What you need to know
- Google Voice’s new update which warns users of a “suspected spam caller” is rolling out.
- Users will see a suspected number marked with a clear label beneath its number.
- A confirmed spam caller will be automatically sent to voicemail with its entry logged in a spam folder.
Google Voice is beginning to receive another useful tool to swat away pesky callers.
According to Google’s Workspace blog, Google Voice’s call screen will soon warn users if the incoming call is from a suspected spam number. With it rolling out today, users will soon see “Suspected Spam Caller” on the call screen beneath the associated number and in their call history. Additionally, Google is incorporating some extra tools for users once this rolls out to Voice.
Keep in mind that this option will initially appear on your Google Voice app disabled. To enable it, head over to Settings > Security > Filter to turn it on. When doing so, the app will let you know that all calls Google deems to be spam will be automatically sent to voicemail and will be logged in the spam folder and not your regular call history list.
If a suspected spam caller does still happen to ring your phone, there will be an option to “confirm” Google’s suspicions and force it to the aforementioned places to not disturb you again. However, if a number has been mistakenly marked as spam by Google, you can let them know that this is “not spam,” which will remove that marker from appearing on your call screen in the future.
Google’s Phone app already offers tags for suspected spam and scam callers, even marking them as so in your call history. It’s good to see the company bringing this welcome feature over for its Voice users.
Google says it “makes this determination using the same advanced artificial intelligence that identifies billions of spam calls each month across Google’s calling ecosystem.”
Seeing as many Google Voice users will probably gladly welcome this new addition, the company rolled out another handy improvement earlier this month. The previous update improved call quality by introducing an automatic switch between Wi-Fi and cellular data if one of them experiences an outage. This means that if you’re on a call and your Wi-Fi goes down, Voice will determine the next best available network to keep you in the discussion.
This is much better, considering Voice would previously not do anything if a network failed while on a call.
