• Confirmed – Google Voice works in India !

    by Arun Prabhudesai on February 24, 2011 |

    41 comments

    Yes, I just made phone calls to USA using Google Voice and it worked very well (so well, that I was floored by the quality). Probably, I am one of the random lucky user for whom the Google Voice got enabled. Let me tell who how I did it.

    Out of the blue after logging on to my Google apps email account, I was given a pop-up saying “Make Free Calls through 2011

    Google Voice 1 Confirmed   Google Voice works in India !

    I was actually not too surprised as just couple of days back there was a talk on Twitter that Google Voice activated messages are coming up for users in India. However, none of these users were actually able to use Google Voice.

    But to my utter surprise, I was able to make phone calls in US and talk without any hassles.

    Once you click on “try it now”, a small window opens up like the one shown below. However, before make a phone call you will be required to download a Voice plugin.

    Google Voice 2 Confirmed   Google Voice works in India !

    Once voice plugin was installed, I just dialled the number (Did not want to bother any of my friends at night, so I called up my hosting service based in USA wlEmoticon smile Confirmed   Google Voice works in India !). The voice call went through like a charm, and the call quality was absolutely phenomenal (even better than normal phone calls).

    The screenshot below is a proof that call went through ( 37 seconds into the call) and their is a time stamp, so no question of ambiguity in the date as well as to when I made the call !

    Google Voice 3 Confirmed   Google Voice works in India !

    Now, the big question!

    Is Google Voice officially getting activated in India?

    I think not – this may be just testing going on at Google’s end, but what about legalities of making VOIP phone calls in India ? Has google taken formal authorization to start these services in India ? There are no answers to these questions right.

    We will keep you posted on this as soon as we get some confirmation.

    Till then if you are one of the lucky ones who have got Google Voice enabled, enjoy full year of making free calls to USA…that’s huge, ain’t it !

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    Author

    Arun Prabhudesai is founder / chief editor at trak.in. He jumped the Entrepreneurship bandwagon in early 2008 after a long 13 year stint in I.T Industry. You can follow him on twitter @trakin and Facebook. Arun’s Google+ Profile
    Arun Prabhudesai
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    Aruns website

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    Vishi February 24, 2011 at 10:07 am

    I got the same pop up few days back, but when i tried to make a call it said insufficient amount (There was some message related to credits, which actually meant i need to pay). Now I don’t see google voice caller in my google account.

    Reply

    Atul Dharne February 24, 2011 at 10:16 am

    Yup…it worked for me too from @ 10 days back…even charged it so I can call outside US…call quality is good!

    Reply

    Binoy Xavier February 24, 2011 at 10:32 am

    Not sure if Google is testing G Voice in India, but if you login via US VPN it will work. Been using Google Voice from India over the past few months :)

    Reply

    Suresh February 24, 2011 at 10:51 am

    Yes. I am one of the lucky person today to test a call to US. It’s simply superb.

    Reply

    selvakumar Venkatachalam February 24, 2011 at 2:52 pm

    It worked for me last month for 10 days..and suddenly disappeared now..I tried call to US voice clarity is very nice… my call history got saved in http://google.com/voice…waiting for official activation in india…

    Reply

    saurabh February 24, 2011 at 5:52 pm

    Yeah..it worked for me too ..i got this new icon my gmail talk .

    called up asap in US..talked for few minutes ..next day it was gone :(

    Reply

    Mandar Vaze February 24, 2011 at 5:54 pm

    I would like to understand what are the official restrictions against using VoIP in India ? People use Skype/gtalk all the time- though this is pc-to-pc call most of the times – but with skype credit one can always make calls to US and other countries. How is Google Voice different ? (In terms of legalities)

    It is my understanding that ‘conferencing’ local land line call with international VoIP call (thus bypassing ISD toll) is not allowed.

    Reply

    Aparajita February 24, 2011 at 6:40 pm

    Yes, it does work wonderfully if you have a good speed on your Internet. I am in the US and have been making free calls within US. However, I cannot call India unless I top up my balance, which is a nominal $10. This could take over skype. More so, I am able to send free SMSs to mobile carriers in the US, and they can actually SMS you back. It makes for another great GOOGLE conversation.

    Reply

    Arun Prabhudesai February 25, 2011 at 8:05 am

    Hey Aparajita,

    Thanks for letting us know about SMS thing…was not aware that Google Voice also offered that..

    Reply

    Aparajita February 25, 2011 at 8:32 am

    I would encourage you to try ‘Google Labs’ feature. It is loaded with quite a few applications which make Gmail worth the while.

    Reply

    suraj prakash August 6, 2011 at 8:06 pm

    if u live in us can u help me ……………..pz

    Reply

    suraj prakash August 6, 2011 at 8:08 pm

    i just need ur help….if u can ..plz add (hms.suraj1@gmail:disqus .com) on facebook then i can suggest u my problem ……..plz i need ur help…if u live in us…reply soon…

    Reply

    Nikhil February 24, 2011 at 7:25 pm

    Yeah this is true.

    Same happened with me – but I didnt close that tab f chrome since last 5 hours. and i still have access to Google voice.

    I think this was enabled as a part of some testing.

    So as long as this tab is open at my screen i believe i can make calls –

    ;)better hibernate my machine .

    Reply

    Web Hosting February 26, 2011 at 2:24 pm

    Yes its worked for me also..

    Reply

    Rohit February 28, 2011 at 11:17 am

    As per “friends” in Google (mountain view) it is a bug or an issue in testing.

    But seems like they are planning to release a “promo” rather than complete “feature” when they start.

    Reply

    Mahesh Devagiri March 4, 2011 at 11:08 pm

    Making a call from google voice is’nt a big deal, Any one who can configure a browser with an US proxy can make calls freely

    But the real big thing is to use google voice’s one number in india.

    Reply

    Dr.Sunil April 9, 2011 at 12:12 pm

    If credits are added by users whove recvd call feature in gmail chat, then will a google number with other google voice features be alloted or will the features get activated only till ‘official’ enabling of google voice in India?

    Reply

    Rajarajan May 15, 2011 at 5:59 am

    yeah me too tried few weeks back, suddenly Google voice gadget appeared in my gmail window. I was even able to call my mobile. But then when I tried again for another call it said ‘Insufficient balance’. After sometime I was not even able to get the Google Voice gadget in my mail. It disappeared thereafter.

    Reply

    prathyush May 24, 2011 at 3:29 pm

    hello everyone…. google voice is not activated india… the reason some indian get the google voice option in gmail is when ur gmail account sometimes accidentally gets connects to the US server. so google assumes that u r connection to gmail from US… thats the reason the voice option gets activated…. it gets immediately deactivated in a day though…. so the best solution is if have a friend in US try to get remote access to his PC thru teamviewer or logmein and access ur google account thru. http://voice.google.com once u have done that u can choose ur own personal mobile no… i was lucky to get fancy no (XXX) X00 8999… if u r a iphone user it works even great… after u register thru a US conputer, download an app “talkatone” in iphone and login ur google voice account and u can make and receive calls to ur own personal US number….its like having ur own US mobile no…

    Reply

    Ruchir Maheshwari May 29, 2011 at 12:24 pm

    it doesn't work any more though I also made a couple of calls some months back.

    Reply

    Yasodhar Surabattula May 31, 2011 at 9:49 am

    its not working.

    Reply

    Yasodhar Surabattula May 31, 2011 at 9:49 am

    its not working.

    Reply

    Abhay Kumar June 11, 2011 at 5:07 pm

    yup it went for a toss now..

    Reply

    Seema Kauser June 18, 2011 at 3:53 am

    That's great! Will try it soon.

    Reply

    Johnson Augustine July 25, 2011 at 5:29 am

    Not working now….. is there any voip offer low price calls in India?

    Reply

    Sunu Sanjeev July 27, 2011 at 1:31 pm

    did not work.

    Reply

    Sunu Sanjeev July 27, 2011 at 3:18 pm

    perfect lies…..

    Reply

    Kumaran Murugesan August 8, 2011 at 1:31 am

    Google voice started working from last couple of days. excellent call quality.

    Reply

    Pinakin Rana February 8, 2012 at 10:14 pm

    i cant star it(india) so plz .. will u send the link…

    Reply

    Abhishek Nagar August 10, 2011 at 1:54 pm

    its been working for me since Nov 2010 http://abhishek.nagar.me/blogs/google-voice-india

    Reply

    Alen John August 13, 2011 at 7:43 am

    aesa kya!

    Reply

    Supriya Halyal September 8, 2011 at 5:16 am

    I tried it yesterday but getting.. Sorry! You do not have enough credit to make this call..:(

    Reply

    Sunil Neelam September 8, 2011 at 6:40 am

    google voice allotes a unique no. to the user if that no. is from US then you can make calls free whithin US and few other countries. but whenever i tried with it says same you do not have enough credit to make call.

    Reply

    Umesh Basniwal November 12, 2011 at 11:28 am

    this service is not available for indian users.

    Reply

    ??? ??? November 18, 2011 at 8:39 am

    I did use it to make calls to uk and it did work for me:)

    Reply

    Johnson John November 22, 2011 at 7:56 am

    does it work now, googlevoice in india.

    Reply

    Mahesh December 24, 2011 at 2:40 am

    It works. You need to install VPN which assigns you the US IP.

    a. Install Hotspot – Shield
    http://download.cnet.com/hotspot-shield/
    b. Connect to Hotspot after installation
    c. Login to gmail
    d. Install the plugin
    e. Ready to go!! :)

    Reply

    Itesh Biswal March 25, 2012 at 2:01 pm

    YOU MAY NEED TO ADD CREDIT BUYING 10$ RECHARGE SO THAT U CAN CALL , I USE IT TO CALL INDIA , WE CAN USE SAME WAY.

    Reply

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