Comments on: My Google Voice Wishlist Including Google Voice For The Homeless

By: Gerad Munsch

Gerad Munsch — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 01:14:21 +0000

I know what it's like to be homeless. It sucks.

I know what it's like to struggle to pay for phone service and/or access a phone. It sucks.

Google Voice has done WONDERS for me, and I honestly do not think I would be where I am right now without it, infact, a voicemail that was left on my Google Voice account landed me my job at McDonald's.

I'm doing better now, and I can only take life as it is presented to me, a day at a time.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 20:14:23 +0000

There are a couple of alternatives to Google Voice for stand-alone voicemail accounts: RingCentral.com, and SipGate.com. Both give you a free phone number, and neither one has a "use it or lose it" policy.

RingCentral forwards messages as attachments to your email inbox. SipGate allows you to call in from any phone to check voicemail. Also, SipGate can be used as a forwarding phone number like Google Voice once the homeless guy gets his own phone.

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 21:15:37 +0000

I’m glad to see someone articulate this need. A few years ago I worked on a United Way campaign called “Unite to End Homelessness” here in Seattle. It was a one-day event where individual and corporate volunteers brought together various critical services under one roof and opened the doors to anyone who needed them. It was a massive event that served hundreds of homeless people in the local area. Although I believe that sort of thing should happen every day, it felt good to participate.

Anyway, during that event I learned how important it is for the homeless to have access to voicemail. No phone number == no job. When Google Voice came out I thought immediately of this need and how – with a few slight modifications like a voicemail-only option with no phone required for setup – the Google Voice service could meet this need.

So, thanks for the post. I will forward it to the two people I know at Google.

Cheers,
Jeremy

By: Chris McQueen

Chris McQueen — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 14:18:07 +0000

Just wanted to say I totally agree and am really grateful you posted this. There is a need and this need should have higher awareness.

By: Emmett Bryant

Emmett Bryant — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 23:27:24 +0000

Adria,

I am an eyewitness of you working with Shawn, as one of the students of the class and his friend. You gave him so much hope and renewed faith in people. Shawn has a good heart that needs healing. You are a woman that puts her belief in action. You are an “outreacher” who opens her arms out wide to help others that are in true need. This is can be such a vulnerable position but you do what you have to do. You are a champion fighter for the unserved and the underserved. You are the real deal!

By: XDS

XDS — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 18:21:53 +0000

ps sorry for any grammar mistakes its what i get for burning the candle at both ends

By: XDS

XDS — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:49:32 +0000

The problem with this is that their is no regulation for abuse of the system.

The way I see it it is very simple.
What we need is a scaled down GV version for low income and homeless citizens, something that everyone can utilize if they can show they fall under NE Lifeline standards (which is a very more than fair standard I might add) , perhaps limiting them to only a certain number of mobile number slots and a bracket of SMS messages per month.

But even this wouldn’t be enough.

We really should get BSD, Obamas OFA, and GV together and see if they can’t iron something like this out.

Kind Regards,
XDS

By: Adria Richards

Adria Richards — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 07:53:55 +0000

@XDS,

That’s a good question…Were folks who received Grand Central C.A.R.E. cards for voicemail converted to Google Voice? I haven’t checked my Grand Central account with my archived messages in a few months and don’t know of anyone who didn’t opt for the upgrade.

The problems I pointed out with “requiring” people to check their voicemail or lose it were:

Hospital Stay due to health problems

Jail due to arrest, parole violation

Rehab due to drug or alcohol problems

I was really excited to think that nation wide, all the Project Homeless Connect’s could use the Grand Central/Google Voice service…and they still may. I just know it didn’t happen in time to help Shawn.

By: XDS

XDS — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 06:30:10 +0000

Adria No kiddin?, That’s not good at all.
I hate to think of all those people CARE cards where sent to someday find themselves without a lifeline.

I work for a large PIRG in the north east, I’m going to use what resources I have to see what our state and surrounding states have available in the way of Drop VoiceMail boxes for low income/homeless.

It would also be interesting to see just how many of the invitations handed out to these CARE recipients have converted to GV.

Their are also completely free hardware based options like new startups that only charge fees for premium services and/or for completely free VoipUser.org .
However with these you do need hardware and a broadband connection.

I think if a service is going to be truely Viable/Secure and self sustaining for life it needs to be controlled by the GOV. Possibly BlueStateDigital which runs the presidents web backend.

However certain security assurances would need to be made to users but i think something like this would be great to not only take load off of already stressed low cost VoIP solutions (not only GV) but also give people with no means of communications a 50/50 shot of staving off being left out in the cold.

I look forward to your reply
XDS

By: Adria Richards

Adria Richards — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 04:35:12 +0000

@XDS, I sent emails and left voicemails several times in 2007 and did not get a reply from Project C.A.R.E.. If you look at the press release dates, there's nothing past 2006 on the page. My expectation was to speak with someone, via phone or email and find out how to connect Grand Central with a local provider.