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is there a way to use Google Voice on regular phone? perhaps with an additional SIP device? or something? I heard I could do it through Gizmo5, but they have limit of 3 minutes now which is stupid and they charge $10 for 500 minutes which is way too much.

I have Sipura SPA210 if it's possible I'd like to use that...

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4 Answers 4

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You can do it with Sipgate and an asterisk server. I set mine up like this a few weeks ago. There's a pretty comprehensive guide and lots of followup posts here.

http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?sduid=0&t=1480557

There was actually a followup thread on SD where people are running this setup without a local asterisk server, and using a remote server at Sipsorcery.com to route calls. It doesn't look like the sipsorcery site is accepting new accounts at the moment however. Here's the link to that thread and the info is in the accompanying wiki.

http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?t=1500881

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  • this sort of what i've been looking for, but i dont want to use servers i just want i guess some sort of device that i can configure to use google voice and that is it...
    – alexus
    Sep 5, 2009 at 2:05
  • I have Sipura SPA210, can I use that?
    – alexus
    Sep 8, 2009 at 21:54
  • The SPA210 should work as an ATA, but you'd still need a local or remote server to point it at.
    – Girt
    Sep 13, 2009 at 0:32
  • you mean something like asterisk?
    – alexus
    Sep 14, 2009 at 2:59
  • yes, a local or remote asterisk server would work. That sipsorcery.com site is taking new accounts today if you want to try and setup the second option i listed above.
    – Girt
    Sep 14, 2009 at 17:23
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Yes. To place a call with Google Voice from a regular phone line, you simply dial your own Google Voice number from any regular phone, press 2 to place a call, and enter the number you'd like to call.

Here's more information on this:

http://www.google.com/support/voice/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=115079

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    i meant to use google voice as my only number without having any other phone lines, sort of what Gizmo5 does but without their limitations, i.e. without them..
    – alexus
    Sep 5, 2009 at 2:03
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You can use Gizmo as your SIP provider. My understanding (as a gizmo user, but not having used this heavily yet), is that the Gizmo/GoogleVoice 'integration' is really two different things. For outgoing calls (from the Gozmo softphone), it allows you to call out of Gizmo and show your GV number on callerid; however, the calls are routed through Gizmo's network (SIP to PSTN) and never touch the GV network. For incoming calls (to your GV number), your calls are routed from GV's network directly to the Gizmo SIP number - bypassing the Gizmo SIP/PSTN gateway.

The only limit is for outgoing calls from the Gizmo softphone (that's the 3 minute limit). Incoming calls (via the GV gateway), are unlimited. So as long as you place calls using the GV webinterface, GV will call your Gizmo number and the call time will be unlimited.

As an aside, it's possible to accept and send calls on Android using GV/Gizmo, using (as I understand it) an app that manages initiating the call from GV so the outgoing call is pretty seamless. I'd assume similar devices could be configured similarly.

Of course what would be great is a SIP number for your GV account.

For now, what you want is certainly possible, just might take either a bit of hacking, or accepting that any outgoing calls have to be done via GV's web interface.

UPDATE: Here's what looks to be (I haven't tried it myself) a way to get a mostly transparent outgoing calling from a softphone or hardphone. You sent up a proxy for outgoing calls, which in turn calls GV via Gizmo, and initiates a call back sequence. So you dial, get a busy signal, hangup and answer when it rings. Not perfect, but it would allow you to use a hardware or software phone with out needing to use the GV web interface. This will likely work with your SPA 210, as long as it supports the required proxy settings, and you run the proxy application on an accessible computer.

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  • I forgot that Gizmo provides a number for unlimited incoming calls, so my guess that incoming calls are routed directly to Gizmo's SIP number may be incorrect. The conclusion is the same, as long as you have all calls incoming (as far as Gizmo is concerned) you should be unlimited.
    – Tim Lytle
    Sep 9, 2009 at 11:46
  • my goal is to be able to get unlimited us calls for a free no limitations, no computers just a phone and another device (not a computer) that hooks up to your router or something
    – alexus
    Sep 14, 2009 at 3:04
  • It's not like you would need to do anything with the computer running the proxy server. It wouldn't even need to be on your local network (if you wanted to run it on a remote server someplace). The bottom line is that all solutions (if I'm not mistaken) require some kind of proxy or service or just manually managing the task of making an outgoing call through the GV interface. Or you could just pay for the Gizmo call out. But I don't believe you'll be able ot find what you're looking for (if there must not be something between GV and Gizmo).
    – Tim Lytle
    Sep 14, 2009 at 19:52
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And if you are really in a crinch, here is a quick tutorial from LifeHacker on how to make free VoIP calls using Google Voice. I am not sure if this will help with making calls from a phone though, but it might help.

http://lifehacker.com/5349506/make-free-voip-calls-from-google-voice

I would however not recommend using Google Voice, in favor of Skype, which with some fiddling you can hook up to a phone.

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  • skype doesn't provide free calling, google voice does!
    – alexus
    Feb 10, 2011 at 15:06

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