Google rolling out support for separate Fi and Voice numbers on same account

Abner Li | Jun 22 2020 - 1:33 pm PT

Google has long imposed a restriction where Voice users cannot have separate Fi numbers. That is now changing today with the ability to have both coexist on the same account.

This partition where you’re not able to have two Google-based phone numbers on the same account has long manifested in one particular scenario. If you have a Voice account and want to sign up for the Fi MVNO, you either have to port or give up that existing number — losing cross-device access in the process.

That’s changing today with the ability to have separate Fi and Voice numbers on the same Google Account. The company highlights the ability to have life-work separation with this implementation.

This means you can use different numbers for different purposes, like one for family and friends and one for work. When you set up forwarding in Google Voice or Google Fi, you’ll receive calls from both numbers in one central place.

Late last year, Google began laying the groundwork for this support by having Fi voicemails no longer appear at voice.google.com:

There will be no changes to voicemail transcription on the Phone app (or the Fi app for iOS devices), or to the way you use voicemail on Hangouts (if you’ve enabled voicemail on Hangouts).

Google is rolling out the ability to have separate Fi and Voice numbers on the same account starting today. It will be available for both free users and paid G Suite customers with Voice licenses.