Why You Should Port Your Existing Number to Google Voice

Google now allows you to port any phone number you may have to Google Voice. While Google Voice is something that the geek community has been using for a while now, it's not something that the general population probably knows much about. If you're not familiar with what Google Voice is, here's a rundown of the service, and why you should consider porting your number over.

One number
Google Voice gives you one number that you can setup to ring any phone you like. Setup is all done on the web (or though an app on your phone) and can be changed whenever you feel like it. For instance, let's say my Google Voice # was 123-456-7890. I can give that number out to all my friends, coworkers etc. so when they call me, they'll just dial that number, just like any other. I can set that number up, however, to ring my office phone while I'm at work, cell phone, or even a hotel room while I'm on vacation. You can also have it ring and take calls physically through your computer. It saves you the trouble of having to pass out a ton of different ways to reach you, and lets you decide when and where people can do so.

Voicemail
Voicemail through Google Voice is also pretty exciting. Voicemails are all computer-based. So, if someone leaves you a message, it gets sent you like an email. Google Voice transcribes that voicemail into text, so if you're somewhere where you can;t listen to a message right now, you can read what a caller said instead. The transcription isn't the most amazing thing ever as far as accuracy, but it's not too bad either. An audio version of the voicemail is included in each message as well, so you can listen to figure out any questionable bits as well.

Free
Domestic calls and texts sent to and from Google Voice accounts are free. There's no monthly fee, no minutes of use, everything is free. If you were to port your existing mobile phone number over to Google Voice, you could then theoretically not use any minutes on your mobile phone carrier, and instead use exclusively data to make and receive calls and text messages. Porting your existing number will cost $20. Google voice also offers random numbers for free.

I plan on porting my current mobile phone number over to Google Voice as soon as my contract is up this summer. Are any of you planning on doing the same?