6 reasons why you should get a free phone number from Google Voice

6 reasons why you should get a free phone number from Google Voice:

1. You get portability and consistency of a single phone number. For example, when someone calls your Google Voice phone number, you can have the call forwarded to your cell phone. If you lose your cell phone, all you have to do is redirect calls to your new cell phone number. You can forward calls to any number such as work or home.
   
2. You get privacy. Use your Google Voice phone number as your public number. The caller never sees your home or cell phone numbers that Google Voice forwards calls to.
3. You get security. You can block calls from unwanted numbers. In addition, a feature called ListenIn lets you listen to the message a person is leaving before you commit to taking his or her call.
   
4. You get call notification control. You can have calls forwarded directly to a designated phone number. Or you can be notified of calls by text messages or email.
5. You get conference calling. You can have up to four people call your Google Voice number at a predetermined time in order to have a conference call.
   
6. You get transcribed voicemail messages. When someone leaves you a voicemail, you can go online to your Google Voice account and either listen to the message or read the transcribed version. Once a message is transcribed, you can search on the text in the message.

Go here for even more on Google Voice features and here on how to ease your transition to Google Voice.