Note: You can only forward your Wellesley office phone to a personal Google Voice account (or to any phone number) while you or a colleague is in your office and able to press the keys on the deskphone.
Forwarding your phone can't be done remotely, nor can it be done by LTS staff. There are different directions for forwarding your phone, depending on whether you have a single line phone (usually beige) or a multiline phone (usually black).
Single Line Phone Directions for Call Forwarding
Multiline Phone Directions for Call forwarding on Black Phones.
Multiline Phone Directions for Call forwarding on Beige Phones.
1. Create a personal Google account if you don't already have one
If you don’t already have a personal Google account, e.g., an email address that ends in gmail.com, such as wendywellesley@gmail.com, you’ll need to create one.
Go to the Google Account creation page — https://accounts.google.com/SignUp.
Fill in First Name, Last Name. Create a username (you may need to use letters, numbers, and/or periods). Create a password and confirm it. Click the blue Next button. Optionally, for account security, you can enter a phone number and/or a recovery email address. Enter your birthday and your gender.Read the Privacy and Terms, and then click I agree.
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2. Set up a personal Google Voice account
Be sure you’re signed into your personal Google account @gmail.com, not your Wellesley Google account
Go to voice.google.com, click Get Google Voice, and choose Web. *Note: When prompted, allow voice.google.com to show alerts. Click Continue to accept the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
Choose a Google Voice number. Choose any number from a nearby town, as long as you add the MA abbreviation, e.g., Natick, MA; Dover, MA; Wayland, MA; Sudbury, MA; Needham, MA; Wellesley, MA.
Enter your personal smartphone number to link. You can delete this linked number in a later step, so you need not be concerned about the privacy of your smartphone and Google.
Click the green Send code button. Enter the 6 digit code that was texted to your smartphone, then click the Verify button to complete setup. You will see a message that says “xxx-xxx-xxxx is all yours”. Click Finish.
When prompted, allow Google Voice to use your mic.
Click the Gear in the upper right to see your Google Voice settings. Scroll down to Linked numbers. Delete the linked number you created earlier by clicking the x. It's a feature that 99% of Wellesley users won't need (If you link a number, calls going directly to your Google Voice number also ring your linked number.)
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Instructions on making and receiving calls in Google Voice.
You can use your new personal Google Voice account in a web browser on your laptop, and/or you can install the Google Voice app on your iPhone (open this link on your iPhone) or the Voice app on your Android phone to use it there.