[REQUEST] Service to get a new Phone # that is only used to transcribe voicemail to Email.

[thecomputerguy]

Client wants to get a "Business Number" that will only be used to go straight to a custom (or not custom) voicemail message, and that voicemail message will then be transcribed with the callers number, then sent to an email address. The call will never be answered.

Currently, about 5 people use their personal phones for communication.

I discussed several options with them.

1.) Teams Phone with Domestic Calling Plan & Voicemail to Email
- Their email is on Godaddy and they don't want to pay/deal with Defederation & they will use ZERO teams phone functionality.

I explained to them they should Defederate anyways because Godaddy email sucks.

2.) Ringcentral
- Overkill since they wont be using ANY of the functionality of Ringcentral except Voicemail to Email, Similar to Teams Phone.

3.) Google Voice
- Basically fits the bill but possible danger in losing the number due do it being free, and being attached to a free Gmail account. (Maybe? Makes me feel a little anxious)

4.) Get a new number through their cell carrier and a burner phone
- Dumb
- Also I don't think any of the major carriers have voicemail to email as an option without a physical phone?

5.) Locate a service that will allow us to buy a number, add a custom (or not custom) voicemail message, and forward the callers number & transcribed voicemail to email.
- Does anyone know if this exists?

 

[thecomputerguy]

I found one that might work...

Get a dedicated billing descriptor phone number - ZebraFone

Get a dedicated billing descriptor phone number so customers understand and trust your charges.

zebrafone.com

Any experience?

 

[britechguy]

Basically fits the bill but possible danger in losing the number due do it being free, and being attached to a free Gmail account.

You have to remember that in the USA, once it's assigned, it is the end user that is the owner of any given phone number, not the service provider. That's been the case for decades now and it's the reason you can port landline numbers to cell providers and phone numbers in general between service providers (though, at the moment, you cannot port a cell number to landline, or reverse a port that's already occurred where a former landline is now mobile).

Google could go under and yet the phone number assigned belongs to whoever its assignee happens to be at the moment of the collapse. That would still be a hellish situation, but you cannot really literally lose the number. You could port it elsewhere.

As far as I'm concerned, if there is nothing particularly high sensitivity involved, a Google Voice number is perfect for the intended use, and it already supports sending transcriptions of all voicemail messages to the gmail address (and gmail filters can forward, and delete it from gmail, if that's desired).

The probability of Google disappearing, or pulling Google Voice, is just so small as to not be worth considering. Even though Google Voice might be replaced, the phone number I had when it was Hangouts, and something before that has remained the same as each of Google's name changes has occurred. That's been over the course of at least a decade and a half now. I just don't see Google going away as a real threat and it's not likely that folks are going to be leaving sensitive messages (or they shouldn't, regardless of where).

 

[thecomputerguy]

You have to remember that in the USA, once it's assigned, it is the end user that is the owner of any given phone number, not the service provider. That's been the case for decades now and it's the reason you can port landline numbers to cell providers and phone numbers in general between service providers (though, at the moment, you cannot port a cell number to landline, or reverse a port that's already occurred where a former landline is now mobile).

Google could go under and yet the phone number assigned belongs to whoever its assignee happens to be at the moment of the collapse. That would still be a hellish situation, but you cannot really literally lose the number. You could port it elsewhere.

As far as I'm concerned, if there is nothing particularly high sensitivity involved, a Google Voice number is perfect for the intended use, and it already supports sending transcriptions of all voicemail messages to the gmail address (and gmail filters can forward, and delete it from gmail, if that's desired).

Interesting ... I didn't know that. I mean given the state of the world these days I suppose Google closing up shop isn't necessarily out of the question

I'm just afraid of the lack of accountability and it being attached to an account that an end user will immediately lose the credentials to. I know obviously password reset etc. but end users are reckless people.

That and even the possibility of the GV number expiring scares me.

 

[Mike McCall]

I don't know if this will work in your situation, but I'll toss it out anyway. I have a couple of DID's with VoiP.ms and when I'm not able to answer (or don't want to), any voicemails are emailed to me with the message as an attachment. I don't see why it couldn't send to more than one address, though.

 

[britechguy]

That and even the possibility of the GV number expiring scares me.

There is no more probability of a GV number expiring than any other provider's number, and even calling it a GV number, rather than a number serviced by GV, is inaccurate.

Google does not own the numbers I have under Google Voice. T-Mobile does not own the numbers I have with T-Mobile. Under US law, I own those numbers.

Unless you believe one of two things, or both, about Google there is zero chance that a GV number disappears:
1. Google collapses and no successor to them goes with that collapse.
2. Google ceases to provide the Google Voice service, at which point you still own the number and could port it. This would not happen, barring a corporate collapse, without warning.

https://www.perplexity.ai/search/who-owns-a-phone-number-in-the-pB.yLF6JT5C.0xRG9vOmDQ

 

[Markverhyden]

Has the customer actually experienced VM2TXT transcription? I've had that on my iPhone for sometime now. And the accuracy is really pretty bad because of various audio issues on the callers side. Which I have no control over. It's so bad that I only use it if the message does not have CID since those are usually spams. I'd want to email the VM as an audio file.

 

[britechguy]

I'd want to email the VM as an audio file.

Another advantage of Google Voice. You get the transcription and the message includes a "Play Message" button if that's wanted.

But something that has not been mentioned is "housekeeping" on the receiving side, no matter who's doing it. A voicemail box is going to get full to overflowing, whether slowly or quickly, if someone is not going in and purging old messages on a cyclic basis. I don't know of any service where you can get a transcript where they will automatically delete the source audio for the reason you mentioned.

I'll also add that my experience with Google Voice transcription has been routinely excellent. There are times when something goes wrong, but for the most part the transcript and the message are one and the same or very close to it. The same has largely been true in T-Mobile's Visual Voicemail app.