Comments on: Here We Go Again: Getting Ready for the Next Google Voice Train Wreck

By: Jason

Jason — Sun, 25 Aug 2013 18:42:29 +0000

So, has google pulled the proverbial plug on xmpp yet?

I’m confused as to what this literally means for someone using Google Voice and incredible pbx as a home phone.

Can I still send and receive calls? That is all I want it for.

If it has gone away, what is the next solution?

[WM: Still working so far as long as you don’t switch your account over to Google Hangouts.]

By: Bob Koure

Bob Koure — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 15:30:38 +0000

Hi Ward,
As best as I can tell (from reading other boards) what Google is discontinuing is XMPP federation – which doesn’t seem a major issue for what we’re doing. It’s not clear whether this is a first step in discontinuing support for it altogether or not.
That said, yeah, this might be a good time to at least start preparing to move away from it. It was never a good idea for a business to depend on it, but I’m sure there are plenty of individuals (like me: started using GrandCentral so I could use two mobile phones and not make callers track multiple numbers) who depend on it to at least some degree.
So, if you’re right, there’s going to be a large number of folks looking for a replacement. Yes, PIAF is potentially an excellent one, but there are some pieces missing – and it’s not the easiest thing to learn.
Maybe I’ll bring this up on the PIAF forum – unless someone else does first. Hope it doesn’t turn acrimonious like last time.

By: Michael Graves

Michael Graves — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 01:38:07 +0000

Whatever the case, this certainly underscores the fact that a free service like Google Voice cannot be relied upon to the be the foundation of any valid business telecom strategy. This has been my feeling all along. If there’s no deterministic way to get timely support then it cannot be anything more than a sandbox of sorts.

Free doesn’t mean its wholly without cost.

By: Cam

Cam — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 15:30:20 +0000

Ward, I am sorry to see that you have joined the "Amen chorus" for those who seem to think that Google will simply pull the plug on Google Voice without warning. I disagree, for reasons mentioned in some of my posts in the thread at http://pbxinaflash.com/community/index.php?threads/replacement-for-google-voice.12625/

We’re actually talking two separate issues here, which is whether Google Voice will discontinue XMPP access to Google Voice, which they might but I still doubt it will happen anytime soon, and whether they will discontinue Google Voice altogether, which I very much doubt. So in my opinion, there is no need to run out and port a number away from Google Voice, since you will very likely be able to at least forward your Google Voice calls to another number, though at some point you may no longer be able to send your Google Voice calls to a Google Talk destination. But when that day arrives, you will have the ability to forward your calls to a regular phone number while you consider what other options you wish to take. Remember that Google has already said that Google Voice would be free through 2013, so that rather implies they aren’t planning on shutting it down.

If Google does drop the ability to use XMPP then it may still be possible to place and receive Google Voice calls by reverting back to an older method, as discussed in the thread at http://pbxinaflash.com/community/index.php?threads/old-fashioned-google-voice-calls.12620/

I’m sorry to disagree with you, Ward, but I just think that now is not the time to panic. If I were a gambler I’d bet the farm on the fact that Google Voice will be around at least until the end of this year, and that if Google ever does decide to discontinue it they will give users at least a couple months’ notice. The XMPP thing I am not quite so confident about, but if that should happen I have a fallback method ready to go.

I also think Google may live to regret pulling the plug on XMPP – it sort of blows apart "Don’t be evil", doesn’t it? For a company that wants to be big in all things technology, they seem to be trying their best to burn through all the goodwill they have generated over the years. The wi-fi snooping thing, where Google Street View cars were capturing bits of people’s wi-fi connections as they drove by, was my first indication that Google’s moral compass may have gone a bit askew. So it’s not that I think them incapable of pulling the plug on Google Voice someday, but I just don’t believe that will happen until at least the end of the year.