Google Voice and Call Kettle: read before you set up

Before you start

• Have the 10-digit Call Kettle number we gave you handy. We send it to you during setup, and it is also on your dashboard.
• Use a different phone to test when you finish (the next guide shows how).
• You can do this on the phone with us. Call or email and we stay on the line while you set it up.

Read this first

How Google Voice forwarding works

• Google Voice forwards to linked numbers. You add one in Google Voice under Settings, Account, Linked numbers, New linked number.
• Google sends a verification code to prove you control a number you link. For a landline, Google calls it and reads the code. We have not tested that verification step against an automated line, so tell us before you start.
• You can link up to 6 numbers, and a number already linked to another Google Voice number cannot be linked again.
• To change where calls go: Settings, Calls, then under Call forwarding turn linked numbers on or off. Turning one off does not remove it from your account.
• Custom call forwarding rules (Settings, Calls) can send calls from chosen contacts or contact groups to chosen linked numbers or voicemail. Rules are made on a computer.

What we suggest

• If your callers dial a Google Voice number, ask us about the alternatives: a dedicated Call Kettle number you publish, or forwarding from a carrier line you already own.
• If you want to try Google Voice anyway, we will test it with you and tell you plainly whether it works.

Source: support.google.com/voice: "Set up your phone to make & receive Google Voice calls" and "Use custom call forwarding with Google Voice". Checked 2026-10-05. Carriers change their steps without telling us; if yours looks different, call us and we will work it out with you.

Next: test it with a call from another phone. If you ever want your phone back: turn forwarding off.