Sprint text to landline problems

Still messed up, still optimistic
[removed because the message mentions the number of the caller]

thank you for using text to landline, says sprint.

Thank you for using text to land line!

As readers of this blog know, I am facing certain issues with texting Sprint customers via Google Voice (and reading the help forums, I know I am not alone). When Sprint customers text your Google Voice number, it shows up as "text to land line".

Are you expecting an important text message? Well, then you better hang on tight to your phone because if you miss the call and Sprint reaches your voice mail instead, all you get to hear is, you guessed it, "Thank you for using text to land line!" 

I wish I had better news but all I can do is point you to the forums where you might be able to find further updates. 

Google Voice call quality

Call quality?

Image credit: Google Voice

Do you use Google Voice? Tell Google how your call went by simply clicking on one of two intuitive check boxes in any of the calls you want to mark. Tell Google if the call went well or it went rather poorly. This information could help Google make Google Voice better for everyone!

Suggested reading: 

1. http://www.google.com/support/voice/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=115119
2. http://www.google.com/support/voice/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=171785 
3. Troubleshooter: http://www.google.com/support/voice/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=170798 
4. Official blog: http://googlevoiceblog.blogspot.com/

Collapsible menu in Google Voice

Here's something for all you Google Voice users... the History menu is collapsible. XD Just click on the + or - sign.

Isn't that awesome?

and the telco sprints ahead in doing a great job...

... at annoying me. The saga continues. Text messages from Sprint customers show up as "text to land-line" on my Google Voice number. Is this situation affecting anyone else at all? Here's another embedding of a typical voice mail Sprint leaves me: 

Sprint Text to Landline

This is an emerging story. This blog post may change rapidly (or disappear altogether) as time progresses. Please remember that this account is NOT a full and final account of the story.

As far as I know, I own no stock in Google or Sprint.

OK, here's a preview of what you get when someone from Sprint sends a text message "OK" to a certain Google Voice number.

I have went back and requested the Sprint customer to write to another Google Voice account and the conversation went as intended, without Text to Landline. Then I tried again using the other, original GV number, and the problem persisted. I made the Sprint customer delete me as a contact on her phone and add me again. No avail. I even tried disabling Gizmo 5 and it had no effect. This has been happening since last evening. I wonder if Google or Sprint will answer my calls... on Twitter.

AT&T to put caps on data usage on cell phones

Please read this new york times article. The article quotes AT&T head of consumer services as saying that the caps were "inevitable". Can apps that allow live video streaming gain traction if people started watching every single byte that went through the network?

Assuming they are able to come up with a reasonable pricing on the data meter, will it put downward pressure on voice tarriffs? Only time will tell. For an interesting article on cell phone pricing, please head over to this new york times article.

What is your favorite movie?

I ask a bunch of people what their favorite movie is and there you go...

Christine Easter's phone called me

Check out this voice mail message. Christine's phone apparently called me and left me a message but when I called her back she denied ever calling me in the first place.

Could it be that she just happened to push the buttons without meaning to like recent calls > received?

406

This probably does not mean anything to most people but I wanted this information to be available to those who care.

Google does not assign 406 numbers to Google voice numbers.

This makes a lot of sense now. Of course, one can always claim 20/20 vision looking back. :) 

Google dashboard

As reported in numerous tech websites, Google Dashboard is online. Click to see a slice of what Google knows about you.

A message to Google Voice team

Text of the error message follows:

Alert

An error occurred during a connection to www.google.com:443.

Peer received a valid certificate, but access was denied.

(Error code: ssl_error_access_denied_alert)

This blog post is intended to be tweeted to @vpaquet among others.

Google Voice Blog: Helping you fight Phone Spam

Google Voice Blog: Helping you fight Phone Spam

Did you want to tag a really annoying person you know as spam but were worried how that would affect your Google Voice account or the person's ability to call others? Fear not! Your tags as spam stay with you. According to Google: "Tagging a caller as spam only affects your account and is not shared with other users." So, even though Google is "blocking tens of thousands of calls on a daily basis", do not worry if that annoying person will lose their ability to call people because the blocks only affect "automated dialers that call thousands of numbers every day".


What is in it for you to tag someone as spam then? In Google's words, "future calls from that number will not ring your phones, will not be in your messages when you check voicemails from your phone, but will end up in a Spam folder that you can check whenever you feel like it, similar to your Gmail spam filter."


I hope this helps. :) I have been using GrandCentral and Google Voice for a while now, and am currently experimenting with Google Voice as a primary telephone number. If you have been doing the same, or using Google Voice in an innovative way, please share it with the rest of us. :)