Creating and Using Your Google Voice Account

Get ready...this will change the way you communicate

We had a great time learning about Google Voice last week. Hopefully everyone left less confused than when they entered! This service takes some getting used to, but once you have the hang of it you'll never want to go back to regular old voicemail again.  

Here's a peek into what we talked about for those who weren't able to join us:

Google Voice Presentation from Carly Price

There was one additional feature of Google Voice that we didn't talk about much and I wanted to make sure you all know about. Turning on call screening is important to make sure that our WCPSS voicemail system doesn't interfere with Google Voice, but its also a really neat feature. This allows you to have audio caller ID and choose how you want to deal with an incoming call.

How does it work?

When you pick up the call Google will say: 

"Call from _____, press 1 to accept or 2 to send to voicemail"

These are your choices:

1. Accept call 

    (Press 1)

2. Send call to voicemail 

    (Press 2 and hang up)

3. Send call to voicemail and listen while caller leaves a message. They won't know you are listening.

    (Press 2 and stay on the line)

3. Send call to voicemail, then decide you really DO want to answer the call after all.  

    (Press 2, listen to caller, then press * to answer the call)

Questions

We had some great discussion and questions from your fellow social workers on how to use this tool and other Google Apps. I love putting our ideas together to come up with new ways to use them. I'll be posting responses and tutorials related to the following questions. Subscribe to this blog so you can get emails notifying you of this information and future topics.

Google Voice

• When sending group texts on Google Voice do recipients' replies go to me or to the whole group?
• Can my WCPSS landline be set up to forward to my Google Voice number?
• How do I access Google Voice from my iPad, tablet, or smartphone?
• What are ways to quickly access my Google Voice account on my computer?
• How do I install the Google Voice extension for Chrome or the add-on for Firefox?
• Is there a way to change my Google Voice number if I want to?
• I already have a Google Voice account on my personal Gmail account. How do I transfer this account to my new WCPSS Google Apps account?

Other Topics

• How can I use Google Calendar to share my agenda with someone and exclude specific details of my events?
• How do I use Google Drive?

Do you have other questions about using Google Voice or something else? Post your questions here or contact me directly and I'll do my best to help. Someone else may have the same question and we can all learn together!

Getting Started with Your WCPSS Google Apps Account

How do I set up my GOOGLE account and why do I want to anyway?

Google Apps offers all kinds of web-based tools and resources for communication and collaboration. It is a great way to store and share information in a user-friendly format that can be accessed on the go. Basically, it's everything a social worker (or teacher, administrator, etc.) needs to organize and utilize the insane amount of information we need from day-to-day to do our jobs. Google Apps can make life much easier for you (and me!) by helping us connect in more meaningful and efficient ways.

I promise it's painless to get started, just click here.

Note: If you have ever set up a personal Google account using your WCPSS email address please watch this video to learn how to fix this conflict.

Now that you've set up your account a whole new world of technological wonders awaits!  You may already be familiar with many of the tools that Google offers and together i'm sure that we can think of some really creative ways to use them.  What ideas do you have?

Some of you will be joining our workshop next week to learn about Google Voice, which is a great communication tool.  If you're not able to join us, but are still interested in learning more i'll be posting a tutorial soon.  

Happy Googling!