Skype with Google Voice (Voicemail Issues)
Skype Voicemail Options
Of course one of the issues with Google Voice, are voicemail issues. Not so much with Google Voice itself, but having many phone systems that all have their own built in voicemail services. When I first setup Skype I realized that having voicemail turned on would be problematic, so I unchecked the button labeled “Send unanswered calls to voicemail”. Unfortunately what I did not realized is the voicemail settings are part of the application and don’t effect your Skype account.
A few days ago I was having trouble getting an expected call from a client. None of my 2 phones connected to Google Voice or Skype rang, but a few minutes later voice mails started coming in. Although I was getting no type of notification from Skype that I was getting a call or had a new voicemail, email notifications were being sent to me (Skype notifications, not GV). I noticed Skype froze up and the icon was still showing, but the programing wasn’t responding. After restarting it I got both missed calls and voicemail notifications within Skype.
I have my primary computer turned on all the time so it took me a while before I noticed this issue, but your incoming Google Voice calls will go straight to Skype voicemail if…
- You have Skype turned off
- The computer running Skype is turned off
- Skype has crashed
- Your internet is down or not connected
Of course there’s other phones that will have the same issue… If a cell phone is off it may send calls straight to voicemail, bypassing GV. The problem with Skype is there’s a lot more potential for something to go wrong, like what happened in my case when the program crashed. I contacted their support asking if I could disable voicemail, so I’ll report back what they say.
Update: After talking with Skype support they said the voicemail issue is being worked on…It sounds like there is no way to completely disable voicemail from within Skype. I wrote back and asked if I can cancel my voicemail subscription (which is included with SkypeIn) without canceling my other services, but since the voicemail is included they won’t let you cancel it.
Yep, this is extremely annoying. What's even worse it's been a bug for over 2 years. See the bug report here — https://developer.skype.com/jira/browse/SCW-449
Clearly the claims that they're "working on it" is BS. Personally I've move away from Skype as this was just one of many problems I've run into with them that were completely ignored. They're a dying company and i can certainly understand why after my experiences with them.
I have also seen no progress made in regards to this issue, and I feel it puts your GV calls at risk for not being received. My end solution is, I now only enable my Skype number in Google Voice when I want to use it for a call. It's useful to have when I'm making long business calls, but overall I'd have to say Skype's phone related services are unacceptable.
I was having the same issues, but I found a solution here:
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/voice/threa...
Try this workaround:
Disable voicemail and call forwarding from within the Skype software (if you run Skype on multiple computers, be sure to disable it in each). Then configure Skype call forwarding on the Skype website to forward to your Google Voice number.
Even with Skype call forwarding enabled, you can still answer GV calls while Skype application is running on your computer. And if you don't have Skype running, they'll forward to Google Voice without a problem.
While not the most robust solution (there are a couple extra rings if Skype is running on your computer) it seems do the job.
Interesting workaround Bobby, I'll look into that some more.
Thanks for the comment