[recDNA]

I really like the CONCEPT of visual voicemail however the sound quality of my VZW VVM is so bad I often cannot understand all the words.

Is the sound quality of Google VVM any better?

I don't have a Google phone number and know nothing about it. If I go to Google VVM and don't like it can I go back to VZW VVM? If so how? I hate to try anything that is hard to undo.

Please don't refer me to links. I can usually understand human answers better than web site speak.

Thanks!

[FrankXS]

I really like the CONCEPT of visual voicemail however the sound quality of my VZW VVM is so bad I often cannot understand all the words.

Is the sound quality of Google VVM any better?

I don't have a Google phone number and know nothing about it. If I go to Google VVM and don't like it can I go back to VZW VVM? If so how? I hate to try anything that is hard to undo.

Please don't refer me to links. I can usually understand human answers better than web site speak.

Thanks!

I can't help on Google VM, but I do have a comment about the VZW VVM sound quality. I've found that the first 1-2 seconds of the recording is distorted but then the sound adjusts to just the right level and sounds good to me. I have no issues with it. I have come to believe that this first 1-2 seconds is the time it takes for the AGC (automatic gain circuit -- IOW the auto-volume circuit that prevents overdriving the speaker) to kick in and adjust itself. I think this is probably an artifact of the media player used in the ThunderBolt. Not sure if it is the same on aftermarket ROMs.

-Frank

[recDNA]

Mine sounds like.crap all the way through the call. Of course it is especially bad when the caller is automated voice or if the person speaks too rapidly. It sounds like a third generation recording of a call with a bad connection.

[FrankXS]

Mine sounds like.crap all the way through the call. Of course it is especially bad when the caller is automated voice or if the person speaks too rapidly. It sounds like a third generation recording of a call with a bad connection.

Strange. Mine most definitely clears up after about a second. It sounds like yours is not "clearing up". Admittedly, that first second or two does sound like crap.

-Frank

[oberkc]

I have google voice. I find the sound quality fine, but don't notice much difference between google voice and verizon voicemail (as far as sound quality goes). Both are fine in my case.

[paintdrinkingpete]

I really like Google Voice's VM service over Verizon's. I can't speak too much to quality of the sound (only because it's been so long since I've used Verizon's I can't remember if it's any better or worse).

One thing I REALLY like about it is that you can it send you an email when you get a VM (as well as the standard notification). A lot of places I work have little to no cell signal, so I usually just shut my phone off or go into airplane mode. Because Google Voice sends my voicemail messages to my email account, I can get new messages from people who call me during the day even if my phone is still turned off...then I can call them back from my office line if needed.

Setting it up is easy though...

1. Go to google.com/voice -- get a number, set things up the way you want them.
2. From your android device, make sure you have the Voice app and are signed into it.
3. From your Verizon android device, dial: *71+[your google voice number] and hit SEND. You'll hear a few tones, then you should be good to go.

For example, if your google voice number is 555-123-4444, you would dial: *715551234444

If you want to turn it off, just dial *73

[recDNA]

And how can I return to stock vm if I don't like it?

Are there status bar notifications?

I assume folks still call me with my current number and airtime is still charged through Verizon and Google is free?

Thanks Pete!

[natehoy]

And how can I return to stock vm if I don't like it?

Are there status bar notifications?

I assume folks still call me with my current number and airtime is still charged through Verizon and Google is free?

Thanks Pete!

The post above you has instructions on changing back to Verizon's voicemail if you don't like Google Voice. Basically, you are telling your phone to forward all missed calls to Google in the first set of instructions, and to cancel that forwarding in the second set.

There are not technically status bar notifications, but Google can send you an email and/or an SMS text message to let you know you have a Google Voicemail. It's not quite as tightly integrated into the phone as Verizon Voicemail, but the notifications work (and the email can, if you want, have the voicemail attached straight to it, so there's no need to use airtime to check your voicemail, plus Google has pretty good voice recognition - I rarely need to listen to them because the extracted text comes to me in the SMS and email).

Folks could call you on your normal number. You would pay airtime for the entire time the caller spends listening to your voicemail message and leaving their voicemail.

If you have people call your Google Voice number, it will forward to your cell (and any other number(s) you add, so you could have it ring your home and office phones too, and not use cell airtime for calls you could answer some other way!). If it goes to voicemail, there's no airtime usage from Verizon, plus you get all kinds of filtering/scheduled ring features, and you can transfer the call between your phones (you are on the cell and get home, press a key on your cell and your home phone rings, answer it and the call is seamlessly transferred to your home phone).

But if you JUST want Google Voice for voicemail, that's OK too, and it works very well.

[worwig]

I use Google. VZW already gets enough money from me.
I like the Google VM. You get a new phone number, but you don't need to use it.
It is easy to turn on and off.
The voice quality is good IMHO. I have hearing problems, and i am good with it.
The transcript is a plus, but not too accurate.

[paintdrinkingpete]

The post above you has instructions on changing back to Verizon's voicemail if you don't like Google Voice. Basically, you are telling your phone to forward all missed calls to Google in the first set of instructions, and to cancel that forwarding in the second set.

There are not technically status bar notifications, but Google can send you an email and/or an SMS text message to let you know you have a Google Voicemail. It's not quite as tightly integrated into the phone as Verizon Voicemail, but the notifications work (and the email can, if you want, have the voicemail attached straight to it, so there's no need to use airtime to check your voicemail, plus Google has pretty good voice recognition - I rarely need to listen to them because the extracted text comes to me in the SMS and email).

Folks could call you on your normal number. You would pay airtime for the entire time the caller spends listening to your voicemail message and leaving their voicemail.

If you have people call your Google Voice number, it will forward to your cell (and any other number(s) you add, so you could have it ring your home and office phones too, and not use cell airtime for calls you could answer some other way!). If it goes to voicemail, there's no airtime usage from Verizon, plus you get all kinds of filtering/scheduled ring features, and you can transfer the call between your phones (you are on the cell and get home, press a key on your cell and your home phone rings, answer it and the call is seamlessly transferred to your home phone).

But if you JUST want Google Voice for voicemail, that's OK too, and it works very well.

That's not entirely true -- if you have the Google Voice app on your phone and are signed in, you will get a status bar notification when VMs arrive. Granted, the notification will be from Google Voice, and not the "traditional" VM notification, but still works the exact same way. The notification takes to right to the Google Voice app where you can play back the message.

You have several options. I don't bother with SMS because I already get notifications from the Voice app and have GV send me an email with the message.

[recDNA]

This has been very informative, I hope to others as well.

Now Google has to make.money from this somehow so do you get junk phone calls or sms ? Where do they get ad revenues from this service?

[worwig]

This has been very informative, I hope to others as well.

Now Google has to make.money from this somehow so do you get junk phone calls or sms ? Where do they get ad revenues from this service?

No ads or junk messages.

I'm not entirely sure how it works, BUT, it appears that it you make an international call, they pop up and want to route the call through THEIR system. I never make international calls, so I'm not sure, but it has something to do with that. But then, I'll bet their international call rates are better then VZW anyway, so it may be a win win.

[somnambulator]

i use youmail.com. create an account and link your phone # to their service. You can pick from thousands of VM greetings including everything from TV and movie clips to audible tones, to ones that greet the caller with their own name (based on their phone's account owner). On top of that it texts you about the missed call with both the phone number of the caller and the phone number to call youmail, both of which are clickable in most SMS apps, and emails you an mp3 of the message so you can listen to it from any computer/smartphone and an apps for android/iphone.

been using it for a few years now dating back about 4 phones, 2 of which were dumb phones, and it requires no setup at all on the devices once your # is linked to your youmail account. It can be completely set-and-forget.

[Jude526]

I don't mind paying for the visual voice . I had it free for a couple of months. I like it. Mine doesn't sound distorted. I tried the Google and didn't like it.

Sent from my Thunderbolt using Tapatalk

[recDNA]

My beef is the sound quality. It's so poor I sometimes cannot understand it.

[Jude526]

My beef is the sound quality. It's so poor I sometimes cannot understand it.

That's ashame. Mine is clear. Its weird how some have issues and some don't.

Sent from my Thunderbolt using Tapatalk

[onthewhole]

Google voice is superior. Great posts here!

Also you can. Set Google voice to "never make international calls".

It also tries to transcribe you voice mails. The results are hilarious sometimes? :-) that makes it worth it it right there for the comedic value.



Sent from my Thunderbolt via Tapatalk.

[worwig]

It also tries to transcribe you voice mails. The results are hilarious sometimes? :-) that makes it worth it it eight there for the comedic value.

I once got a voice mail, and reading the transcription was the funniest thing I had read. Bits and pieces of words that made no sense. It was from a friend of mine that always talks clearly. I showed it to my wife, and she was laughing about it too. Then we listen to the actually voice mail, and realized that it was EXACTLY as he had said it.
That was funny.

[MotoDroid_user]

Came upon this thread because I have the same problem. Motorola Droid 3. Finally decided to try the VZW Visual Voicemail. I like the concept, but the quality of the recording that ends up on the phone is so bad that I usually can't make heads or tails of what anyone is saying. It sounds like it was digitized onto the cheapest digital answering machine in the world. I had hoped maybe there was "quality" setting somewhere that I could change from a default of ZERO to something better. Sounds like that's not the case.

I called Verizon tech support, and their first suggestion was to "Unsubscribe" from VVM (inside the app, click "More", then Unsubscribe... make sure Wi-Fi is NOT active first, as it seems to screw up the process). Then power phone off and back on. Then re-subscribe. Still sounds not so great to me, but going to wait for a better sample of incoming calls to be sure.

[worwig]

So tell me, Google VM is free, it can transcribe a message (mediocre but it does it), it lets you read/hear VM on any device (I get my phones Google VM on my PC and WiFi tablet) , it appears to have much better quality.

Now why would anyone pay VZW to get less?

[recDNA]

It's easier to setup. I have it free for 6 months.

[worwig]

It's easier to setup. I have it free for 6 months.

I was trying to find the positive advantage to the VZW VM service. Even if free, it doesn't sound like as good a deal.

[Bakerboy2253]

This is interesting. I have used VZ VVM since it started a few years ago. I had it on my blackberry and now in my TB for several months. I have never had any issues with sound or quality. Very interesting how some have had issues and some have not. I guess I am one of the lucky ones. I mainly use my TB in a business manner and travel around the country. No issues

I also don’t mind paying, it really not a big deal in the whole picture. At least if it works.

[FrankXS]

So tell me...
Now why would anyone pay VZW to get less?

If you don't have a data connection, or have roaming data turned off when you're out of the country, can you still call your Voicemail manually on Google VVM and listen to your VM the old fashioned way like you can with VZW VVM? Without a data connection, in the same situations as above, do you still get a notification bar notification of a VM like you do with VZW VVM?

-Frank



Sent from my HTC ThunderBolt 4G/LTE using Tapatalk

[kaufmansm]

+1 for google voice. I was a youmail fan until they raised the rates. I tried Google voice as a alternative and love it. never looking back!