OBiTALK Community

General Support => Day-to-Day Use => Topic started by: MMark on November 01, 2017, 07:53:57 PM

Title: No incoming calls on OBI200
Post by: MMark on November 01, 2017, 07:53:57 PM
I've had OBI200 with Google Voice for about a year. Several months ago incoming calls stopped ringing. When I power cycle the unit it starts working but only for few minutes. I tried to delete the Google Chat in GV per instructions but immediately reappears. Any help would be appreciated. The lights are green and steady and outgoing calls are fine.

Michael
Title: Re: No incoming calls on OBI200
Post by: SteveInWA on November 01, 2017, 08:02:02 PM
There are a gazillion posts about this issue on this forum.  See any of the discussions with "Backing Off" in them.

This is a back-end bug that Obihai needs to fix.  There is nothing wrong with your device, and nothing you can do to fix it yourself.
Title: Re: No incoming calls on OBI200
Post by: MMark on November 01, 2017, 08:18:24 PM
I did but I don't see error messages that others are reporting. The lights are fine. Couldn't find a similar case - could you point me to a solution if there's one?
Thanks!

Michael
Title: Re: No incoming calls on OBI200
Post by: SteveInWA on November 01, 2017, 08:28:14 PM
I see.  Well, let's try to troubleshoot it, then.

Log onto the Google/Gmail account that holds your Google Voice number, and go to the Settings page.  Do you see your inbound Google Voice number displayed?  If not, then either you are looking at the wrong Google account, or your number was reclaimed (taken back by Google for lack of use).

If you see the number, then continue.  If not, then stop and reply.

Leaving that web browser tab open to your Google Voice settings page, press Ctrl-T to open a new browser tab.  Sign into your OBiTALK account and look at your device (expand it if necessary, to see the status of the service providers).  If you have a working Google Voice connection, it should show "Connected" status.  Does it?  If not, stop and reply.

If anything other than "Connected" status, then click the SPx and, on the next page, click the link to re-authorize your OBi to your Google account.  When doing this, you must make sure to examine the Gmail address it displays during the authentication procedure, and confirm that it is the same as the Gmail address shown in your other browser tab, with the GV number.

Did that work?
Title: Re: No incoming calls on OBI200
Post by: MMark on November 01, 2017, 08:39:19 PM
Everything seems in order and it says Connected on SP1.

Michael
Title: Re: No incoming calls on OBI200
Post by: SteveInWA on November 01, 2017, 09:08:18 PM
So, by "seems in order", do you mean that you saw your inbound Google Voice phone number on the Google Voice settings page?  If so, what happens when you call that number from some other phone (not from Google Hangouts, and not from any other Google account)?  It should ring for about 25 seconds before going to Google Voice's voicemail, and then you should be able to leave a message. 

If you don't already have a regular 10-digit forwarding phone number on your Google Voice configuration, add one now, verify it, and confirm that it rings when you call the GV inbound number.

Confirm that you have a check mark to the left of Google Chat on this page:  https://www.google.com/voice/redirection/voice#phones (https://www.google.com/voice/redirection/voice#phones)
Title: Re: No incoming calls on OBI200
Post by: MMark on November 02, 2017, 05:04:21 AM
Please see my answers below:

Quote from: SteveInWA on November 01, 2017, 09:08:18 PM
So, by "seems in order", do you mean that you saw your inbound Google Voice phone number on the Google Voice settings page? 
YES
If so, what happens when you call that number from some other phone (not from Google Hangouts, and not from any other Google account)?  It should ring for about 25 seconds before going to Google Voice's voicemail, and then you should be able to leave a message. 
CORRECT. Note that when I powercycle OBI the first call gets through.

If you don't already have a regular 10-digit forwarding phone number on your Google Voice configuration, add one now, verify it, and confirm that it rings when you call the GV inbound number.

Confirm that you have a check mark to the left of Google Chat on this page:  https://www.google.com/voice/redirection/voice#phones (https://www.google.com/voice/redirection/voice#phones)
I do have the checkmark. Interestingly, when I delete GoogleChat it immediately reappears which didn't happen say 6 months ago. They must have changed something in GV. I tried logging out of Hangouts but it's irrelevant.
Something must have changed either in the firmware or GV.

Title: Re: No incoming calls on OBI200
Post by: SteveInWA on November 02, 2017, 05:48:51 PM
Quote from: MMark on November 02, 2017, 05:04:21 AM
Please see my answers below:

Quote from: SteveInWA on November 01, 2017, 09:08:18 PM
So, by "seems in order", do you mean that you saw your inbound Google Voice phone number on the Google Voice settings page? 
YES
If so, what happens when you call that number from some other phone (not from Google Hangouts, and not from any other Google account)?  It should ring for about 25 seconds before going to Google Voice's voicemail, and then you should be able to leave a message. 
CORRECT. Note that when I powercycle OBI the first call gets through.

If you don't already have a regular 10-digit forwarding phone number on your Google Voice configuration, add one now, verify it, and confirm that it rings when you call the GV inbound number.

Confirm that you have a check mark to the left of Google Chat on this page:  https://www.google.com/voice/redirection/voice#phones (https://www.google.com/voice/redirection/voice#phones)
I do have the checkmark. Interestingly, when I delete GoogleChat it immediately reappears which didn't happen say 6 months ago. They must have changed something in GV. I tried logging out of Hangouts but it's irrelevant.
Something must have changed either in the firmware or GV.


Hangouts has nothing to do with this.  It operates independently of Chat/XMPP.

Firmware level has nothing to do with this.

Deleting the "Google Chat" forwarding destination doesn't do anything.

You didn't perform the test I requested:  forget about the OBi for a moment.  Add and verify a 10-digit US telephone number as a linked/forwarding number.  Make several calls to your inbound GV number, from several different telephone carriers (e.g. a land line carrier and a mobile carrier), and confirm that they always ring the forwarding phone number.
Title: Re: No incoming calls on OBI200
Post by: MMark on November 02, 2017, 08:04:05 PM
I see. To add an entirely different number. Let me try it and I will get back to you.
Thanks!

M
Title: Re: No incoming calls on OBI200
Post by: MMark on November 02, 2017, 08:27:30 PM
I added a US number in addition to Google chat and both my GV number and this number ring when GV number is called. When I uncheck the US number and call GV it says that GV is not available and asks to leave a message.
Title: Re: No incoming calls on OBI200
Post by: SteveInWA on November 02, 2017, 08:29:00 PM
Well then, it's working.
Title: Re: No incoming calls on OBI200
Post by: MMark on November 02, 2017, 08:32:34 PM
I'm not sure why do I need this second number to be there. All I need is for the GV number to ring the phone attached to OBI.
Title: Re: No incoming calls on OBI200
Post by: SteveInWA on November 02, 2017, 09:29:52 PM
I asked you to add a linked telephone number so we could test inbound calling to your Google Voice number, subsequently forwarding to a linked number.

Google Voice is not a free VoIP trunk.  It's a comprehensive inbound call, text and voicemail management system.  OBi devices act as Google Chat XMPP clients.  When someone calls your inbound Google Voice phone number, Google Voice forwards the call to your list of check-marked forwarding destinations, which can be up to six regular telephone numbers, and/or to Chat, and to any Hangouts clients that are set to ring on inbound calls.

Given that it is working now, you can remove the check mark from your 10-digit phone number.  I recommend leaving it on your account, as it is the only way to record a voicemail greeting, and to access your voicemail messages over the phone.
Title: Re: No incoming calls on OBI200
Post by: MMark on November 03, 2017, 04:42:59 AM
I tested it again this morning and it's not working even with the other phone checked. By not working I mean that the other phone rings but not the GV phone attached to OBI. It's a similar pattern - it works once and then stops. Same will happen if I power cycle the unit. Possibly after some idle time it goes into hibernation.
Title: Re: No incoming calls on OBI200
Post by: MMark on November 05, 2017, 05:24:31 PM
Here's the latest: I powered down and up the OBI unit, added a 10 digit phone to GV forwarding and both phones rang on incoming calls. I then uncheked the second phone in GV "transfer" setup and nothing rang. So I checked it back and disabled just ringing leaving it checked. The GV phone worked so far on incoming calls, we'll see what happens tomorrow.
Title: Re: No incoming calls on OBI200
Post by: MMark on November 15, 2017, 05:58:08 PM
This problem hasn't been resolved yet. Calls on SP1 are not ringing. I've setup an entirely new number on SP2 and it's working just fine for both incoming and outgoing calls. Steve, any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks!

Michael
Title: Re: No incoming calls on OBI200
Post by: SteveInWA on November 15, 2017, 06:14:21 PM
I'm sorry, but I don't understand what you're doing with your configuration on both the Google Voice and OBiTALK portals.  I'm not going to try to diagnose it further.

At this point, I'd recommend that you give up on Google Voice, and instead sign up for a phone number with a SIP VoIP service provider, or port your Google Voice number to that provider.  Callcentric, voip.ms or Anveo should suit your needs, and each one has a pre-built configuration template on the OBiTALK portal, under the "OBiTALK compatible service providers" section.

For example, Callcentric will port in numbers for free, and their choices of monthly rate plans include E911 service and caller ID name service, and free voicemail.
Title: Re: No incoming calls on OBI200
Post by: MMark on November 15, 2017, 06:30:48 PM
I had a simple Obi200/GV setup that stopped working for some reason on incoming calls. I have no idea why. I thought it's the phone or the router but getting a new phone # on a new Gmail acct and adding it to SP2 is working perfectly and calls get through on that second #.
Where else to look?
One clue is that when I delete Google Chat it immediately reappears. Very different from what it used to be.
Title: Re: No incoming calls on OBI200
Post by: LTN1 on November 15, 2017, 09:22:26 PM
Quote from: MMark on November 15, 2017, 06:30:48 PM
I had a simple Obi200/GV setup that stopped working for some reason on incoming calls. I have no idea why. I thought it's the phone or the router but getting a new phone # on a new Gmail acct and adding it to SP2 is working perfectly and calls get through on that second #.
Where else to look?
One clue is that when I delete Google Chat it immediately reappears. Very different from what it used to be.

There is a high probability of user error with the first GV setup--likely done after usage. Obviously, when you set up a new GV account on SP2, it works fine. Why? Because it hasn't yet been tampered by user error.
Title: Re: No incoming calls on OBI200
Post by: MMark on November 16, 2017, 05:07:23 PM
I'm not sure what the user error means... I tried factory reset, etc. I now switched SP1 and SP2 accounts, let's see what happens.
Title: Re: No incoming calls on OBI200
Post by: MMark on November 27, 2017, 06:08:56 PM
It's working now, entirely my fault. Here's what happened: Earlier this year I subscribed to Simonics GVGW and it was working fine for a few months with my OB200. Then something had happened and incoming calls stopped coming through. I subsequently deleted SP1 in the OBI dashboard and connected it directly to GV. But I forgot to deactivate my account on Simonics website which, I believe, keeps taking over incoming calls, right?
Regardless, I reconnected SP1 to Simonics and it works fine now.
Title: Re: No incoming calls on OBI200
Post by: FL_Kent on January 21, 2018, 09:03:11 AM
Many thanks to SteveInWA for the clear troubleshooting tips and explanations.

I've had a GV number for years, but stopped using it because I had a landline. Now, I'm moving to a home with an inexpensive 100/100mbps Internet connection ($30/month via FIOS Frontier) so I can ditch phone and cable TV services... saving me about $120 a month. (-:

I just received my OBi200 ($50 @ NewEgg) and it was Plug N Play... with glitches that I knew were in my config. I could immediately call OUT using my old landline Panasonic handset, but no calls would come IN. It was Steve's explanation that GV is just a service that *forwards* calls to other numbers, Google Chat and Hangouts that fixed my problem. All I had to do was check the "Forward calls to Google Chat" on https://www.google.com/voice/redirection/voice#phones (https://www.google.com/voice/redirection/voice#phones) and it worked. Thanks Steve! I added a screenshot here <img src='https://i.imgur.com/UrsfHL2.jpg' />

There's one more GV glitch, totally NOT Obi related, but maybe someone will have ideas for me: I can't pick up GV incoming calls from my desktop, nor can GV "see" (in the dropdown mic/speaker select box) the Logitech mic/camera I have, or my speakers. I've checked the "dumb stuff", i.e. camera functioning, speakers not muted, but can't pick up calls on my desktop.

If I call my GV from another phone, the OBI Panasonic starts ringing, while simultaneously a popup window announces a call on my desktop, AND I hear that ringing through my speakers.

But clicking the green answer tab doesn't connect the call to mic/speakers. But it DOES stop the Obi Panasonic from ringing (which I assume means that Obi/GV detects that the call was answered on another GV forwarded line).

Any ideas on why GV would ring audibly on my desktop but I can't connect to the call by clicking Answer?

Thanks for your help!
Title: Re: No incoming calls on OBI200
Post by: SteveInWA on January 21, 2018, 07:52:21 PM
Hey, thanks for the kind words!  It offsets the jerks' comments.

When you are using a laptop or desktop computer with mic/speakers or a headset, you aren't actually using Google Voice; you're using Google Hangouts.  Hangouts is the VoIP service, not GV.

There is currently a yet-unresolved issue that is causing some users' calls to disconnect at around 20 seconds, but that's not your issue.

Hangouts is pretty primitive with regard to using audio devices.  It typically will only use whatever your computer has set as the default audio devices.  So, if this is a Windows PC, go into settings, and make sure that your desired Logitech mic/camera is set as the default audio for everything (both playback and recording).  Open Hangouts:  https://hangouts.google.com/ (https://hangouts.google.com/) and make a call.  You can only adjust the audio in Hangouts when it is on a call, vs. sitting idle.

Click the gear icon in the upper right of the call window, when you are on a call, to get to the audio settings, and make sure they are the same as your default audio devices.

Some users still can't get any audio after doing this, and it's very difficult to troubleshoot, because there's not much you can change to force Hangouts to cooperate with Windows' audio drivers.

The only other setting you can check is when Hangouts is idle, waiting for you to call or text or chat, click the three horizontal bar "hamburger" menu icon in the upper left, scroll down and click Settings, and make sure there is a check mark next to the option to ring on inbound calls.