Is there a Google Voice auto-reply feature?

When you want to leave a great impression on everyone who calls or texts your business, auto-reply texts are invaluable for your team. However, if you’ve tried searching for Google Voice auto-reply functionality, you’ve probably been disappointed. The Google Voice app has lots of limitations that make it difficult for businesses to scale, and lacking a text message autoresponder feature is just the start.

In this article, we’ll explain what you’re missing out on if you use Google Voice for business. Then we’ll introduce a more powerful business phone option to help you strengthen customer relationships and save time.

Does a Google Voice auto-reply feature exist?

Auto-replies aren’t supported on Google Voice, including the free version and the business version (Google Voice for Google Workspace). You need to send all text messages manually when using Google Voice.

Without a Google Voice auto-reply feature, there’s no way to automatically send a text message when you miss a call or give a heads-up about response times when your team is busy. Plus, you miss the chance to leave a good first impression with an instant response.

14 limitations to Google Voice beyond auto-replies

The lack of SMS auto-reply functionality isn’t the only limitation you’ll experience when using Google Voice. Here are 14 more features Google Voice doesn’t offer, but you can find them on other business phone systems.

1. Call, texts, and voice messages live in separate inboxes

Getting back to every client who reaches out is easiest when you can see all your communications in one place. However, Google Voice splits calls, texts, and voicemails into three separate folders. This makes it difficult to prioritize the right conversations and review your past phone calls and messages, which means you can quickly fall behind on your client communications.

2.  Zero automations to help you save time on repetitive tasks

Compared to other modern business phones, Google Voice falls short in the automations department — and not just because of its lack of automatic replies. You also can’t schedule text messages or set up automatic texts triggered by specific events, like appointment reminders 24 hours before the appointment or purchase confirmation texts after a customer buys your product or service.

Plus, Google Voice doesn’t offer text message templates, so you can’t save time by sending pre-written replies to common customer questions.

3. Only works with other Google apps

Google Voice doesn’t offer any third-party app integrations. It works exclusively with Google apps, like Google Meet and Google Calendar. This means you can’t speed up your workflow by connecting your business phone to Zapier, Slack, or other popular business apps. You also can’t automatically log all calls and texts in your CRM since it doesn’t integrate with apps like HubSpot. This means spending additional time each week manually entering data.

4. Availability is limited

Google Voice won’t work everywhere you go. The free version is only available in the US, so you won’t be able to use Google Voice in Canada free or elsewhere. According to Google Voice for Google Workspace service terms, the paid version is only available in the following countries:

• Belgium
• Canada
• Denmark
• France
• Germany
• Ireland
• Italy
• Netherlands
• Portugal
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• United Kingdom
• United States
  

If you want to build a global team with employees outside these regions, you’ll need a different VoIP phone system to ensure everyone can make and receive calls and texts.

5. Texting is full of caveats

If you thought auto-response was the only texting feature you’re missing out on with Google Voice, think again. Google Voice has plenty of texting limits that make it difficult to access the basic features you’d expect from a business phone. For example, text messaging is only available to US and Canadian numbers. You also can’t text groups that have more than eight members at one time, making it difficult to collaborate as a team as your business scales.

Sending MMS messages with Google Voice is very limited. While you can send photos and GIFs, any image larger than 2 MB will be sent as a smaller file, and any GIFs more than 2 MB can’t be sent at all. You won’t be able to attach videos, documents, PDFs, or other files, either.

6. Google Voice for Google Workspace requires two subscriptions

If you want to use Google Voice for Google Workspace and unlock business features for your team, you’ll first need to become a Google Workspace subscriber.

This requires a separate subscription fee, which starts at $6 per user per month on top of your Google Voice for Google Workspace subscription. In total, you can expect to pay $16 to $48 or more per user per month, making this a pricier option than other VoIP providers.

7. Toll-free numbers aren’t supported

Toll-free numbers — which allow clients in 20 North American countries to call you without worrying about long-distance fees — can help your business build a global presence and get more incoming calls. Plus, when your phone system supports toll-free numbers, you can choose a memorable vanity number (like 1-800-FLOWERS) to better market your brand.

However, getting a toll-free number on Google Voice isn’t possible. You can only get local numbers specific to a city or region.

8. No desktop app exists

While Google Voice offers a mobile app for iOS and Android, it doesn’t offer a desktop app. You’ll need to log in from your browser if you want to use Google Voice on your computer. Your browser must be the current release or the previous release of one of these four browsers:

• Chrome
• Microsoft Edge
• Mozilla Firefox (Windows and Mac)
• Safari

9. Starter plan only supports up to 10 users

When you upgrade from Google Voice’s free plan to Google Voice for Google Workspace, you can start to build a team. However, the most affordable Starter plan can only support up to 10 users. Once your team grows, you’ll have to upgrade to Google Voice’s more costly plans (starting from $20 per user per month), whether you need more features or not.

10. Collaboration is limited

While Google Voice supports ring groups with its higher-tier business plans — which allow multiple team members to pick up calls from the same phone number — it doesn’t offer shared numbers. This limits how your team can collaborate to solve customer issues. For example, you can’t:

• Assign action items to team members in threads so they know what to expect next
• Message each other internally so customers can’t see how their problems are being taken care of
• Comment on calls, messages, and call recordings to keep each other up to date 
• Mark comments as resolved so reps know when to move on to another task

And even though Google Voice has a call forwarding feature, it doesn’t provide reps the context they need to follow up effectively with customers, which means spending more time on calls. 

11. Call recordings can be tedious or costly

Call recording can help any business train team members, perform quality assurance, and keep records of important client conversations. However, the free version of Google Voice requires you to tap ‘4’ at the start and end of each call to start and stop recording — a step that’s tedious and easy to forget.

Unfortunately, with a business account on Google Voice for Google Workspace, you can only record calls with Google Voice’s higher-tier plans. This means you need to upgrade to the Standard plan to record calls on-demand, while automatic call recording is only available on the Premier plan.

12. Free users can only have one phone number

If you need more than one Google Voice number, you’re out of luck. The free version of Google Voice only lets you have one phone number. The paid version only supports one number per user. You can’t create phone numbers for every department and assign them to team members.

13. Porting isn’t free

If you want to continue using your current business phone number and avoid interruptions to your customer experience, porting your number to Google Voice will cost $20 if you have a free account. 

Only paying users get porting services included.

If you want to port your number out of Google Voice to another provider, you need to pay a $3 unlocking fee. Plus, be prepared for a tedious and complicated porting process that has caused some customers to lose their phone numbers. 

14. No access to a limited free trial

While you can use the free version of Google Voice, it’s not going to help scale your business. Unfortunately, its paid plans don’t offer a free trial, which means you can’t test features to see if they’re a fit for your business without paying first.

What is a better alternative to Google Voice with auto-reply settings? 

There are a number of Google Voice alternatives that support automatic texts, but if you want an auto-reply app that doesn’t have any of the limitations we’ve listed, the best choice for you is OpenPhone. OpenPhone is a business phone system that supports free calling and texting from anywhere to anyone in the US or Canada. 

Here are OpenPhone’s auto-reply options: 

You can send auto-replies during or after business hours based on specific conditions, like when you receive:

• Missed calls during business hours
• New voicemails during business hours
• Incoming text messages during business hours
• Missed calls after hours
• Missed voicemails after hours
• Text messages after hours

How to set up auto-replies in OpenPhone

Here’s how you can set up auto-replies in OpenPhone:

1. Log in to the OpenPhone web or desktop app and click Settings on the left sidebar.
2. Select Phone Numbers in the Workspace section.
3. Select the phone number you want to set up auto-replies for. 
4. Scroll down to the auto-replies section. 
5. Click on the auto-response you want to set up, customize your message, and click Save. 

That’s it. Keep in mind that OpenPhone allows you to use your business phone system from any computer, smartphone, or tablet through an internet connection so you can work from anywhere.

OpenPhone vs. Google Voice

If you’re wondering how OpenPhone and all its features stack up against Google Voice, take a look at this side-by-side comparison to choose the best VoIP service for you.

	OpenPhone	Google Voice
Pricing	Starts at $15 per user per month	Starts at $10 per user per month (requires subscription to Google Workspace, which starts at $6 per user per month)
Unlimited calling to US & Canada	✓	Unlimited calls to Canada from US only
SMS/MMS to US & Canada	✓	US customers only
Voicemail transcriptions	✓	✓
Set business hours	✓	✓
Additional phone numbers	$5 per number per month	x
Call recording	✓	Requires upgrade
Shared phone numbers	✓	Requires upgrade (ring groups only)
Auto-attendant (virtual receptionist)	✓	Requires upgrade
Auto-replies	✓	x
Slack integration	✓	x
Zapier integration	✓	x
CRM integration	✓	x
iOS and Android apps	✓	✓
Browser app	✓	✓
Desktop app	✓	x

OpenPhone also offers tons of features to help you build better relationships with your customers, including:

• More options to save time on texting, such as scheduled messages, snippets, and the ability to send automatic SMS messages based on specific touchpoints with Zapier
• Integrations with Slack, Salesforce, HubSpot, and webhooks that automatically push text notifications elsewhere
• An intuitive inbox that displays all text messages, call recordings, and voice messages with each contact in a single view, so you can review the history of any conversation instead of jumping between inboxes
• The option to have as many US, Canadian, or North American toll-free numbers as your team needs
• Shared numbers and threads to help your team members collaborate on calls and texts with ease
• AI-generated call summaries that help you get up to speed on conversations without having to listen to lengthy call recordings

The best Google Voice alternative: OpenPhone

The missing Google Voice auto-reply feature is just one of many Google Voice limitations. If you want a more reliable business phone that can scale with your business, choosing OpenPhone is the best move you can make. OpenPhone offers auto-replies and all of the other key features Google Voice is missing — and more.

Sign up for OpenPhone in minutes and see for yourself why thousands of businesses use our modern business phone solution. Start your free seven-day trial of OpenPhone.

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