In spite of my last post on why you should not use Google Voice as your primary number, I firmly believe that Google Voice is a great service and a must have for everyone. For all its greatness, the lack of SIP support in Google Voice stuck out like a sore thumb. Today we break that barrier as well, this tutorial will allow you to enable SIP dialing with your Google Voice…yes SIP support with Google!!! Let me first acknowledge azc123 from whom I have adapted this tutorial. Get ready, follow us for a step-by-step tutorial on how to enable SIP support on your Google Voice Account.
Why Do you need this?
If you have used Google Voice, you would have noticed that you can make calls only from the web interface or through some third party app. You cannot use Google Voice to make calls using your SIP device. This tutorial will allow you to make and receive calls from your Google Voice account using a SIP device.
Step 1: Basic requirements
- Firstly, you will need a Google Voice account.
- You also need a Gizmo5 account. Create one here.
- You will need a SIP hardware or software. I am using x-lite (so that I can show you the screenshots), but you can easily follow the instructions with any other software/device.
- Finally, you will need to download xGVout. Just download and extract the contents of the zip file in a safe place. Don’t worry, the files are virus free
Step 2: Get started
- You need to add your Gizmo5 number to your Google Voice account. Just go to Settings > Phones > Add another phone in your Google voice account and add the 10 digit Gizmo5 SIP number (747XXXXXXX). You will have to verify this number so that Google can forward calls to this number. For verification, you can use the Gizmo5 software to receive the calls or you could use x-lite.
- Now you need to enable outbound calling from Gizmo5. Just sign-in to your Gizmo5 account and enter your Google Voice in the top box and enable Google Voice option.
- Start the xGVout.exe from the files you downloaded and enter the details. Enter proxy01.sipphone.com in SIP server field, your 10 digit Gizmo5 SIP number in Phone field, and your GV authentication details.
- Finally, enter the Gizmo5 SIP details in your SIP hardware or software. In x-lite, you can enter the following details. Note the Proxy field. This is the key to this tutorial. You need to enter the IP address of the machine on which xGVout is running and the port which you used in step 3 above.
- After you click OK, x-lite should sign in to your Gizmo5 account. In case, you get any error message, just exit xGVout and x-lite and try again. It should work!!
- That’s it…you are all set to make unlimited calls using your Google Voice account through SIP.
Step 3: Making the call
To make the call, just enter the 10 digit number (without any 00 or 1) and dial. You will hear a busy tone, just hang up then. You will receive a call back from your Google Voice number and then you will be connected to the number you dialed. Just to give you little more insight into the process, when you make the call from x-lite, the call is intercepted by xGVout. xGVout then makes the calls using the standard Google Voice process, but it is not made visible. Also, since the call is converted to an incoming call, you will not be billed by Gizmo5 for receiving calls.
So till Google officially supports SIP, you can use this tutorial to enable SIP support with Google Voice and make unlimited calls through your Google Voice account. Please share the word so that others can also enjoy the SIP support.
