Google Voice call forwarding: How does it work & key limitations

Thinking about using Google Voice for call forwarding? Before you commit, it’s important to understand what you’re signing up for.

This article walks through how you can set up call forwarding in Google Voice, its key limitations, and more. 

If you’re not happy with what Google Voice has to offer, we’ll share an alternative that forwards calls — and lets you easily develop meaningful customer relationships that will help grow your business.

How does Google Voice’s call forwarding work?

Google Voice’s call forwarding lets you send phone calls to other numbers using WiFi or your cell phone’s data plan. If you still can’t pick up, you can use its other call forwarding tools to record a custom voicemail greeting for certain contacts so they can leave a message with appropriate details. Plus, you can screen calls in advance to hear who is calling before you pick up the phone.

However, several limitations come with using Google Voice’s call forwarding feature:

• Google Voice can forward calls to a max of six linked numbers on your Google Voice account.
• You can’t link to a number that’s already linked in Google Voice.
• You can try to forward your calls to a toll-free number, although this is somewhat complicated and may not work.

Also, these options don’t ring multiple teammates at the same time. On a paid plan, you can upgrade to Google Voice for Google Workspace’s Standard plan. You still won’t get a shared inbox if you collaborate on external communication as a team.

A word of caution: Google Voice mentions that forwarding incoming calls may activate external carrier rates, so be mindful of the numbers you link to your Google Voice account.

How to set up call forwarding in Google Voice

If you still want to set up call forwarding in Google Voice, you’ll need to start with linked numbers.

1. Go to voice.google.com.
2. Click Settings, then select Account. Under Linked numbers, choose +New linked number.

3. Enter the phone number(s) you want to link and click Send code. (Keep in mind on the free version of Google Voice, you can only link US phone numbers and you must have a mobile US phone number to sign up.)

4. Enter the verification code you received and click Verify.

Once you’ve set up your linked numbers, you can set up custom call forwarding rules.

Here’s how it works in Google Voice:

1. Navigate to voice.google.com on a computer.
2. Open Settings and click Calls.
3. Click Create A Rule under Custom Call Forwarding.
4. Enter or search for the contacts you want to create a rule for.

5. Customize your call forwarding rule. Besides forwarding calls to one or more of your linked numbers, you can send calls to Google Voice’s voicemail, play custom greetings, or screen caller IDs.

6. Click Save to store your forwarding rule.

Keep in mind this doesn’t give your team a shared business number if you need visibility into an inbox your team can work together from. 

14  other Google Voice limitations you should know

Lackluster call forwarding features are just one piece of the Google Voice puzzle. From a lack of Google Voice caller ID to no toll-free numbers, you’ll find the platform is limiting for free and paid users.

Here are 14 clear cons to Google Voice to keep in mind:

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

Google Voice’s conversation history doesn’t keep all customer conversations in the same place. If a contact leaves a call, a text, and a voicemail, all three communications are stored in separate inboxes. This means it gets tricky to keep tabs on every customer interaction and it’s even harder to bring teammates up to speed about specific issues.

2. Limited three-way calling

If you attempt to start a three-way call with Google Voice, your personal mobile number is shown to the second person you invite to the call instead of your Voice number. 

Want to keep your cell number private? Your only other options with Google Voice are to host a three-way call in Google Meet or have your contacts call you.

3. Automatic forward limitations

Automatic call forwarding is possible in Google Voice. However, you can’t automatically forward incoming voicemails or forward Google Voice text messages to anything other than the email address associated with your Google Voice account. You also can’t forward messages to more than one email, and you can’t use integrations to sync them anywhere else (and there’s no Google Voice API).

Speaking of integrations…

4. There are no integrations outside of Google apps

Google Voice only integrates with other apps in the Google Suite. Google Calendar, Gmail, and Meet are fair game, but other software isn’t supported. This prevents your team from saving time on routine tasks and keeps you from optimizing your workflow (think automatically logging all call activity into your CRM like HubSpot or Salesforce).

5. Geographical limitations

Google Voice’s free version is only available in the US. This plan wasn’t made for businesses, and commercial use is actively discouraged by its developers. 

Even if you are willing to pay for a plan, you may still be excluded because of your location. Paid plans for Google Voice are available in Canada, Denmark, France, and other countries — but you might find that yours isn’t on the list.

Plus, your ability to send free text messages to the US and Canada also depends on your location. Only US customers can send text messages on the free and paid versions of Google Voice.

Keep in mind if you live overseas and want to use Google Voice to make international calls, you’ll need to use your phone plan’s minutes. 

6. No desktop app

Do you prefer to use a desktop app to easily make and receive calls? You’re out of luck with Google Voice: only browser and mobile apps are available. Even Google Voice’s browser app is limited to four options: Microsoft Edge, Safari, Mozilla Firefox, and Google Chrome.

7. No toll-free numbers

You can’t buy or manage toll-free numbers with Google Voice. If you already have a toll-free number for your business, you can’t port the number into Google Voice, either.

In comparison, most VoIP systems are happy to manage toll-free numbers on your behalf. OpenPhone allows you to use toll-free numbers and port toll-free numbers — on any of our plans.

8. No texting auto-replies

Google Voice lets you manually send SMS messages, but you can’t send an auto-reply with Google Voice if you miss a customer’s call.

You’ll also find Google Voice can’t automate other specific customer touchpoints. You can’t send appointment reminders that give clients a gentle nudge or create scheduled text messages that are sxent while you sleep. Every text message must be sent manually, which could sap time out of your day and prevent you from working on more important tasks. Plus, you can’t create snippets (pre-written message templates) that let reps quickly respond to frequently asked questions.

Keep in mind that Google Voice has texting limitations that apply to free users. You can only have up to eight people in a group message, and all texts must be under 160 characters. And if you go over Google Voice’s unspecified texting limit, you may get blocked or suspended from the system.

9. Limited ability to work together

Team collaboration is limited in Google Voice. For example, you can’t chat with teammates in-app without using a third-party tool like Slack.

Plus, you can’t collaborate on customer interactions with mentions and comments, so you won’t know who’s handling what or when. Google Voice’s shared numbers are also limited to calling, which means reps can’t send or receive texts from the same phone number.

Modernized business phone systems like OpenPhone allow you to have shared numbers for any group, team, or department. Built-in features like threads and mentions let you tag other teammates in inbound texts, phone calls, and voice messages. Clients can’t see what you comment in these invisible threads, and your teammates can get up to speed as soon as they log into OpenPhone.

10. Many additional expenses

Google Voice is free for personal use. However, you’ll still have to pay extra for:

• Porting a number to Google Voice ($20)
• Unlocking a Google Voice number once ported ($3)

The only way to avoid these fees is to pay for a Google Voice for business plan. And if you want to access features like ring groups, auto-attendants, and on-demand call recording in Google Voice, you’ll have to upgrade to the Standard plan, which costs $20 per user per month.

Google Voice’s prices are different from Google Workspace. While paying for Google Voice unlocks call features, you’ll also need to pay for Google Workspace to use your number for business purposes.

Google Workspace plans start at $7 per user per month to get started. This means it costs a minimum of $17 per user per month to use Google Voice for business call forwarding and other key features your team needs.

11. Limited user capacity

Even Google Voice’s Starter plans limit the number of users you can have on one paid account. The Starter plan caps at a max of 10 users before forcing you to upgrade.

The second tier costs $20 per user per month and lets you have unlimited users, although they must live domestically. If you have a distributed team located worldwide, you’ll need to pay for the Premier plan ($30 per user per month) to use Google Voice overseas.

12. Outdated MMS support

Google Voice offers some SMS functionality but has extremely limited MMS support. While you can send photos and GIFs, they must be a certain size. Images greater than 2 MB will be sent as a smaller file. Plus, GIFs larger than 2 MB won’t send at all.

Photos and GIFs are all the MMS support Google Voice provides. You can’t attach videos, documents, or other files, although you can send direct links.

13. Difficult to have multiple numbers

Google Voice’s personal plan limits you to one number per account. This means you can only work with a single phone number without paying for Google Voice for Google Workspace. Your only options are to create more than one Google Voice account, buy the subscription service, or sign up for Google Fiber and pay $20 to purchase a second number.

14. Users cite the auto-attendant isn’t reliable 

Many users cite issues with Google Voice’s auto-attendant, indicating poor reliability and calls don’t always transfer. Plus, any phone number you use to set up an auto-attendant won’t be able to send or receive text messages, which can be frustrating for customers who expect to use the same number to call and text your business.

OpenPhone: The best alternative to Google Voice call forwarding

OpenPhone is the highest-rated business phone system on G2 — and the reasons why speak for themselves.

Our platform goes far beyond the basics of Google Voice:

• Free calling and texting to anyone in the US or Canada from anywhere in the world.
• Split responsibility for incoming calls with shared numbers. All team members can make and receive calls from the same number and work together to build better relationships with customers.
• Forward calls unconditionally to any US or Canadian number. Plus, you can easily set up conditional call forwarding so calls go to another number based on certain criteria, such as no one picking up or if it’s outside business hours.
• Automatically forward incoming text messages, voicemail transcriptions, and missed call notifications to different email accounts.
• Manually or automatically record phone calls and store them indefinitely if you have an active account.
• Save time and give your team more context by automatically logging call recordings and text messages in your CRM withOpenPhone’s Salesforce and HubSpot integrations. Don’t use Salesforce or HubSpot? You can integrate with Zapier and webhooks to connect with thousands of other apps.
• OpenPhone stores all customer conversations in one inbox, letting reps get up to speed quickly on customer issues.
• Port in as many numbers as you’d like without paying any port-in fees.
• Set up texting automations like auto-replies to instantly respond to missed calls or scheduled messages that are sent at a specific time. You can also create snippets that help you reply to FAQs with boilerplate responses.
• Different ring group options that let you notify reps of incoming calls at the same time or prioritize specific reps to increase the likelihood of them answering first.
• Let callers route themselves to the right person or department with phone menus.
• Quickly get key details from voicemails without listening to full recordings using AI-powered transcriptions and summaries.

OpenPhone: The best Google Voice alternative

Google Voice’s call forwarding leaves a lot to be desired, especially for growing businesses. It lacks essential features like texting from a shared number, third-party app integrations, and texting automations you need to scale your business.

OpenPhone is different. It’s a complete business phone system that offers features that make running your business easier — free calls and texts, VoIP call forwarding, auto-replies, scheduled texts, integrations you can set up in minutes, and more.

See for yourself why thousands of businesses use OpenPhone. Sign up for a free seven-day trial to get started.