Skip to main content

Google Voice testing ability to port your phone number

Google Voice number portingGoogle Voice has become increasingly popular, and is now offering a new feature that allows users to port existing phone numbers to the VoIP service. Up until this point, the only contention customers had with Google Voice was the inability to use their existing mobile phone numbers to make outgoing calls.

For the time being, this is merely a test run, but a Google spokeswoman told Engadget it will eventually be offered to everyone “in the near future.” If you’re a Google Voice user, check your phone settings for a “change/port” option. If it’s not there, just keep on waiting until you’re lucky enough to give the feature a test run.

Be forewarned that there are some less than thrilling strings attached to porting your number. Users will have to pay a $20 fee for the service, on top of any contract termination charges they’re subject to – and you will be subjected to them. Part of the agreement you sign when porting your number to Google Voice includes a warning that users will face early-termination fees from existing carriers if the current contract isn’t up. And The Wall Street Journal mentions that it’s possible switching to Google Voice will delay text messages for up to three business days.

WSJ also points out the carrier-changing game you’ll have to play. “You’ll have to go back to a carrier and get another plan with a new number, and then add that number to your Google Voice account if you want the service to work with a cellphone. It’s a complicated process, although it might be worth it for people who are tied to their existing cellphone numbers.”

As more and more carriers get on board with Android phones however, there’s a possibility they could work with Google on porting numbers. “Anything that increases customer convenience is a good thing,” an AT&T rep said.

Editors' Recommendations

Molly McHugh
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Before coming to Digital Trends, Molly worked as a freelance writer, occasional photographer, and general technical lackey…
Your $1,000 smartphone is a bad deal. These cheap phones prove it
White Xiaomi POCO F5 and bluish-green OnePlus Nord 3 held in hand in front of a heap of Android smartphones including OnePlus 11 and Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4.

Samsung is once again here to entice you with its latest crop of foldable phones. The temptation they pose is easy to give into. You might think, what could go wrong with an almighty, well-stocked $1,000 phone?

Worth noticing, however, is the fact that plenty of other smartphones offer a much higher value for your money and can potentially fill your $1,000 purchase with remorse. That's not my intention, especially if you have already preordered the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 or Galaxy Z Flip 5. But if you are looking for potential alternatives that save you lots of money while bringing you features comparable to phones that cost almost $1,000, here we have some examples.

Read more
Your next Samsung phone might ditch Google Search for Bing
The screens on the Galaxy A54 and Galaxy S23 Ultra.

When you buy an Android phone, you expect Google Search to be installed out of the box as the default search engine. But that may not be the case when you buy your next Samsung phone. According to a report over the weekend, Samsung might abandon Google Search in favor of Bing as the default search engine for future Samsung Galaxy phones.

The possibility that Samsung is considering replacing Google Search with Bing on its smartphones sent Google into a "panic," according to the New York Times, Why? As the report explains, "An estimated $3 billion in annual revenue is at stake with the Samsung contract." If Samsung doesn't want to keep using Google for the default search engine on its phones, that's $3 billion per year Google will no longer get. And if Samsung decides it wants Bing instead of Google, who knows how many other companies will follow suit and do the same.
Why Samsung wants Bing over Google

Read more
iPhone phone calls sound muffled? Here’s how to quickly fix them
Side profile of a person in a car holding an iPhone to their ear.

Although the iPhone has always done a reasonably good job of filtering out basic background noise when you're on a call, Apple has unlocked a new feature in iOS 16.4 that takes this to a whole new level through the power of machine learning.

Traditional noise cancellation is handy for cutting out routine background noise, such as the hum of traffic on city streets or your air conditioner, but it doesn't do so well when it comes to less predictable noises — like dogs barking, children playing, or infants crying. Filtering those types of sounds out is much more important these days now that more folks are working from home, and — thankfully — that's exactly what Apple's Voice Isolation feature is for.

Read more