Avoid Cell Phone Charges with Google Voice

Google Voice is a great service. You sign up for free. You get a free number, and you make online calls for free. If you own a Smart Phone with unlimited Web access but limited call time, you can use this service to your advantage. Here's how...

To avoid charges for calls received the process works if you have a calling plan that includes a free list of numbers like AT&T's "A-Team", Verizon's "Family and Friends", T-Mobile's MyFaves or Sprint's "Pick 3" (not advertised).

1. Go to http://voice.google.com/ and create a free Google Voice account.



2. Add your Google Voice number to your list of favorites.



3. In your Google Voice Account (voice.google.com) go to "Settings" and forward your Google number to youir Cell number.



4. Click the "Calls" tab under "Caller ID" seletct "Display my Google Voice Number"

As for outgoing calls, the process is easy if you have an Android-based smart-phone or a Blackberry. Download "Google Voice For Mobile" to your Phone available at http://www.google.com/mobile/voice/. The installer will guide you through the installation. It is a little bit trickier if you have an iPhone, a Palm or others. But you can still make free calls by pointing your phone's browser to http://m.google.com/voice.

That's it! Have Fun!

Update: Google Voice now uses an "intermediate" number that they call a "routing number" to connect you to your party. There is a way to work around this, though it needs a bit more work. First find an older version of Google Voice. I use build 0.3.4 (#13) and it works great. Next step: look at your phone call log. You'll see that whenever you make a call using Google Voice, a "routing number" will appear instead of the number you dialed. That's the number that Google Voice uses to connect you to your party. All you have to do is add that number to your "Friends and Family" list too. This won't work with the newer versions of Google Voice, so after you install the older version you need to be careful to not accept any updates to the GVoice application.

Windows 7 Compatibility Checker: A Trojan

There being thousands of malware applications out there, normally we wouldn't comment on a specific method or strain. But our customers have been reporting this one repeatedly, so we though it would be worth mentioning. The infection is called "Windows 7 Compatibility Checker" and it is transmitted mostly by e-mail, but a quick search on Google has shown that links to it have been provided (inocently) on "Computer Advice" forums.

Bottom line: never run or open a file that you receive by email from somebody you don't know (and be careful even when from people you do know). And if you want to know if your computer can support Windows 7, trust only your computer vendor's site, Microsoft's site, or a Professional to whom you can speak directly. Microsoft has set up a very useful site for this purpose called Windows 7 Compatibility Center