Google Voice is a service of the Mountain View company that has existed for years but was in fact used only by users residing in the United States.
In Italy, however, from today it becomes possible to use geographic numbers with the international prefix +39, provided, however, that you have a paid Google Workspace account (see this support page).
Google Voice is an attempt to create a "converged service" for answering incoming calls and making calls, with the same phone number, wherever you are.
The service offers the possibility of forwarding calls received on Google Voice to other company or personal numbers in order to sort them on the basis of specific rules.
Using the Google Voice configuration panel, you can define the numbers to which incoming calls should be routed and specify whether multiple terminals should ring simultaneously. During a call, users can use a cloud switchboard that allows the conversation to be transferred from one phone to another.
You can also set up an answering machine in addition to sending and receiving SMS.
Google Voice alternatives: what are they
A very similar and entirely cloud-based service (therefore it does not require the installation of a switchboard within your company structure) is Cloudya: we talked about it in the article Switchboard for smart working to be used at home, in the company and on the move.
Proposed in Italy by NFON, Cloudya makes you forget the complexity, costs and lack of versatility of a traditional PBX, allowing the use of any type of device to make and receive calls (Windows desktop/notebook, macOS systems, Android and iOS smartphones ), transfer conversations, start multi-person conferences.The services of Messagenet and Irideos Orchestra (formerly CloudItalia) are also useful for private users and not just for professionals and companies: Free calls or almost even abroad with a VoIP and Android number.
The two services allow you to obtain a free Italian telephone number with a geographical area code: this means that you can make and receive calls with that number even while you are travelling. By setting the SIP parameters on smartphones, tablets, PCs, VoIP telephone equipment, it will be possible to answer from the office as well as from any mobile device.