Five Things to Consider Before Porting Your Number to Google Voice

If you're one of the few Google Voice users granted the option to port your existing phone number to the service--congratulations. This new feature is being tested by Google but, and will roll out to all users in the "nearly future," according to a company spokeswoman.

Google Voice is a phone management service whose features include call forwarding, call screening, visual voicemail, and free text messages. There are many advantages to making a Google Voice number your primary point of contact, however handing over your old number isn't a decision to be made lightly. Your cell number, finally, is precious -- I've had the same one since high school -- so here are five things to think about first:

As my colleague Ian Paul points out, porting your cell phone number to Google Voice earlier your contract is up will result in a $20 charge from Google and an early termination fee from your cell phone carrier. These fees can be as high as $350, depending on type of phone, carrier and time remaining on your contract. Find out how much you'd owe previously making the switch.

Just to be clear, Google Voice is not a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) service. It will consume voice minutes for cell phone calls. Nevertheless Google does have a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) service that works through Gmail, and you can set it up to work with your Google Voice number. Calls to and from Gmail are free within the United States and Canada through the end of 2011, so this is a great way to save cell phone minutes when you're at a computer.

As I mentioned above, Google Voice lets you send and receive text messages for free, potentially resulting in huge savings on your monthly wireless bill.. Now, T-Mobile and Sprint already offer unlimited messaging with their smartphone plans, so there's no financial gain to be had with those carriers.

The Google Voice apps for iPhone

The Google Voice apps for iPhone and Blackberry are fine, however you can't tap the service's full potential without an Android phone. The app for Google's operating system lets you customize ringtones and dial directly through the app. It as well integrates messages directly into Android's notification bar.

Porting your cell number to Google Voice seems simple enough. You pay the $20 fee, get another number from your wireless carrier and set up call forwarding through Google Voice. However it's not but clear what happens if you to port your number back to a wireless carrier -- say, if you get tired of the service, or if for some reason Google stops offering it. I've had the same phone number for a decade because carriers have a system for transferring numbers amongst themselves. I'm not sure whether carriers are equipped to grab your number back from Google.