With Google Voice, users can now stay in touch with their friends, family and other contacts regardless of their location and even if they do not have their cell phones or they are away from their landlines. Another great feature of Google Voice is that, no matter how many numbers or phone companies you change, your Google Voice number remains the same, thus eliminating the need of circulating your new numbers to your contacts again and again.

However, phone numbers are such that, people tend to change them at some point of time. For example, if a user moves to a new city, then he would try to get a number of that specific area code and in many cases, people just wish to have more personalized number, that they can relate to. Keeping this in mind, Google has come up with a new option in Google Voice, where users can now change their Google Voice numbers. The ‘change your number’ feature comes with a one time price tag of $400 and can be changed from the settings page of the application.

Now, as we discussed the perils and the pains of changing numbers, the question arises that, how is changing the Google Voice number any more different than say, changing your cell phone number? To solve this hurdle, Google has rather simplified the process of acquiring a new number for the users. After you the number of your choice, it will be effective immediately and all your calls will be routed to your new Google Voice number. However, your previous number will still remain active, giving you plenty of time to notify all your contacts about the change of your Google Voice number.

Accord to the Google Voice Blog,

“During that period, calls and SMS to both numbers will show in your account. And before your old number expires, we’ll let you know who’s still calling it so you can update them individually.”

To the uninitiated, here is an interactive demo of Google Voice in action:

Via Google Voice Blog.