by Ryan McKeen
In my practice, I represent people from all walks of life. Some of my clients are very wealthy, some are very poor, and most our middle class. This is probably no different from a lot of lawyers who represent individuals.
One of the great problems I have from time to time is communicating with some of my clients that don’t have money. They almost never have land lines and their cell phones always change. They often have prepaid phones.
Sometimes my clients move without telling me. In talking with other lawyers, I know I’m not alone.
Yesterday, Google opened Google Voice to everyone. Before yesterday, one could only obtain a Google Voice account through an invite. Now it’s open to everyone.
The basic feature of Google Voice is that it’s one number. You can give that number to someone and have it ring on the phone of your choice either a cell phone, a work phone or a home phone.
Thus if you give someone your Google Voice number it doesn’t matter if you change your cell phone number so long as you let google voice know that you’ve changed your number. The person trying to call you would never know that your number has changed.
Of course, the problem is that if someone’s cell number changes and they do not update that information with Google then it’s all for not. Which is likely to happen because people with lower incomes tend not to have access to the internet. Though through libraries some do.
While it’s not a game changer, a client with Google Voice just may be easier to find and that’s a good thing.
Ryan,
Should you elect to have clients who regularly move sign up for Google Voice I’d suggest you instruct them on how to check their voicemail via phone. Then, even if they cannot forward to a new phone (a borrowed phone pay phone – if those still exist – would work as well) they can call their own Google Voice number and listen to messages. In addition, they can actually add a forwarding phone by calling in, something else that is handy when one doesn’t have internet access. Also consider the benefits of Google Voice for clients who travel abroad regularly or who may live abroad, a place you can leave messages that they can access from anywhere, even if they’re not the most computer savvy client. I actually assisted a friend living in The Netherlands temporarily with a Google Voice setup and she was able to answer and make calls via a Connecticut number on her MacBook as if she was still local!
Best Regards,
Robert
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