Enterprises all over the world are modernising their workplace, but telephony often remains a pain point for IT departments in terms of ease of use, cost and manageability. To address it Google Cloud has introduced Google Voice – a Cloud-native way for companies of every size to stay connected. And it is easy to use and to manage!
Google Workspace (formerly G Suite) is born in the cloud and has a major competitive advantage when it comes to ease of use and innovation. As a premier Google Cloud partner we have been implementing Google Workspace for over a decade, helping companies to take advantage of all cloud collaboration and communication tools. Google Voice was announced at Google Next ’19 as a much-anticipated addition, and since then it has been developed to fit companies of different sizes.
The new way to call
At this moment there are nearly 9 billion phone numbers in the world, which makes voice still the most universal way to connect. Voice solutions in the enterprise space are extremely difficult and hard to maintain. The on-premise PBX systems require deep expertise in the telephony space and is a nightmare to every IT department.
Google wouldn’t be Google if they didn’t try to challenge the traditional telephony. Like all Workspace products, Google Voice is born in the cloud so it doesn’t need an on-premise PBX system anymore. Google Voice for Google Workspace is built to be simple, smart, and scalable – which makes it an attractive telephony solution for companies of all sizes. Let’s take a closer look at the features of the solution:
- Accessible – the solution is designed to work on laptops, mobile devices, and certain deskphones, allowing users to work from anywhere and to stay connected on the go. And when you are done working, you can easily block calls, managing your work-life balance
- Simple – Google Voice for Workspace is simple to administer. Administrators can easily attach a new phone number to a user, port existing numbers, create workflows, and see analytics on the usage. It is also integrated with other Workspace products like Calendar, Contacts, Hangouts Chat, and Hangouts Meet.
- Smart – thanks to Google AI, you can save time by easily determining which device should be active, transcribing voicemails, and blocking spam calls to help minimize unwanted distractions.
- Scalable – Google Voice allows you to migrate smoothly with integrated number porting to help prevent interruption of key business processes. Users also have permission to choose a number and set up their service independently without admin involvement.
Google Voice-supported countries
It takes time for Google to get Google Voice activated in all countries. Below is a list of the current status of availability.
Voice is already available in the following countries:
- Belgium
- Canada
- Denmark
- France
- Germany
- Ireland
- Italy
- Netherlands
- Portugal
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- U.K.
- U.S. (excluding the US territories of American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Island, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands).
Google Voice supported operating systems and browsers
Voice is working with the current release plus 2 previous major releases of the following operating systems (limited functionality may be available on other platforms):
- Chrome OS
- Apple Mac
- Microsoft Windows
- Android (latest 2 versions)
- Apple iOS (latest 2 versions)
The solution is compatible with the current release and 1 previous major release of the browsers below:
- Chrome Browser
- Microsoft Edge
- Mozilla Firefox (Windows and Mac)
- Safari
Google Voice for Google Workspace pricing
Google Voice has several pricing plans with a fixed cost per user per month, so you can choose which one fits your company best. See below for a comparison of these pricing plans as they are priced right now (for an updated chart you can check the Google Voice page at the Google Cloud website).
Not sure which one to choose? Our G Suite experts can help you with an assessment of your specific business needs. Just contact us to start the conversation.
Ready, set, dial!
We believe Google Voice is a real game changer for companies looking to simplify and optimize phone communication, especially for those already using Workspace. Although it is not yet available in all countries, it is constantly expanding its coverage. As long as you are in one of the regions supported by Google Voice, you can benefit from this easy, scalable, and AI-powered calling solution.
Are you interested in using Google Voice for your organization?
Just drop us a line and we’ll make it happen!