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by rogerchucker 4740 days ago
The worst thing about the new Google Hangouts is that it doesn't expose the phone numbers associated with some of the Google Contacts. So in order to make a phone call, I'd have to recall the number and type it in the search bar. Typing the name in the search bar won't reveal that person's phone number either. This is more intuitively done in the old Google Chat which has a phone button which reveals the numbers. So sometimes I can call and sometimes I can chat with the same person. And searching the name reveals number(s) as well.
1 comments

This is why I suspect they've drug their feet on Google Voice integration. They want to make that seamless. You want to call [Person] and you shouldn't have to even think about whether it's over Hangouts or PTSN.

That's what Google Voice will give them. You call them from the Hangouts app and they pass it through Google Voice if they're not signed into any Hangout machines. It roughly works this way already for existing GV users.

Calls incoming to my Google Voice number already ring in Hangouts for me - I actually use that any time I have to do phone conferencing now, since I can just use my computer headset rather than futzing with a phone headset.
Oh god, I love it. My computer even rings a good second or two before my phone so I can hit Pause on my keyboard (Spotify pauses) and then click "Answer". I've got a usb headset with decent speaker-drivers so I can listen to music while I work and switch between Lync/Hangout calls easily.
That's actually good. But the issue I was highlighting was about making calls. Not that Hangouts cannot make a phone call - it's just that I don't want to remember all the numbers of my contacts.