I like having a proxy number that I give out and route to my “real” number. So I have an unchanging number and don’t risk revealing my actual contact info.
I also like getting texts through a web/app interface.
Is there a similar nice, simple, and cheap voip service that I can just drop in? (When google inevitably kills their another awesomely useful service that doesn’t make them money.)
Calls and texts work, only issues I've run into are the usual some services don't accept VOIP numbers, and group texts > 10 people I can receive but not send messages (bandwidth provider limitation AFAIK).
Bonus is that their stack is all open source and since it's XMPP you can use whatever clients or server you want, or stick to their Cheogram app + a hosted server included through https://snikket.org/hosting/
Note the other responses regarding some places requiring a "real" mobile number for SMS verification. Anveo's numbers won't work for this kind of thing. Similar to how Google Voice numbers don't work for it either.
If privacy/secrecy via obfuscation is your #1 criteria and not a nice to have then I'd just go with an enterprise cloud VOIP solution like RingCentral because they'll have real support and it's their core (and very successful) business, not another something that'll disappear in 2 years anyways.
If privacy/secrecy via obfuscation was just a nice to have and you really liked it for having the web interface then RingCentral (and I'm sure others) have a PWA and you can still go that route or you can try a sync tool like Beeper. I went the latter route as it gave a significantly better call/texting delay and quality experience to give up the obfuscation but the other cost is your phone has to be connected to the internet for the messages to relay through Beeper.
They just undid that shenanigans after the PM got his bonus. Maybe by then their bonus was tied to simplifying the tech stack :)
edit:
> If privacy/secrecy via obfuscation is your #1 criteria
lol, no. the only usecase for gvoice and the likes is to have a fixed phone number without a montly bill that you can use to make international phone calls for business. or to receive calls when abroad.
Nobody who cares about privacy etc (or any quality of network protocol for that matter) would care about gsm and sms. at all. it's mostly for cheap convenience.
I love having Mail, Meet, Voice, and Chat in a single web app. (The Gmail app now also has Meet and Chat all-in-one, but Voice has its own app)
I can definitely see how merging the services would boost MAU/DAU, but in this case it seems like increasing DAU means you’re making it easier for users to access + use the service, which is a win win.
> lol, no. the only usecase for gvoice and the likes is to have a fixed phone number without a montly bill that you can use to make international phone calls for business. or to receive calls when abroad.
Please ignore assuming meaning of a term so you can laugh at me in response. It was actually quite handy to pass out VOIP numbers for interviews, sign up forms, and the like because they could never tie back to reaching me once I stopped the forwarding. I realize that is different than worrying about government actors tracking you via standard telephony but you should realize there is more than that specific interpretation of the term, especially when GP named the same use case I just mentioned.
GV provided online text messages and voice mail before everyone else. GV also allows you to add multiple lines to the same number. At one point I lost my phone and was still able to receive and make calls from the web and my SO's phone.
Its used for a lot more
You can pay for more data or voice minutes, but it's expensive and not a great deal.
eSIM is available.
But if you need a cheap US number, it can't be beat. Works great for people working overseas who need a 2FA US phone number or need to make occasional calls to US numbers (hi IRS!).
edit: but they have a dedicated UI to sell you number from a specific neighborhoods all over the US. I'm guessing their main market is online catfishers. (not saying the service cannot be a gvoice replacement, but catfishing is clearly their market)