OBiTALK Community

General Support => Day-to-Day Use => Topic started by: SG.. on November 12, 2017, 05:49:18 PM

Title: obi200 CallerId from google voice stopped working after firmware upgrade
Post by: SG.. on November 12, 2017, 05:49:18 PM
Noticed my caller id (the extra info, i.e. the name) stopped working a week or two ago.  The number still comes through fine.

I've searched around here and don't see any info directly related to caller id not working with google voice after the firmware upgrade.  I didn't even know I took a firmware upgrade until I saw some related info here but I checked the firmware version and it is now at "3.2.1 (Build: 5757EX)".  Up time is 9 days and change.  I assume that is when they pushed the firmware upgrade out to me and my caller id names stopped coming through from google voice.

I can see in the log they were coming through prior to 9 days ago.  As far as I know everything else (i.e. voice) it working fine like it always has.

Does anyone know how to get the caller id names from my google contacts to work again?
Title: Re: obi200 CallerId from google voice stopped working after firmware upgrade
Post by: drgeoff on November 13, 2017, 12:45:32 AM
Caller Name does not function with Google Voice unless you have OBiEXTRAS.  Were you on a free trial which has expired?
Title: Re: obi200 CallerId from google voice stopped working after firmware upgrade
Post by: SG.. on November 13, 2017, 04:15:57 AM
No.  I've never had extras.  I've had my obi200 since Dec. 2015 and the callerid name was always the name I had associated to my google contacts up until last week when those names stopped coming through.

To be completely clear, numbers that are not in my google contacts have no callerid name and never had.  I know there are third party (pay) services that will resolve most numbers to names but I accepted the (free) way it had been working as good enough.

Why would obiextras be related?  I thought the connection was made directly from google to my obi200.  That is just an assumption.
Title: Re: obi200 CallerId from google voice stopped working after firmware upgrade
Post by: drgeoff on November 13, 2017, 04:35:17 AM
Wait for SteveInWA to come on-line.  He is completely au-fait with GV.
Title: Re: obi200 CallerId from google voice stopped working after firmware upgrade
Post by: SG.. on November 13, 2017, 04:37:06 AM
Additional info: I looked at my obitalk account and I see the caller id stuff in obiextras.  I also see the ability to "import" google contacts "into" the device (at least that is what it said).

I have never used or even seen any of that functionality in the past.  The name in caller id would was just in the data stream and always reflected what was in my google contacts, pretty must instantaneously.

I screen capped two entries in my obi200's call log before and after the firmware upgrade.  Notice the name ("Steve Cell") is there before and not after, from the same number.
Title: Re: obi200 CallerId from google voice stopped working after firmware upgrade
Post by: drgeoff on November 13, 2017, 04:40:39 AM
Strange.  I mentioned OBiEXTRAS because the page promoting it, https://www.obitalk.com/obiextras, contains:

"Caller ID Name with Number

When you integrate Google Contacts with your OBi device, incoming calls from people in your Google Contacts directory will show their name and number on your phone's display."
Title: Re: obi200 CallerId from google voice stopped working after firmware upgrade
Post by: SG.. on November 13, 2017, 05:04:36 AM
Yeah, I saw that and found it strange-- that I never had to do anything on the portal and certainly no "import" and it just worked.

I am hoping Obi didn't take something away so they could charge for it.
Title: Re: obi200 CallerId from google voice stopped working after firmware upgrade
Post by: SteveInWA on November 13, 2017, 02:06:42 PM
Way back when OBiEXTRAs was being developed, there was a brief period of time when it was enabled for everyone.  That hole was closed, once the service went into full production.  What you are seeing is a remnant from that time period.

By the way, for the sake of clarity:  OBi ATAs require a OBiEXTRAs subscription to host your Google contacts.  OBi IP phones can import and store the contacts on the phone, at no charge.
Title: Re: obi200 CallerId from google voice stopped working after firmware upgrade
Post by: SG.. on November 14, 2017, 09:08:26 PM
So it is exactly what I thought.  I had a feature, from day one in December 2015.  They forced an upgrade November 2017.  I lost the feature.

This totally sucks.  It is a very nice feature but I don't believe it is worth $60 a year.

I am hoping that one day Google decides to do the part of this they are not doing today, like they do for their fiber service.
Title: Re: obi200 CallerId from google voice stopped working after firmware upgrade
Post by: SteveInWA on November 14, 2017, 09:25:36 PM
Um, no.  That is a completely inaccurate and misleading twisting of reality.

They were developing the firmware, to support a paid feature.  It wasn't in production.  They were testing it.  The feature was never intended to be made available for free.  They accidentally forgot to disable it in the production firmware.  It was later corrected.  At no time did Obihai ever intentionally offer this service for free.  You were essentially freeloading on a paid service.  Blaming Obihai for this is like the shoplifter complaining that the sack of potatoes he stole spoiled before he could eat them all.

Comparing it to Google Fiber phone service is a false equivalency.  Google Fiber Phone has a monthly fee.  It isn't free, like Google Voice.

You can get CNAM for free, either by detouring your inbound Google Voice calls through a free Callcentric NY phone number, or through the Simonics GVGW, as described in this forum for years.
Title: Re: obi200 CallerId from google voice stopped working after firmware upgrade
Post by: GPz1100 on November 14, 2017, 10:41:51 PM
Quote from: SG.. on November 14, 2017, 09:08:26 PM
So it is exactly what I thought.  I had a feature, from day one in December 2015.  They forced an upgrade November 2017.  I lost the feature.

This totally sucks.  It is a very nice feature but I don't believe it is worth $60 a year.

I am hoping that one day Google decides to do the part of this they are not doing today, like they do for their fiber service.

All the more reason to disable auto firmware updates.  I'm a firm believer of if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Often times firmware 'updates' introduce various changes.  Some of these features may be useful or bug fixes, others could be considered bugs themselves.  The end user/customer is the ultimate beta tester.

Review the change log carefully before deciding if upgrading is worth it.  Oh wait... There is no change log here.

Tl;dr Don't blindly update or accept automatic firmware updates.
Title: Re: obi200 CallerId from google voice stopped working after firmware upgrade
Post by: SG.. on November 18, 2017, 02:03:33 PM
Quote from: SteveInWA on November 14, 2017, 09:25:36 PM
They were developing the firmware, to support a paid feature.  It wasn't in production.  They were testing it.  The feature was never intended to be made available for free.  They accidentally forgot to disable it in the production firmware.  It was later corrected.  At no time did Obihai ever intentionally offer this service for free.  You were essentially freeloading on a paid service.  Blaming Obihai for this is like the shoplifter complaining that the sack of potatoes he stole spoiled before he could eat them all.

I did not "freeload," steal or shoplift anything.  Intentional or not, obihai was providing the service to me for free and now they are not.

If you put 2 trash bags out every week for 2 years and then one day your trash hauler stopped picking up one of them, then you called them and they told you that you have been on the one-bag-a-week plan all along and you should have never gotten that second bag picked up ever, would you be at all perturbed?  Then on top of that if you asked your neighbor about it and they accused you of stealing services from the trash hauler for all that time, would that bother you?

Your employer made a mistake and provided the service for free, or changed their mind and no longer want to provide it for free, whatever the case it does not matter.  I never stole anything.  I never took any money out of your pocket.