I’ve been a user of Google Voice for nearly two years now. This service has literally changed the way I use my phone.
I was lucky enough to get an invite just after Google acquired GrandCentral and have used it ever since. It especially came in handy when moving from North Carolina to Tennessee, as I got a Knoxville area Google Voice number which I gave to potential employers. I now use that number as my primary number for text messaging (free!) and to route business calls to my mobile phone, which is still a North Carolina number.
Over at AscendWiki.com, they’ve put together an excellent article about how to send faxes for free with Google Voice. This comes in handy for eliminating long-distance fees for faxes. Too bad Google Voice won’t allow you to receive a fax yet. Suggest it as a feature here.
Here’s an excerpt:
Go to your Google Voice account, select Settings, Phones and then the Edit option for the phone on which you have your fax machine residing. Open the “Show Advanced Settings.” Then select “Yes” and “PIN not required (for added convenience)” for the “Direct access to voicemail when calling your Google number from this phone?” You could of course have the PIN required, but then you need to add that to the phone number you construct below. I figured my home phone is safe from someone misusing it.2. Send your fax but construct the fax recipient’s number as follows