Google Voice Toll Free Number

How to Get a Toll Free 800 Number for Google Voice, Cheap & Easy.

There’s a lot of confusion and misinformation about how to get a toll-free 1-800 number for business use on Google Voice. At this time, Google Voice does not offer toll-free numbers. The only way to get a toll-free number for your Google Voice account is via a third-party phone company like Unitel Voice.

Where can I get a toll free number for Google Voice?

Unitel Voice offers a special low-cost plan for Google Voice users, making the process easy and affordable.

Get a toll free number for Google Voice

You simply sign up for service in three steps:

1. Pick Your Plan

2. Pick Your Toll Free Number

3. Create Your Account

Once your Unitel Voice account is set up, you enter your Google Voice number as your forwarding number. When your customers call your toll-free number, you receive the call on your Google Voice number. It’s that simple.

You can try it now.

But before you make any moves, you should know that there are better Google Voice alternatives for your business phone system. Google Voice is not designed as a business phone solution.

Not only does Google Voice not offer toll-free numbers, but it also doesn’t offer a true auto attendant—the mechanism that professionally greets callers and allows them to choose which employee or department extension they’d like to be routed to.

This quick guide to the best virtual phone number providers compares business phone solutions (including Google Voice) based on cost, features, and benefits.

There are many reasons why Google Voice is a better choice for individuals than for businesses. Let’s examine some things you should know before signing up for Google Voice.

How to get a toll free number for Google Voice

Why Google Voice May Not Be Right For Business Use

Although Google Voice might be an enticing choice due to its free price tag, there are some serious concerns about using it for business. First, Google does not offer 1-800 numbers to Google Voice users.

Although there has been some discussion about potentially changing that in the future, no announcements have been made yet. For now, businesses must settle for a local area code phone number that Google Voice currently offers and use a separate service provider to get a toll-free number.

Why not just use your local Google Voice number as your business phone number? While this might be an alright idea for personal use, there are some reasons why you might want to avoid using Google Voice numbers as your primary business phone number.

Chief among these reasons is that when Google Voice assigns you a phone number, you do not own the phone number that you are assigned. Instead, you are given a phone number that Google owns and leases. This can be an issue because if you lose that phone number, the customers who reach you through it would no longer be able to access your business, resulting in lost revenue.

You don’t own your phone number, which is another serious concern. While losing your Google Voice number seems pretty rare, it could be catastrophic if it did happen. Many of your customers would lose their primary communication channel with your business, and disseminating a new phone number would almost surely result in losing touch with a few of your hard-earned customers.

If you run into problems with your Google Voice account, another big issue is that Google isn’t known for its excellent customer service. They don’t even have a dedicated team that you can call to get someone on the phone to talk about the issue. At best, you’d be lucky to get an email response from the Google support team, and even then, it is more likely to be a canned response.

Additionally, Google Voice doesn’t provide any of the advanced features that other paid platforms will provide to your business. As a business, you probably want features like:

  • Auto Attendants: Auto attendants greet your callers and direct them toward the proper extensions, phones, and voicemails, depending on the purpose of their call.
  • Unlimited Call Handling: Google Voice does not include a system that allows concurrent calls or directs them to the appropriate voicemail line when the line is busy.
  • Department and Employee Extensions: If you want your employees to each have their separate line, that is impossible in Google Voice, which provides one single line. Some have tried to string together several Google Voice accounts to make it work, but that is more trouble than it is worth.
  • Custom Hold Messages: Sometimes, you have to put customers on hold. That’s just the nature of the business. But while they are on hold, you want to ensure you have something to play to inform them about your company and keep them on the line. This is not possible with Google Voice.

In short, Google Voice might be a good option for single users who need a phone line immediately, but it is not recommended for business users. A free Google Voice number doesn’t have the business phone system features you need to provide customers with a professional experience.

Porting Your Google Voice Number to A Different Business Phone Service

If you’ve been using Google Voice for a while now and your Google Voice number is the one customers contact you through, it can put you in a tough position. You may want to sign up for another service and make use of all of the advanced features that they offer, but you may find yourself unable to ditch your Google Voice phone number without negatively impacting your business. While it’s not an ideal situation, it is one we have seen happen often.

The good news is that using your Google Voice number with another service is definitely possible. To learn more about how to port your Google Voice number, here is a Google Voice Help Forum topic that explains the process.

Here’s a quick explanation of how you can use your Google Voice phone number with another service:

  1. Follow the instructions for unlocking your Google Voice phone number. Essentially, this means letting Google know that you are permitting another phone service provider to gain access to the number. Once you’ve done this, the “Porting” section of your settings will change to “Unlocked.”
  2. Ask your new phone service provider to get the number from Google Voice. This official request is to port the number to your cell phone carrier.
  3. Your new phone provider will submit a part request through the national phone porting system, NPAC.
  4. Google then approves the request. Once they have done so, the porting status in your account will change to reflect that it has been approved.
  5. Once your new carrier gains access to the phone number, it is up to them to process the request. Now, Google is not transferring the number to a new carrier.

Your new carrier may tell you that Google is not releasing the number to them. If that is the case, you should start the process again from the beginning and follow the steps in order.

Google Voice Has Concerning Limitations for Businesses

There is no doubt that Google Voice is a cool service. But I wouldn’t trust it with my business. Google has a history of shutting down its side projects unexpectedly, and as a free service, Google Voice can’t be high on its list of priorities. If the service disappeared overnight, your business might be out of luck.

Additionally, they don’t offer anything resembling comprehensive customer service, making it a bad fit for business use. You don’t have any numbers to call and receive guaranteed help when something goes wrong. When that does happen, you lose revenue every minute your phone system is offline. If you were to lose access to your phone number completely, you could potentially seriously damage your business in the process.

Another concern that should give business owners pause is the lack of a way to secure a toll-free 800 number through Google Voice. Yes, you can add an 800 number from another service to your Google Voice account, but in most cases, you would be better off using the service specifically built for business use.

Note: Technically, the free version of Google Voice, per its terms and conditions, is not for business use; Google offers Google Voice for business with plans starting at $10/month per user plus Google Business Suite fees.

If you want your business to access a toll-free 800 number with all the bells and whistles needed to convey professionalism, sign up for one of Unitel Voice’s virtual phone system plans. As soon as you sign up, you’ll receive access to your vanity number or toll-free 800 number, along with other business features that make us a better choice for your business than Google Voice.


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