Toll-free numbers are a mainstay of business communication. When you’re growing fast, a toll-free number is an easy way to offer nationwide customer support. A vanity toll-free number also helps you stand out from your competition.
If you’re evaluating Google Voice as your small business phone service provider or you’re an existing Google Voice customer, you might ask: Can I get a Google Voice toll-free number? ?
Unfortunately, the answer is no. You can’t get a toll-free number with Google Voice, along with several features that business owners and their teams need to communicate with their customers efficiently.
In this article, we’ll highlight the many drawbacks of Google Voice and share an easy-to-use business phone alternative that offers toll-free numbers for you and your team.
10 limitations you should know besides no Google Voice toll-free numbers
Google Voice looks like a reasonable VoIP service provider on the surface. But when you dig deeper into the features and integrations provided, you’ll realize how limited the platform is — from no Google Voice caller ID to limited integrations beyond Google products.
If you’re weighing the pros and cons of Google Voice, here’s a closer look at the service’s biggest business limitations beyond no Google Voice toll-free numbers:
1. Google Voice for Business requires a Google Workspace account
Google Voice for personal use might be free, but it comes with minimal features that don’t translate well to the business world. Their free service doesn’t let you set business hours, have more than one number, or create ring group options to send incoming calls to different phone numbers. You might not even be able to sign up without an existing US phone number.
Plus, you can’t make unlimited calls in the US and Canada, which can get costly if your team frequently calls customers in North America.
Business users must pay a minimum of $7 per user per month alongside Google Voice’s pricing ($10 per user per month) to sign up for Google Voice’s paid business plan.
That’s a minimum of $17 per month — for just one user.
2. 11+ users requires a plan upgrade
Google Voice limits you to 10 users on their base plan unless you upgrade to their Standard plan ($20 per user per month). The downside? You might not need the extra features, but you will still end up paying double for every team member.
3. Texting is for US customers only
Communicating with customers over text is standard on almost every VoIP business phone system today. Google Voice remains an exception.
Texting is only available to US customers, and you can only text US and Canadian numbers. Another texting limitation with Voice is that you can send MMS messages, including photos and GIFs, but you can’t send videos.
4. No external integrations
Google Voice’s basic plan does come with integrations, but only for Google Workspace products. Think Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive, Google Meet, and other Google apps.
With Google Voice, you don’t have access to platforms like Zapier and Salesforce or anything that adds external functionality to your CRM or Slack workspaces. They also don’t have a Google Voice API available. This means you can’t set up automations or automatically log information between apps.
5. Siloed views for calls, texts, and voicemails
Staying on the same page with all incoming calls and messages from your customers is key to providing a great customer experience. Unfortunately, Google Voice doesn’t make it easy to do this.
Text messages, calls, and voicemails are kept in separate inboxes, making it difficult to share between teams and know a conversation’s history using Google Voice. Worst of all, reps can’t review communications before they’re sent out, which could lead to inefficiencies and duplicate efforts when handling incoming calls.
6. No shared team collaboration
No shared inboxes make it difficult to collaborate on external communications. You can forward calls in Google Voice, but you lack context for them and can’t review them later.
Call recordings are not available to bring other team members up to speed unless you upgrade to their Standard plan ($20 per user per month).
If you’re looking for a way to collaborate on phone calls with multiple members across teams, Google Voice doesn’t offer a solution out of the box.
7. Limited international access
If international calling is a requirement for you, Google Voice may be hard to integrate with your daily workflow. For example, Google Voice for personal use isn’t available outside the US.
Google Voice for business is available outside the US, but only in certain countries, including Belgium, Canada, and Denmark. Here’s a full list of countries where Google Voice is available.
Keep in mind that unlimited calling and texting are only available to users in the US. Plus, free calling to Canada is only for phone calls made within the United States, which isn’t ideal if you aren’t based there and you serve a lot of Canadian customers.
8. No advanced texting features
Since phone automations can save an enormous amount of time and resources, they aren’t just a frilly extra; they’re essential to business growth.
But Google Voice doesn’t offer this, except for a very basic IVR (aka Google Voice auto-attendant) function. If your team needs to send similar text messages repeatedly, you won’t be able to save those as snippets in Google Voice. Auto-replies through Google Voice also aren’t possible if you want to set expectations on incoming text messages that your team is out for the day or temporarily busy. Other automated touchpoints via text aren’t supported at all.
You also can’t schedule texts to send during your customers’ business hours, making it difficult to stay compliant with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and risking lawsuits or hefty fines.
9. Ring groups requires a plan upgrade
Ring groups is a business phone feature that allows you to customize how incoming calls reach your team. You can either choose to have incoming calls reach your team simultaneously, or you can create custom groups so that not everyone on your team receives calls at the same time.
A ring group is an excellent feature for teams looking to increase communication flexibility and responsiveness. The trouble is that Google Voice ring groups are only available on their Standard or higher plans — which cost at least $20 per month per user.
10. No AI-powered features
Although Google is working on some of the latest AI models with Gemini, its AI assistant, there are no AI features available in Google Voice.
Wish you could get AI call summaries and transcriptions or AI call tags to quickly get up to speed with your call logs? You won’t find any of these AI productivity features in Google Voice.
Another missing AI feature in Google Voice is an AI voice agent. AI agents are a better alternative to voicemails because they can answer common customer questions and take down detailed messages from callers who would otherwise likely end up being lost customers. They can attend to incoming calls 24/7, freeing up your team to focus on your most important customers and have a better work-life balance.
Why Quo is a better toll-free phone service
Quo is an FCC-approved provider of toll-free numbers, which means it’s authorized by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to distribute toll-free numbers to businesses.
Here’s a breakdown of what you’ll get when you purchase a toll-free business phone number with Quo:
- Choose from thousands of US and Canadian toll-free phone numbers to find the best one for your business.
- Purchase local phone numbers along with your toll-free number, giving you the flexibility to connect with local customers using familiar area codes.
- Purchase vanity numbers so customers can call a memorable number, like 1-800-FLOWERS or 1-800-CONTACTS.
- Additional toll-free and local numbers only cost $5 per number per month.
- Send MMS messages, including photos, videos, and GIFs, with your toll-free number.
- Free outbound calls to the US and Canada come with every plan, which means you won’t have to pay long-distance fees when your reps make domestic calls or calls to Canada.
Here are a few more benefits you’ll get access to when you choose Quo:
- Share responsibility for incoming calls and texts with shared inboxes.
- Collaborate with your team and assign follow-up tasks to teammates with internal threads.
- Automatically log your calls and texts in your CRM and share conversation data with your tech stack using our third-party integrations. Use our CRM integrations with HubSpot and Salesforce or build your own integration with Zapier and Make or the Quo API.
- Get instant AI-powered call summaries and transcriptions and AI call tags with Quo AI.
- Never miss a call and capture every lead with Sona, Quo’s AI agent.
- Automatically reply to customers and always send the right text at the right time with Quo’s automated text messaging features like auto-replies, scheduled messages, and snippets.
- Automated texting — auto-replies, scheduled messages, automated text workflows with Zapier, Make, and the Quo API.
- Access Quo on any device — Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android.
Get a VoIP toll-free number with Quo today
Google Voice is missing a whole lot more than just toll-free numbers. Without integrations, business SMS support, or team collaboration, this VoIP can be extremely limiting to business growth.
If you’re looking to scale your company’s communications effectively, turning to Quo as a Google Voice alternative is the obvious choice. We’re the number one rated business VoIP platform on G2 — and it’s not hard to see why.
On Quo, you can make and send free calls and texts to the US and Canada from almost anywhere. And did we mention that we offer toll-free numbers? It’s easy to see Quo’s solutions in action. Sign up for a free demo with a live expert for real-time Q&A or get hands-on with our platform with a seven-day free trial.
FAQs
A toll-free number is a telephone number that lets people reach your business without paying long-distance fees. Toll-free numbers start with 800, 844, 855, 866, 888, and other toll-free prefixes. Instead of charging your callers, a toll-free number will bill your company for expenses. With Quo (formerly OpenPhone), you don’t pay for inbound calls, and outbound calls to the US and Canada are free with your plan.
Callers in countries that follow the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) can call a toll-free number without paying long-distance charges. That includes the US, Canada, and 18 other countries and regions like Jamaica, the British Virgin Islands, and the Caribbean.
Along with having no option to sign up for a Google Voice toll-free number, you can’t port a toll-free number to Google Voice.
To port your number from Google Voice to Quo, you have to port your number out of Google Voice by unlocking your number. Then fill out Quo’s porting request form to move the number over.
Here’s a step-by-step walkthrough of the process:
How to port your number out of the Google Voice free plan
1. Go to voice.google.com in your web browser, sign in to your Google Voice account, and at the top right, select Settings.
2. Go to Account.
3. Tap Unlock under the number you wish to port.
4. You’ll see a pop-up message asking you to confirm.
5. You’ll need to pay a $3 porting fee via Google Pay to unlock your number.
Now you can port the unlocked number to another VoIP service.
Porting a number from Google Voice for Google Workspace
1. Sign in to the Google Admin console.
2. Select Apps > Google Workspace > Google Voice.
3. Select Number porting.
4. Select Port-out info to open the window, and click on Preview to see the code.
5. Copy the code.
6. Your new provider may request additional information based on your location to port your Google Voice number.
Porting your Google Voice number to Quo (formerly OpenPhone)
Now that you’ve unbarred access to your digits, you can port your number to another carrier — including the team at Quo.
Here’s what you need to do:
1. Sign up for a free seven-day trial to see why thousands of growing businesses use Quo.
2. Once you’ve confirmed that Quo is a great fit for your team, fill out the porting request form in the Quo app with all your information to initiate your porting request.
3. Give us about two weeks (give or take) to get everything set up.
4. And just like that, you’re done! Now you can upgrade to as many phone numbers as you’d like, including US or Canadian toll-free numbers. Due to emerging regulations, you’ll first need to complete US carrier registration to text from a local number. And if you have a toll-free number, you’ll need to complete the toll-free registration.
You can get a free Google Voice number in its personal plan, but it won’t have business-friendly features like multiple users, ring groups, and integrations. You also won’t be able to text customers.
If you’re still considering Quo (formerly OpenPhone) vs Google Voice, keep in mind that Google Voice lacks several features compared to Quo, including automated texting, third-party integrations, and AI features like call summaries and transcriptions.
Quo is a better VoIP business phone option for small and growing businesses that want to scale customer interactions efficiently.
