Maybe now we know why AT&T has sicced its lawyers and the FCC onto Google Voice. The blog Lifehacker has an interesting “hack” that uses Google Voice along with the popular Fav 5 calling plans to essentially get unlimited free minutes on your cellphone. The gist is that you add your Google Voice number to your fav 5 list (on AT&T, it’s called the A-List). You then call the Google Voice number, and then have Google Voice call another number.
Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, and AT&T Wireless all have plans that offer unlimited minutes to a few favorite contacts. T-Mobile’s Fav 5 plan was the subject of popular commercials featuring Dwayne Wade and Charles Barkley.
The hack has been confirmed to work with T-Mobile and Verizon, but no word on AT&T’s A-List yet (please confirm in the comments if it works). In any case, I would hardly call the minutes “free,” as most minimum iPhone wireless bills start at around $90 a month after all the fees and taxes.
Link:
Lifehacker: “Make Unlimited Free Calls on Your Cellphone with Google Voice”
#1 by Matt on November 15th, 2009
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AT&T has apparently caught on to this hack. Calls made from or to a GV number will show up on your AT&T bill as having originated from your AT&T number.
Apparently this works via the fact that GV calls are recognized by AT&T as forwarded calls. They then use this fact to filter GV calls. The question is, what happens if a call is forwarded from another, non-GV number? My guess is that they will treat it as a call from GV and filter it.
#2 by happy iPhone user on December 18th, 2009
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I haven’t had any problems yet. I did learn from experience that I had to turn on “Display my Google Voice number” for incoming calls, which provides me with the inconvenience of not knowing who called until I either hear them identify themselves to the GV prompt or check my voicemail. Calls from my GV number show up as M2AN, which is the billing code for A-List.