OBiTALK Community

General Support => Day-to-Day Use => Topic started by: Sotosobi on October 19, 2015, 07:02:56 AM

Title: GV/Hangouts (android) to GV (obi) call
Post by: Sotosobi on October 19, 2015, 07:02:56 AM
Dear friends,
since the OBION app is not working well anymore on android, i am looking for a solution to call in to my obi from outside the house.

I am looking into solutions.

One thing that works is to have a new account on gmail and call them GV NUMBER of my OBI from the Hangouts dialer.  This works well. However, I cannot call via hangouts directly the gmail account associated with the OBI.  It appears that is ringing but is actually not doing anything. I made sure that no other app/android/PC is logged in to the account used by the OBI.

Am I doing something wrong?
Title: Re: GV/Hangouts (android) to GV (obi) call
Post by: SteveInWA on October 19, 2015, 08:38:16 AM
Don't post the same question in multiple places.

There are two different ways to "call" somebody using Hangouts.  You can have a direct Hangouts<-->Hangouts chat, which does not use the telephone network, or you can use Hangouts to call a telephone number (that may or may not be a Google Voice number, or just some regular telephone number).

OBi devices are not Hangouts clients.  You cannot make a Hangouts-to-Hangouts chat to an OBi; you need to dial a telephone number.  If that number happens to be assigned to a Google Voice account that is set up on an OBi, the OBi-attached telephone will ring, just like any othe telephone call.

Make sure you are using the "call phone" function in Hangouts -- the little telephone handset icon.  Try calling some other telephone number, like a cell phone, and see what happens.  Does it work?  What, exactly, happens when you call the GV number assigned to the OBi?  What do you hear on Hangouts, as the person making the call?  Does it ring, or do you get an error, or what?

Note that, when the Hangouts client is logged into a Gmail account that does not have its own Google Voice telephone number assigned, the caller ID you are sending to the other party will be "unknown".  If you are blocking anonymous callers on the receiving end, you won't receive the call.
Title: Re: GV/Hangouts (android) to GV (obi) call
Post by: Sotosobi on October 19, 2015, 09:06:36 AM
steve,

thanks for the reply and apologies for the duplicate.   If you want i can delete that message.
Your post is the first to clarify this issue for me and I have spent more than 5 days looking into the forums.  (There are several posts that suggest this is possible at least to my interpretation of what the authors say)
I only replied to azrobert in that thread because i saw some relevance. 

This OBI devices are really powerful but at the same time somewhat confusing.  Also there is lots of terminology that has sufficient differences in operation (hangouts, GV, Gchat etc, Google Talk etc)...

Now back to the problem/issue:
I confirm that if i call from hangouts dialer the number assigned to my obi (via GV) it works. but this solution depends on google continuing the policy of free US calls... hence why i was looking for another alternative to emulate the obion android app functionality.

Since you appear to be well versed in this world, why has obihai seized support of obion android? and why the web rtc does not work with OBi110?

Thanks again for your time and attention to the above and again my apologies for the duplication...

Title: Re: GV/Hangouts (android) to GV (obi) call
Post by: SteveInWA on October 19, 2015, 09:36:03 AM
Quote from: Sotosobi on October 19, 2015, 09:06:36 AM
steve,

thanks for the reply and apologies for the duplicate.   If you want i can delete that message.
Your post is the first to clarify this issue for me and I have spent more than 5 days looking into the forums.  (There are several posts that suggest this is possible at least to my interpretation of what the authors say)
I only replied to azrobert in that thread because i saw some relevance. 

It doesn't matter; you can delete those posts if you wish, as long as you continue your discussion here; thanks.

Quote
Now back to the problem/issue:
I confirm that if i call from hangouts dialer the number assigned to my obi (via GV) it works. but this solution depends on google continuing the policy of free US calls... hence why i was looking for another alternative to emulate the obion android app functionality.

I wouldn't worry about Google discontinuing free calls to the US.  Years ago, it was a temporary promotion that expired at the end of a given year.  When Hangouts calling was introduced, Google dropped the temporary promotion and just made it as "permanent" as anything else these days.

Quote
Since you appear to be well versed in this world, why has obihai seized support of obion android? and why the web rtc does not work with OBi110?

I don't work for Obihai, so I can only guess:  it's a small company, with a small engineering staff.  They focus their efforts on where the money is:  building hardware for the VoIP marketplace.  They'd have to pay an Android developer to maintain and improve their mobile app, which has become less-than-essential, now that other options are available.

The OBi 1xx series uses an older, less-powerful System On a Chip (SoC) and (I am guessing) it probably has less RAM and/or flash storage, so it simply isn't capable of adding more functions that depend on web technology.  It's very inexpensive for Obihai to keep manufacturing more of them, as long as people buy them, but don't expect any new features to be supported in the 1xx product line.
Title: Re: GV/Hangouts (android) to GV (obi) call
Post by: Sotosobi on October 20, 2015, 01:50:07 AM
Quote from: SteveInWA on October 19, 2015, 09:36:03 AM

Quote
Since you appear to be well versed in this world, why has obihai seized support of obion android? and why the web rtc does not work with OBi110?

I don't work for Obihai, so I can only guess:  it's a small company, with a small engineering staff.  They focus their efforts on where the money is:  building hardware for the VoIP marketplace.  They'd have to pay an Android developer to maintain and improve their mobile app, which has become less-than-essential, now that other options are available.

The OBi 1xx series uses an older, less-powerful System On a Chip (SoC) and (I am guessing) it probably has less RAM and/or flash storage, so it simply isn't capable of adding more functions that depend on web technology.  It's very inexpensive for Obihai to keep manufacturing more of them, as long as people buy them, but don't expect any new features to be supported in the 1xx product line.

I see, but at the same time there is a large install base of OBi 1xx.  Have they not considered making OBIOn open source?  I understand there are bugs with the app, but it appears that most people have problems because it has not been compiled with the new versions of android libraries.

Thanks again...these devices are really powerful and intriguing. But I feel like I need a PhD to operate them :-) (I already have one and it was painful!)
Title: Re: GV/Hangouts (android) to GV (obi) call
Post by: LTN1 on October 20, 2015, 07:13:54 AM
Quote from: Sotosobi on October 20, 2015, 01:50:07 AM

Thanks again...these devices are really powerful and intriguing. But I feel like I need a PhD to operate them :-) (I already have one and it was painful!)


Sometimes the people that find it the most difficult to use OBi devices are those who are technology professionals (at least they claim to be that). I suspect that some PhDs may find that to be true also--not because of a lack of intelligence (obviously they have lots) but it tends to be either a generational and/or a mindset issue.

Contributors like Steve, AZRobert and a few others on this forum have the unique ability/gift to think and practice more complex technology while being able to translate that into understandable language for many of us.
Title: Re: GV/Hangouts (android) to GV (obi) call
Post by: Sotosobi on October 20, 2015, 12:37:10 PM
Quote from: LTN1 on October 20, 2015, 07:13:54 AM
Quote from: Sotosobi on October 20, 2015, 01:50:07 AM

Thanks again...these devices are really powerful and intriguing. But I feel like I need a PhD to operate them :-) (I already have one and it was painful!)


Sometimes the people that find it the most difficult to use OBi devices are those who are technology professionals (at least they claim to be that). I suspect that some PhDs may find that to be true also--not because of a lack of intelligence (obviously they have lots) but it tends to be either a generational and/or a mindset issue.

Contributors like Steve, AZRobert and a few others on this forum have the unique ability/gift to think and practice more complex technology while being able to translate that into understandable language for many of us.

I cant speak about other PhD but about myself, an electrical engineer. I am not a technology professional.  I know technology / computers enough to do my job and understand how things work.

Overall I am disappointed with the reliability of today's modern (information-based) technology.  Take for example how unreliable DSL is. It often goes out of service etc.  Can you image if we had similar unreliability in electricity?  Of course we had such epoch in the early days of electricity, so thinking that internet, smartphones, software, and computers are so young (in age) and cheap, I guess we need years till we reach solid reliable and affordable technology. 

Considering obihai devices, they do, what say 90% of people need, in an easy fashion (e.g., loading a SIP provider or GV on the device).  Going beyond, the next 10%, is where you need expert knowledge, which is gladly given by experts here in the forum.  I would prefer to read an expert manual rather than digging into forums and finding the proper threads but that is another discussion. I am really glad people like steve and others exist.

At the same time, I have to voice my concern about the lack of (after sales) support by Obi on their system(s).  if they decided not to support Obion, they could have send an email saying sorry we seize future support, and here are some alternatives based on your device.  And if they cant offer an alternative (even paid for Obi 1xx devices) they could have offered a deal to say return your old obi and get a new one at XX% etc...

Maybe its me, but I am tired of having to navigate forums for everything and find out information. I spend on average 5 days a month trying to debug a problem we are facing in the household.  Others like it (they call it a hobby); personally, I prefer to do something else.
Title: Re: GV/Hangouts (android) to GV (obi) call
Post by: LTN1 on October 20, 2015, 02:41:42 PM
While this manual will not solve all the OBi issues, it will provide a resource: http://obihai.com/docs/OBiDeviceAdminGuide.pdf