone log even after you get back to coverage.
 
SLDroid said:
I guess this is the one negative of google voice voicemail. If you are not in an area covered by voice service when the call comes in, the call will never show up in the phone log even after you get back to coverage.
Click to expand...

I don't know about that -- particularly if they dial your Verizon number, and you are in an area not covered by voice, you'll get a missed call notification and phone log entry when you return to coverage. At least I think -- I get missed call notifications all the time where the reason for the missed call is that I was in a coverage hole.
 
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