Record calls with Google Voice: How does it work, and what are its key limitations

While Google Voice offers call recording, it comes with many limitations. If you’re a business, you likely need a more flexible and scalable business phone system that can save your team time and help you build better relationships with your customers.

Below, we explore how you can use Google Voice to record calls, drawbacks to consider as a potential or existing Google Voice user, and an alternative that provides modern features.

Is call recording available on Google Voice’s free plan?

Yes, call recording is available on Google Voice’s free plan. To enable it, log into your Google Voice account, navigate to Settings and Calls, then turn on Incoming call options.

Once you enable this option, you can start using Google Voice to record calls. However, you’ll need to remember to tap 4 at the beginning of a call (and only after all participants join) to record it. Keep in mind, everyone will hear a call recording announcement once it starts recording.

You’ll need to tap 4 again on the keypad to stop recording. When you do, everyone will hear an announcement that the call recording has ended. You can also hang up to end the Google Voice recording. 

If you want to playback the recordings later, you can find them in the Calls tab.

How does call recording work in Google Voice for Google Workspace?

You can manually record phone conversations on Google Voice for Google Workspace by pressing the record button during a call.

However, Google Voice for business forces you to upgrade to the Standard or Premier plan ($20-$30 per user per month) just to access on-demand call recording. Automatic call recording is only available on the Premier plan ($30 per user per month).

How to record all Google Voice calls automatically

If you’re on their Premier plan, here’s how you can automatically record calls in Google Voice for Google Workspace:

1. Log in to the Google Admin console and navigate to Menu, Apps, Google Workspace, and Google Voice.
2. Select Settings and Policies.
3. Optional: To apply this setting to a department, select an Organizational Unit. 
4. Point to the Automatic call recording option and select Edit.
5. Select one of the following options to Control which calls are automatically recorded:
   • Off: Disable call recording
   • Only inbound calls: Automatically record incoming calls
   • Only outbound calls: Automatically record outgoing calls
   • All calls: Automatically record all calls
6. Click Save.

How to record specific calls in Google Voice for Google Workspace

On-demand call recording is enabled by default on Standard and Premier plans. However, if you previously disabled it, here’s how to set it up again:

1. Log in as an administrator to the Google Admin console.
2. Navigate to Menu, Apps, Google Workspace, and Google Voice.
3. Select Settings and Policies.
4. Optional: Select an Organizational Unit if you want to apply this setting for a department.
5. Point to On-demand call recording and select Edit.
6. Select On to enable or Off to disable on-demand recording.
7. Click Save.
   

Besides recording calls, what other limitations are there to Google Voice?

Using Google Voice has many drawbacks. Here are 12 limitations that may be deal-breakers for your team. 

1. No ways to save time after calls

Google Voice doesn’t offer any AI features — no AI call transcriptions, summaries, or call tags. If you need to remember what was said, you’ll have to take notes or re-listen to entire call recordings. And without tags to label customer conversations, it’s harder for your team to identify which calls they need to follow up with first.

You also can’t add an AI agent to answer calls, take messages, or log call summaries into your CRM. So if your team is unavailable, there is no way to get the caller’s name, reason for reaching out, or what needs to happen next — making follow-ups even more difficult.

2. You have to upgrade to access ring groups

Ring groups let you route incoming calls to multiple teammates, ensuring someone is always available to pick up the phone. To access Google Voice’s ring groups, you’ll need to upgrade to the Standard plan, which costs $20 per user per month. That’s a steep price to pay just to let your team share responsibility for answering calls.

3. Free version offers only one number

You can’t get more than one phone number on Google Voice’s free plan since it isn’t designed for businesses. This means you’ll need to switch to a paid Google Voice plan if you need to add more people to your team. Keep in mind Google Voice will charge you $3 to unlock your phone number to port it out of the free version.

The free version also doesn’t include business features like Google Voice’s auto-attendant or ring groups.

4. Siloed conversation history is more time-consuming to navigate

Google Voice has separate inboxes for calls, texts, and voice messages, and it doesn’t offer filtered views to organize conversations. With Quo (formerly OpenPhone), all communication with a customer lives in a single view, so your team can always see the full conversation history. 

For example, if a team member is on leave, you can quickly find a client’s communication history in a single inbox — no need to sift through records in multiple folders compared to Google Voice’s call history.

5. No desktop app

Most business phone systems offer a desktop app so you don’t have to worry about finding the right browser window and can click-to-call phone numbers. However, the Google Voice app is only available for the web, iPad, and mobile phones like iPhones and Android devices. Keep in mind the web version only works with Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or Safari.

6. Lacks integrations

You might want to log call recordings and other call activity in your CRM, like HubSpot or Salesforce. Maybe you also want to set up custom workflows in apps like Zapier and Make to automatically send messages like appointment reminders or introduction texts.

Unfortunately, you can’t since Google Voice’s integrations are limited to other Google apps, like Meet and Calendar. There’s also no Google Voice API available for you to build your own workflow.

7. Limited features for collaboration

If you’re looking to share a number with team members, Google Voice doesn’t provide full access. Instead, Google Voice offers call forwarding and ring groups for calls. This means Google Voice’s shared numbers don’t include customer texts, which can lead to missed messages or duplicated replies if your team isn’t always looped in.

You also won’t find any features for collaborating with teammates via comments or mentions like you can with threads on Quo. Threads let you comment on a client’s text message or call log without the client seeing.

8. No toll-free numbers

Want to allow callers to call you for free using a Google Voice toll-free number? You can’t since the platform doesn’t offer them or let you port one in.

Choosing a system like Quo ensures you have as many toll-free numbers as your team needs, so callers from any of the 20 North American Number Plan countries can contact you for free.

9. Doesn’t offer any modern texting features

Google Voice’s texting limits are a deal-breaker for many small businesses. Auto-replies in Google Voice aren’t available, so you can’t set expectations with customers automatically over text when your team is unavailable. You also can’t schedule texts to send during their business hours, making it harder to stay TCPA compliant. And since there’s no way to use snippets (pre-saved text messages), your team has to rewrite the same responses again and again.

Google Voice’s MMS support has several restrictions. If you upload an image larger than 2 MB, Google Voice compresses it. You can’t send GIFs larger than 5 MB. Sending other file types like videos and documents also isn’t possible on Google Voice.

10. Service in limited countries

The free version of Google Voice is only available in the US and isn’t great for business purposes, and Google Voice for Workspace (and international calling in Voice) is only available in these countries:

• Belgium
• Canada
• Denmark
• France
• Germany
• Ireland
• Italy
• Netherlands
• Portugal
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• United Kingdom
• United States

Plus, SMS and MMS texting from a Google Voice number is only available to US customers.

11. You need to pay for two subscriptions

You need a Google Workspace subscription to use Google Voice, so you’ll be paying at least $7 per user per month in addition to your Google Voice subscription.

Google Voice’s Starter plan only lets you have up to 10 users. This means you’re forced to upgrade as your team grows, even if you don’t want the features on the higher-tier plans.

Its free plan is only free if you get a new Google Voice number. Porting your existing number to Google Voice’s free plan costs $20.

12. No way to fix caller ID

If your Google Voice caller ID is showing up incorrectly when you call customers, Google Voice doesn’t offer a way to change it. You can only change the phone number that appears — not the name. The platform doesn’t register CNAM for customers or provide updates to CNAM databases. 

Quo: The best Google Voice alternative

Quo is the modern VoIP phone system for startups and small businesses. It makes it easy to manually and automatically record high-quality calls from any device, whether you’re on a desktop, Mac, iOS, web browser, or an Android phone. Here’s why Quo is the best Google Voice alternative.

• Call transcripts and summaries: Business plan users can automatically get transcripts to easily review any conversation. Plus, use AI-generated action items and call summaries if your team needs a quick overview of any call.
• Free calling and texting: Unlike Google Voice, Quo allows you to call and text US and Canadian numbers from anywhere in the world — all you need is a solid internet connection.
• Integrates with CRMs: Quo integrates with popular CRMs like HubSpot and Salesforce, allowing you to auto-log calls and text messages. Auto-logging saves time and provides teams with more context. You can also use Make, Zapier, the Quo API, and webhooks to auto-log data into other CRMs.
• Easy collaboration: Quo lets you share access to phone numbers. Your team can even comment on call recordings, voice messages, and text messages internally using threads to work together on responses to customers or assign tasks. These comments are only visible to you and the team — not your client.
• Texting automation: You can automatically respond to clients when your team is busy with auto-replies, schedule text messages, and use snippets to respond faster.
• Never miss a call with Sona: Quo’s AI agent, Sona, can answer calls, take messages, and gather important details from callers. That way, you can follow up quickly, even when you haven’t been able to pick up the phone.
• Stay organized with AI call tags: Quo automatically labels calls based on what was discussed, like “Billing issue” or “Feedback” so your team can get context when reviewing past conversations.

Quo: The best phone system

Google Voice’s lack of call recording on the Starter plan is one of its many shortcomings. If you’re looking for a phone system that has all the essential features your business needs, Quo is your best bet.

Quo offers on-demand and automatic call recording on its Starter plan for just $15 per user per month. It also provides all the essential features Google Voice lacks. Try these features for yourself with a free seven-day trial of Quo.

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