Google Voice, Skype, and Wireless Carriers

I came to Juneau with a Verizon cell phone and service.  Although Verizon is not a carrier in Alaska, they are partnered with Alaska Communication Systems to provided extended service.  This means you can make calls, but other services were limited:

• You cannot use data service, including picture or video texting
• In-coming calls go to voicemail after 3 rings
• You cannot update your phone
• Backup assistant (for your contacts), and probably other applications, won't work
• You cannot activate a new phone with the same service

Unfortunately, I had just gotten a new contract right before moving so I was stuck for a while.  Initially I tried to get Verizon to resolve some of these issues, but this went nowhere and a lot of time was wasted.  After putting up with their crap service for about a year, my phone started physically falling apart at the hinges.  I tried to convince the customer service rep and his supervisor that they should let me out of my contract because I am not getting the same service as everyone else.  They wouldn't budge because as of 2 years ago or so, they no longer guarantee service outside of the original contract area.  That must have been in the fine print somewhere. 

I was pretty furious after the call and began looking into my options here in Alaska.  By now I didn't care if I had to pay $100 to terminate - I just wanted to get rid of Verizon.  I checked out all of the carriers located in Alaska - AT&T, ACS, and GCI.  At the end of the day though, I had no intention of getting into another contract with any wireless carrier.  I just wanted a no-contract, pre-paid phone service.  The downside to getting one of those was that I could not port my phone number to a pre-pay phone.  I wanted to avoid changing phone numbers

I started looking into other options - Skype and Google Voice.  Skype would have been the best choice since they had variety of call services and user friendly interfaces.  You could also buy phones designed to specifically work with Skype.  The downside is you could not port your # to Skype.  You could, however, port your number to Google Voice (GV).  GV is actually pretty feature rich for a free service.  It has just about all of the features I really needed, as well as the capability to forward my calls anywhere.  One thing that was not clear to me though was how to make calls using the computer, or how I would get a VOIP phone working with GV.  I eventually found out how to use Gmail to make calls from, but it was not a convenient way of making calls.  So here's the solution I came up with:
- Port cell number to Google Voice
- Cancel contract and service and complain to BBC to get termination fee waved (it worked)
- Get pre-paid AT&T cell phone and minutes for emergencies
- Get Skype-in number, subscription, and Skype phone for use while at home
- Forward my GV number to office, skype, and cell
- Use office phone or skype when possible to make calls
- I chose not to forward text messages to my cell, but texts sent to my GV number are sent to my Gmail.  I can easily reply to texts by replying to the e-mail.

The result of all of this is reachable practically everywhere on my old number except when I get no reception while hiking.  Since majority of the time I am at home or the office, my pre-paid cell usage is kept to a minimum.  I could potentially stretch the $25 pre-paid minutes to the max 90 days that it is valid for.  The Skype phone was a bit overpriced at $60-70ish, but I find it quite convenient to use it since I don't have to be logged on to the computer to use Skype.  One year's worth of Skype-in number and US service (unlimited calls) came out to about $60 with the promotions going on.  Assuming I use $25 in pre-paid cell services every 90 days, the first year average phone costs per month is about $20. 

This setup probably won't work for those who spend a lot of time outside of home and office, or those who are attached to their data service.  For me though, it works quite well and I am very happy not to be relying heavily on a wireless carrier service.