IP phone endpoint

[david@kirk.net]

I would really appreciate the ability to add ip phones to my Obi as endpoints, just like my Android, iPhone or PC.  I would really like to have a few ip phones scattered around the house and easily configured with Obi. I've read the few forum messages about adding an ip phone but it's not easy to follow nor does it appear to be officially sanctioned.  Maybe just an official "howto" document would suffice with some firmware tweaks?

[TimDan]

I would really appreciate the ability to add ip phones to my Obi as endpoints...

As a newbie, I can't see the advantage in using IP phones instead of analog phones.  Would they provide more functionality, convenience, lower price, or what?

TimDan

[RonR]

As a newbie, I can't see the advantage in using IP phones instead of analog phones.  Would they provide more functionality, convenience, lower price, or what?

Connecting an IP phone or analog phone + ATA to an OBi is a means of overcoming the limitation of the OBi only supporting one single-line telephone.  I have an analog telephone connected to the OBi PHONE Port and an analog telephone connected to a PAP2 ATA which is configured with the OBi.  Both can initiate and receive calls independently using the OBi's resources.

[Ostracus]

I would really appreciate the ability to add ip phones to my Obi as endpoints...

As a newbie, I can't see the advantage in using IP phones instead of analog phones.  Would they provide more functionality, convenience, lower price, or what?

TimDan

Yes, yes, maybe. The one thing the analog setup has is power from the Telco as well as generally greater reliability when it comes to availability. Someone invested in a complete IP setup could mitigate some of the disadvantages by using a UPS and PoE although the provider isn't something most can do anything about. Maybe a cellular backup?

[TimDan]

As a newbie, I can't see the advantage in using IP phones instead of analog phones.  Would they provide more functionality, convenience, lower price, or what?

Connecting an IP phone or analog phone + ATA to an OBi is a means of overcoming the limitation of the OBi only supporting one single-line telephone.  I have an analog telephone connected to the OBi PHONE Port and an analog telephone connected to a PAP2 ATA which is configured with the OBi.  Both can initiate and receive calls independently using the OBi's resources.

Hmmm...  Do you mean "an ATA plus either an IP phone or an analog phone", or do you mean
"an IP phone alone or an ATA plus an analog phone"?  Where would you connect an IP phone on the OBi110?

TimDan

[RonR]

Hmmm...  Do you mean "an ATA plus either an IP phone or an analog phone", or do you mean
"an IP phone alone or an ATA plus an analog phone"?  Where would you connect an IP phone on the OBi110?

An ATA (Analog Telephone Adapter) is meant to allow a regular analog telephone to be used with a SIP provider.  An IP Phone is basically a telephone with an ATA as an integral part of it.  Both typically connect to an Ethernet network and communicate via IP.

Either can be used as an outboard/additional telephone to an OBi.

[TimDan]

Hmmm...  Do you mean "an ATA plus either an IP phone or an analog phone", or do you mean
"an IP phone alone or an ATA plus an analog phone"?  Where would you connect an IP phone on the OBi110?

An ATA (Analog Telephone Adapter) is meant to allow a regular analog telephone to be used with a SIP provider.  An IP Phone is basically a telephone with an ATA as an integral part of it.  Both typically connect to an Ethernet network and communicate via IP.

Either can be used as an outboard/additional telephone to an OBi.

OK, I get that an IP phone is, in effect, an analog phone with a built-in ATA adapter to allow SIP communication (and possibly power) over an ethernet line.  That implies an RJ45 plug at the end of the ethernete line.  Where would the jack be for that plug on an Obi device?

TimDan

[RonR]

Where would the jack be for that plug on an Obi device?

Your router should have four Ethernet ports for LAN devices.  You would plug an IP phone or ATA into one of those Ethernet ports.  If you've used up all four ports, you can expand with an Ethernet switch.

[TimDan]

Where would the jack be for that plug on an Obi device?

Your router should have four Ethernet ports for LAN devices.  You would plug an IP phone or ATA into one of those Ethernet ports.  If you've used up all four ports, you can expand with an Ethernet switch.

OK, the IP phone would connect directly to a port on the router and speak SIP with the VoIP service, and it wouldn't connect at all to the Obi device (e.g. OBi110).  This would add a 2nd phone that could be used concurrently with the analog one connected to the OBi110.  I'm still puzzled, though, by your previous statement:
"Connecting an IP phone or analog phone + ATA to an OBi is a means of overcoming the limitation of the OBi only supporting one single-line telephone."

TimDan

[RonR]

OK, the IP phone would connect directly to a port on the router and speak SIP with the VoIP service, and it wouldn't connect at all to the Obi device (e.g. OBi110).  This would add a 2nd phone that could be used concurrently with the analog one connected to the OBi110.

That's it.

I'm still puzzled, though, by your previous statement:
"Connecting an IP phone or analog phone + ATA to an OBi is a means of overcoming the limitation of the OBi only supporting one single-line telephone."

An OBi only has one PHONE Port jack on the back.  You can only connect a single-line telephone to it.

What's the mystery?   

[TimDan]

OK, the IP phone would connect directly to a port on the router and speak SIP with the VoIP service, and it wouldn't connect at all to the Obi device (e.g. OBi110).  This would add a 2nd phone that could be used concurrently with the analog one connected to the OBi110.

That's it.

I'm still puzzled, though, by your previous statement:
"Connecting an IP phone or analog phone + ATA to an OBi is a means of overcoming the limitation of the OBi only supporting one single-line telephone."

An OBi only has one PHONE Port jack on the back.  You can only connect a single-line telephone to it.

What's the mystery?   

The implied problem you posed was "How to connect a 2nd phone line to an OBi110 when a phone is already connected to the PHONE port of the OBi."
The solution you present most recently is to either "Connect an IP phone to the router" or "Connect a phone/ATA pair to the router".
But your originally stated solution (see above) was to either "Connect an IP phone to the OBi" or "Connect a phone/ATA pair to the OBi".
Maybe you meant either "Connect an IP phone to the 2nd ethernet port of an OBi202" or "Connect a phone/ATA pair to the 2nd ethernet port of an OBi202"?

TimDan

[Stewart]

A SIP IP phone (or an analog phone + a SIP ATA) can be connected to your LAN, e.g. to an available port on your router.  It could access SIP services (Callcentric, VoIP.ms, many others) directly and wouldn't need the OBi at all.  However, you can also configure the system so the OBi acts as a VoIP bridge, making its services available to the IP phone.  IP phones cannot directly access Google Voice or OBiTALK, so using the OBi to relay calls is useful.  Most IP phones cannot connect directly to a landline; an OBi would allow use with landline calls.

I hope that the above is sufficiently clear.  If not, please describe your proposed setup in detail.

[TimDan]

A SIP IP phone (or an analog phone + a SIP ATA) can be connected to your LAN, e.g. to an available port on your router.  It could access SIP services (Callcentric, VoIP.ms, many others) directly and wouldn't need the OBi at all.  However, you can also configure the system so the OBi acts as a VoIP bridge, making its services available to the IP phone.  IP phones cannot directly access Google Voice or OBiTALK, so using the OBi to relay calls is useful.  Most IP phones cannot connect directly to a landline; an OBi would allow use with landline calls.

I hope that the above is sufficiently clear.  If not, please describe your proposed setup in detail.

OK, that clears it up.  In regards to adding a 2nd analog phone/ATA pair, I had interpreted RonR's phrase "configured with the Obi" to mean "connected to the Obi".

Right now, I have no proposed setup, but my goal is to drastically drop my phone bill and to try out a few VoIP services to see which one - or combination of ones - will give me sufficient reliability and low cost for outgoing calls while maintaining one landline (which I've switched to Measured Rate service at your suggestion) for 911/incoming calls/FAX/immunity to local power outages.  For the duration of 2012, of course, Google Voice will give the lowest monthly service cost (i.e. zero), but I want to test its service as well as a couple others (2 services at a time) in preparation for the transition of Google Voice to a paid service.  I'm also holding up my purchase of an Obi device to see what functionality the OBi202 provides.  (I once had 3 concurrent internet services, so this experimentation and concern about backup is typical of me.)

TimDan

[BobTeatow]

Yeah, that would be nice - then I could have used one OBI device and re-used my old Sipura adapters.

But seems that part of OBIhai's business plan is to sell one OBI device per phone 

Indeed, I bought a second OBi device ...