Google Offers A Free Service That Gives You A 2nd Phone Number, Blocks Robocalls
Image via Photo 151770917 © Tero Vesalainen | Dreamstime.com
While governments are working to fend off illegal robocalls, some are still filtered through to the annoyance and deceit of many. What you can do to weed them out is get a second phone number—and it’s free.
As detailed by USA Today, Google provides a free lesser-known service that gives you a new phone number for international and domestic phone calls, text messages, and voicemails. Depending on your needs, you could use it to mask your existing number or make it a burner number for potential spammers.
Google Voice can be installed via iOS or Android devices, or accessed through desktops. To proceed, you’ll just need to sign in to your Google account, and you’ll be shown a list of numbers to choose from.
Why get a secondary number? You might ask. There are myriad reasons. First off, there could be occasions (read: always) when you don’t want to share your real number with someone. For instance, you might have a business that requires a phone number; an alternative number would certainly come in useful.
You could even give away this other number so your personal one doesn’t get shared between advertisers or hackers, which would eliminate the number of robocalls you get.
Lastly, you could use Google Voice when you’re switching phone providers and would like to retain your old number. To port numbers over to Google Voice, the company charges a US$20 fee.
The tool is currently only available in the US. For more information on how to use Google Voice, check out USA Today’s full guide.
Image via Google Voice
[via USA Today, cover images via various sources]
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