Get more out of Google Voice with Voice Mac

I’ve been using Google Voice now for quite some time and have a great software recommendation for the Mac users who are also Google Voice users. If you want to make calls, review your voicemail messages and send SMS messages from your Mac without visiting the Google Voice site, fire up your browser and head on over to the Voice Mac web site and get to downloading.

Let’s get the disclaimer out of the way up front. This post references Voice Mac version Beta 5.1. And the beta tag is warranted as there are several quirks. But if you can overlook the quirks, you'll find a useful tool to manage and utilize your Google Voice account at the beta price of FREE.

Once you have a copy downloaded and installed, hit the link to learn how to setup and use Voice Mac.

The first thing you need to do is pair the Voice Mac software with your Google Voice account. We’ll touch on this process and then we’ll dive into some more useful features such as reviewing your voicemail, making calls and sending SMS messages.

Voice Mac Setup:

Before using Voice Mac you will need to perform a bit of setup and configuration as demonstrated with the following steps:

• Download Voice Mac
• Start the Voice Mac Application – the first time you fire up Voice Mac you will be presented with the Google Voice Login window as shown below

• Enter the Gmail account login and password that is associated with your Google Voice account
• Click the Login button – Voice Mac connect to your Google Voice account and the Contacts window, as heavily annotated in the image below, will appear – take some time to review the image and the descriptions before proceeding

• To choose between using either the Address Book.app or your Google Contacts (Doc’s preferred method) to populate your Voice Mac Contact list, press ⌘+, (or Voice Mac | Preferences from the pull-down menu) – the Voice Mac Preference window will appear as shown in the image below

• Click either the Google Contacts or Address Book radio buttons to select the contacts database you wish to use with Voice Mac – go ahead and explore the other Preferences while you have the window open (they are self-explanatory)
• Close the Preferences window and depending on your selection and/or Internet connection, your contacts list should populate in a few seconds

Now that Voice Mac is paired to our Google Voice account and we have the contacts list populated, let’s make our first call.

Making a Call:
Making your first call using Voice Mac is pretty easy using these simple steps:

• Using the scroll bar or the search box (as highlighted in the second screen shot above), locate a contact to call and click on the contact once
• Using the Ring: drop-down menu, select the phone to ring to connect to the contact – remember that these phones are configured in your Google Voice settings
• Click the green and white phone button – the Ring: phone selected will be called and you will be connected to the contact selected

Just like making a call using the Google Voice page, only you didn't have to fire up your browser!

Sending an SMS message:

Not only can you make calls using Voice Mac, but it is also a pretty decent SMS client for Google Voice. Here's how to send your SMS messages:

• Follow bullets one and two in the Making a Call instructions above
• Click the purple and white SMS button – the SMS window will appear as shown in the image below

• Type in your SMS message and hit Enter – the SMS message will be whisked away to the recipient
• Follow up messages appear in the same window so leave it open (don't forget, SMS messages using Google Voice are FREE so send away!)

Alright, now that we know how to call and SMS a contact, let’s take a look at the most important feature, reviewing your Google Voice voicemail.

Reviewing Voicemail:

• From the menu, select View | Voicemail – the information window will display and present a listing of each voicemail message, including the transcript, if available

While we are on the topic of the Information window, take a look at the image below and you’ll find that there’s more than just voicemail access available.

Click on the buttons at the top of the Information allows you to review:

SMS History | Voicemail | Placed Calls | Received Calls | Missed Calls

These buttons are also pretty self-explanatory, so click away to get familiar with their contents.

Additional Features:

Some additional features found using the menu include:

• File | Save Voicemail – select a voicemail message from the Information | Voicemail window and then select this menu option, as shown below, to download a voicemail message as an .mp3 file for archival and review (currently the only way I can listen to messages using Voice Mac – see notes below)

• View | Reverse Lookup – displays the reverse lookup window for an unknown contact as shown in the image below

• View | Google Voice TOS – launches the Google Voice Legal Notices page
• View | Rates – launches the Google Voice Calling Rates page
• View | Credit History – launches your credit page on Google Voice

Issues and Recommendations:
There are a few issues in the beta version and I have a few recommendations for the developer to include in future releases. Below is my list in no particular order:

• Cannot read long transcripts
• Cannot copy the contents of transcripts
• Would like the ability to respond to a voicemail via e-mail using the contacts e-mail information
• Cannot listen to voicemails – I receive a -5401 error (anyone else experiencing this problem?)
• Contact items are too big and I would like a way to modify the size of the text and the images
• Resizing the Contact listing is a bit erratic and will cut off the Ring: drop-down menu
• Should include a menu bar or dock icon setting in Preferences
• Needs a bit of visual UI candy – it’s basic and it works, but could still take a lead from other Mac software in the “pretty” department
• Too many windows can be a bit confusing and a single or two-window interface might make things a bit more intuitive

Conclusion:
Despite the problems I’ve experienced, and remembering that Voice Mac is still a beta product, Voice Mac is an excellent addition to any Google Voice user’s Mac. I am anxious to try out future releases and know that in time, this will only get better and better. Have something to add? Leave a comment and add to this note. Have an Ubuntu or Windows solution? Let us know about that one as well.