Unitek Consulting Inc.

Lots of people ask me how I signed up for Google Voice while not being in the US so I thought that I would write up this guide to assist those endeavoring to do the same.  See the list of Google Voice features here.

Requirements:

1. GMail Account
2. Temporary US IP & phone number (provided below)
3. Intermediate to Advanced level of expertise

Instructions:

1. Check your IP @ http://whatismyip.org/
2. To obtain a US IP, you can use http://www.hotspotshield.com/ (HSS) or similar proxy service. Please note that this is only required during the sign up process & that Google Voice will work normally afterwards without using HSS proxy.
3. Once connected to the HotSpotShield service, check that your IP is indeed different from that in step 1 @ http://whatismyip.org/
4. Now browse to http://voice.google.com/ to sign up for your Google Voice account
5. If you already have access to a US phone number (a friend, SkypeIn, MagicJack, etc), you can skip this step.  This number is used for a one-time validation & is not required after that.  If you do not have a US number, here is how to get one FREE:
   1. Sign up with https://www.callcentric.com/login/
      1. Once logged in, skip the tour & copy your Callcentric # to the clipboard, it should start with 1777…
   2. Sign up with http://phone.ipkall.com/
      1. Paste your Callcentric # into the SIP username field
      2. The hostname is in.callcentric.com
   3. Take note of the phone number assigned to you in the confirmation email as this is the number we will use to validate the Google Voice account.
6. Now all you need is a softphone to receive the Google validation phone call, download/install http://www.callcentric.com/support/device/callcentric or for a complete list including mobile devices (Android, iPhone, BlackBerry & even Nokia) please see http://www.callcentric.com/support/device/
   1. In case you have Android & want to use the built-in native SIP support, the settings are under Settings->Call Settings->Accounts->add account:
      1. Username is your Callcentric #
      2. Password is the password you used when signing up for their service
      3. Server is callcentric.com
   2. Click Menu->Save & select “Receive incoming calls”
7. Once you are connected using Method 6 or 6A, have Google Voice validate your account!
8. You should now be able to use Google Voice from the web & your mobile device (http://m.google.com/voice).  There are also dedicated apps available for Android, iPhone & Blackberry.
9. Also check out GVCallback Free for Android & GVConnect for iPhone if you’d like to place/receive free calls via data.  Just make sure you use the phone number you received in step 5C as the callback number & you will be receiving data only calls that don’t use your minutes.