I created this tutorial for my journalism cohort. Google Voice is a limber and free solution for small business owners, freelancers, and indpendent contractors who want to have a phone number separate from their mobile number and don't want to pay for an additional phone bill. I have given the very basic explanation of why it might be useful, along with some of its limitations. As I went through the process myself, I tried to catch all the screenshots, but I'm sure I forgot some. Google will undoubtedly change their look and process as well, so how this ages remains to be seen. Use it as a guideline. I am not affiliated in Google other than being utterly dependent upon it for my email like the rest of the globe. In this tutorial, I did not exploit all of the features remotely. Google is Google: they have great tutorials, and might I suggest you avail yourself of them! Happy free business communications!

1. Google Voice
 You need Google Voice
 What is Google Voice?
 Features
 Carriers
 Sign Up
 Install Mobile App (iPHone)
This is not a comprehensive guide. It is
heavily flavored in favor of iPhone.
You will learn how to:
set up a Google Voice account with an
existing Gmail account, install a mobile
app for your iPhone smartphone. If you
have a Droid, GTS (Google that ‘stuff’)
Created by Kaley Perkins for NMJMA April
2013 Cohort. All rights reserved.

2. You need Google Voice:
 You are a business person.
 You want to protect your privacy.
 Your business needs a phone.
 Now you have a personal phone AND a
business phone.
 Don't have two phones and two voicemails.
 Too much management.
 Too much money.
 Get Google Voice.

3. What is Google Voice?
 GV is an add-on Google feature that lets
you manage multiple phone lines.
 GV syncs voicemails, texts, and emails
and lets you manage them in the
dashboard of you Google account.
 GV is free.
 GV is portable – no new # if you move.
 GV makes all communications mobile.
 GV works with all carriers, Big Guys best.

4. Features:
 Personalized greeting
 Transcription
 Share voicemails
 Text
 Conference calls
 Select a customized number (all sorts of
fun to play with!)
 Customizable feature

5. Features: VOICEMAIL
 consolidates your voicemail
 transcribes voicemail to searchable text
 transcribed voicemail is texted and
emailed
 you don't have to listen to your voicemails
– you can read them
 configure this to suit you

6. Features: TEXTS
 Send texts from any number
 Send texts from Gmail or mobile
 Receive texts for all your numbers
 Receive texts as texts and Gmail
 Text & emails are word searchable in
Gmail

7. Features: TEXT (con’t)
 Not supported
 MMS
 International texts

8. Features: CALLING
 Call clients from email or mobile phone.
 Control the number your customer sees.
 Record calls, not yet reliable for phone
interviews
 Check applicable privacy laws

9. Carriers
 Verizon
 Sprint
 AT&T
 Virgin (full of friction according to forums)
 T-Mobile (call forwarding buggy
according to forums)

10. Challenges
 Many choices for configuring – can
overwhelm.
 Porting phone numbers,
 Many preferences, many decisions.
 Call forwarding is buggy on smaller
networks (Sprint smoothest)
 To use via mobile phone, additional
iPhone App or Droid App must be
downloaded and configured.

11. SignUp: Agree to Terms

12. Signup: New Number

13. Signup: Add Forward #

14. Signup: Select Your New #

15. Signup: Which Do You Like?

16. Signup: Manage Cell, GV

17. Signup: Congrats! Your’re In

18. Signup: First Message

19. Installing Mobile App (iPhone)
 (I don’t have a Droid phone.)
 There are a couple of different apps.
 Check reviews (read reviews vs. trusting star
rating: three ratings at a five and 1000 at a
three and a half can be the difference
between someone’s friends rating a brand
new, untested app and genuine field testing )
 Look for later versions, they have been tested.
But don’t trust them automatically: some
updates can break what didn’t need fixing!

20. 1. Finding the App

21. 2. Installing the App
Type in your Apple ID Password

22. 3. Installing the App
See the dark box to the right of the ‘e’? It’s loading.

23. 4. Move the Icon
Touch and hold the icon until it starts blinking and an ‘X’ appears

24. 5. Icon Next to Phone
If you like, drag the icon down so that it is next to your phone.

25. 6. Launch App
Enter your Gmail email address and password.

26. 6. Can App Use Your Location?
Do you want App to use your location?

27. 7. Can App Send Push Notifications?
Do you want App to send you push notifications?

28. 8. Welcome Screen w/ features
App integrates Mo+ and Google Voice with each other and with Email

29. 9. Notify Contact List of New #?
I say no: this is business phone; keep them separate.

30. 10. Congratulations: Ready to Use
More preferences for sure, but now we can use mobile App.

31. 11. The Main Navigation Screen
Let’s make a call using the key pad. Touch the Keypad icon.

32. 12. Let’s Call Someone
Dial some numbers. How about local pizza delivery?

33. 13. It’s Dialing…

34. 14. It’s Dialing…
Sister is at work. Hang up so we don’t bug her.

35. 15. Let’s text someone
Back to main navigation screen. Click ‘Messaging’

36. 16. Text Shows Up in Email
Sent text from new GV # to existing cell phone #. Text hit
existing Gmail account and correct text account.