I removed google voice, so my carrier's voicemail took over as the voicemail provider. Yes, the voice mail does appear in hangouts - - - for one second - - - then it disappears and prompts me to send a text to the number where the call came from. When I was using Google Voice as the voicemail provider, it showed me the voice message, but refused to load it to play.
Meanwhile, every time I want to use Hangouts to send a text, it sends me to a Hangout, and I need to mess with the contacts to send an MMS. And it shows me a million strangers recommended by Google Plus, and I'm not even signed up for Google Plus.
This is possibly the most confusing and botched launch of an important product I have experienced, even by the standards of the software business, where everything is shipped before it is ready. The two most basic functions of my phone, texting and voice, have become a complete mess. I am abandoning hangouts and going back to native apps and phasing out google voice as quickly as I can.