Google Voice or 1999, Take Your Pick

[This article is intended for less technical users. I have a longer article on this topic tailored to technical users that are interested in the finer points of this topic, which you can find here: Replacing Google Voice]

If you are what I call a "normal user" and you are here specifically to read this article, then you are already a notch above most "normal users", since they aren't the kind of people that would generally end up using Google Voice unless someone else set them up with it. That being the case, there is a chance you might be up for the experiments I detailed in the more technical article on this topic (link above). If you don't think you are up for that, though, read on, this will be short.

Anatomy of a lock-in

I can't deny that Google Voice is a pretty amazing service and has served me well for years. And all of this for free? Well, sort of. We know by Google's recent buyouts that they must be extracting some pretty good value out of their users' private info. Some of their recent investments wouldn't make any sense otherwise. And how else can we explain that Voice has remained free despite undoubtedly costing them a lot of money to maintain?

The fact that it is free has prevented competition by other products that would offer the same features. There is just no way they can offer these same features for free, or even at a cost that doesn't feel too expensive in comparison to free. As a result, there really aren't many options for people who want what Google Voice offers outside the presence of the ever-watchful eye of Google. All this amounts to one of the worst cases of user lock-in I have seen in some time. Google allows you to port the number out of Voice to another provider, but then what? If you are hooked on the multi-device presence, transcribed voicemails, or web and mobile apps to send texts and make calls, you won't be getting that from a cell provider.

Get back in line, slave

So, I won't sugar-coat this or pull any punches. If you want what Google Voice offers and you are not a fairly geeky tech user, just stay with Google Voice. I am not willing to do that anymore for philosophical reasons (see the meta article for the back story on this series of articles) and because I suspect Google will be pulling the plug on the service in the future anyway, but I have enough knowledge and experience with tech to manage the mess of workarounds and complications that come with the alternatives. If you don't feel like you are a fairly advanced user, you won't be happy losing the simplicity and convenience of Google Voice. So, you should probably just learn to love your slavery.

Or party like it's 1999

If you really do want to leave Voice despite not being technical enough to manage some of the alternatives, then the only other option I can recommend is to port your number back to an actual cell provider and live like it's 1999 with all the rest of the average cell phone users. Of course, we know from the recent NSA revelations that your privacy is probably worse off there than even with Google Voice, but at least it works... well, most of the time... depending on your carrier. The reality is that the carriers have no incentive to compete with Google Voice or to even be a good conduit for services that do, so things won't be changing any time soon.

If you would still like some remote sense of freedom with your service levels and devices, though, you can at least get some semblance of that by choosing Ting or T-Mobile. At least with them you can set up decent no-contract plans and limit your costs by using less data and not getting an outrageous bill when you go over what you planned. Ting uses the Sprint network, though, so be sure and verify that it is any good in the places you frequent. T-Mobile coverage isn't always perfect either, so check that too. If you want the best coverage and reliability, my experience is that you are stuck with Verizon (as much as it pains me to admit it).

Sorry for the bad news, but your only way out is to start getting more nerdy about mobile hotspots, SIP services, and the gadgets you will use with the services. If you are inclined to learn something new, you might even find the journey enjoyable. If your biggest concerns, however, are reliability, simplicity, and efficiency, then blow a kiss to the Google overlords and carry on with your day. If it makes you feel better, pin up the quote from 1984:

"War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength."