DISA, Call Relay, Remote Access

[eightminobi]

I tried to search (unsuccessfully) for an answer but I'm new to OBi and PBXs so I may not know the proper keywords for what I'm trying to do.

My setup:
   Vitelity provider with 2 lines
   OBi 202 with lines for each Vitelity DID
   Google Voice (1 account)

Everything works fine. However, I use a BlackBerry OS 6 (it's an older Curve model) [shielding head from tomato throwers] on Boost Mobile and don't have a way to access my Vitelity accounts using a BlackBerry softphone. I understand I have more options if I shift over to an Android or iPhone--but I'm not ready to do that quite yet.

What I would like to do is configure my OBi in such a way that I can call it using Line 1 and then make an outbound call using Line 2. In essence, I want to be able to make calls while away from my home that broadcast the Caller ID for Line 2.

I know there is a spoof card, but I don't want to use that service. I also realize that if I do have a softphone operating on my BlackBerry, then I should be able to just make outbound calls using the softphone.

But is there a way for me to use OBi, Vitelity, and/or Google Voice so make calls that actually originate from my home equipment? I read that this is a DISA feature (Vitelity called it a "relay" feature, but they did not know much about the features of OBi)...

Thank you!

[azrobert]

The OBi202 has a feature called the Auto Attendant. You would call one of the service providers defined on the OBi202. You will setup the OBi202 to route the call to the Auto attendant then the AA can place an outbound call using any of the service providers.

Voice Services -> SPx Service
Add following to the beginning of the X_InboundCallRoute:
{(1?8005551212):aa},

If your X_InboundCallRoute is currently ph use: {(1?8005551212):aa},{ph}
Change 8005551212 to the callerid of your Blackberry
Change SPx to the SP number of the service you want to call.

Voice Services -> Auto Attendant -> Primary Line: SP2 Service

Use OBi Expert to make the above changes

Call OBi202 with your Blackberry
You will be routed to the AA
Enter "2" for Make a New Call
Then enter a number followed by a #
The call will be routed to the primary line (SP2)

If you want to route the call to SP1 enter the number like this:
**118005551212

Edit:
You can test this function from the phone attached to the OBi202 without making any configuration changes. Dial **0 and you will be routed to the Auto Attendant.

[eightminobi]

Thank you! You are nothing short of a genius! I never would have thought the Auto Attendant could do that.

I will experiment with my OBi and try to get that feature working as you described. I might need to do that this weekend, but I'll give feedback either way. I think this is a fantastic feature, and if I can get it to work I will be ecstatic!

Thanks again,
Steve

[eightminobi]

Honestly, azrobert, you totally nailed this one. 

You know how you occasionally, in life, want to do something that should be easy but that no one can figure out or that no one offers? Well, I was starting to think that I'd NEVER be able to make calls to my valued clients so that my home-office business phone number shows up on their caller ID when I need to call them from the road, from a hotel, etc., because every time I asked anyone about it (even those who know something about phones) I got blank stares or bewildered looks.

But now that I can broadcast my business number when making calls from my cell phone through my OBi, I have to say it is one of the most THRILLING technical achievements I've experienced in the past decade!!!

Thank you SO MUCH for your excellent instructions, for taking the time to digest my question and understand what I was asking, and, most of all, for knowing the answer and taking the time to post it.

I am truly grateful.

Sincerely,
Steve

[drgeoff]

 I'm not wanting to devalue azrobert's contribution, nor to inflate the egos of the Obihai engineers who had the vision and expertise to bring the device into existence, but don't you think they deserve some credit too? 

[eightminobi]

Yes, of course, my sincerest apologies. I certainly meant also to acknowledge and thank all OBi engineers, product managers, program managers, marketers, vendors, and merchants; all people ever involved in making websites, banner ads, blog postings, forum contributions related to the OBi 202; all members of this forum who help edify this community--they all deserve credit. As do the inventors of the transistor, diodes, microchips and countless others (such as the early electronics pioneers, such as Edison and even Franklin). I also meant to thank other people involved, such as the personnel who help manufacture the product as well as the supply-chain experts who help distribute it--not leaving out the men and women who are on the boats on which the units were shipped, particularly the people who built, maintain, and navigate those boats; the port authorities that receive and process the imports; those who have created end-user documentation for the product whether in English or Chinese or Farsi; those who helped to teach the people who ultimately contributed to the OBi 202--such as kindergarten, high school, college and university teachers, gym coaches, band leaders, etc., and those who might have inspired along the way, such as actors, musicians, theater performers, scientists, businessmen--including priests, rabbis, The Pope, and other possible religious figures; and not to leave out the politicians, past and present, in the U.S. (where I am) who made and continue to make democracy and free-trade possible; and all who ever lived, breathed, and were somehow involved directly or indirectly in making the OBi 202 unit a reality. I certainly didn't mean to leave them any of them out.

However, azrobert is the one person who most directly helped me solve a problem. So he gets the lion's share of my gratitude.

Regards,
Steve

[SteveInWA]

Yes, of course, my sincerest apologies. I certainly meant also to acknowledge and thank all OBi engineers, product managers, program managers, marketers, vendors, and merchants; all people ever involved in making websites, banner ads, blog postings, forum contributions related to the OBi deserve; all members of this forum who help edify this community--they all deserve credit. As do the inventors of the transistor, diodes, microchips and countless others (such as the early electronics pioneers, such as Edison and even Franklin). I also meant to thank other people involved, such as the personnel who help manufacture the product as well as the supply-chain experts who help distribute it--not leaving out the men and women who are on the boats on which the units were shipped, particularly the people who built, maintain, and navigate those boats; the port authorities that receive and process the imports; those who have created end-user documentation for the product whether in English or Chinese or Farsi; those who helped to teach the people who ultimately contributed to the OBi--such as kindergarten, high school, college and university teachers, gym coaches, band leaders, etc., and those who might have inspired, such as actors, theater performers, scientists, businessmen--including priests, rabbis, The Pope, and other possible religious figures; and not to leave out the politicians, past and present, in the U.S. (where I am) who made and continue to make democracy and free-trade possible; and all who ever lived, breathed, and were somehow involved directly or indirectly in making the OBi unit a reality. I certainly didn't mean to leave them any of them out.

However, azrobert is the one person who most directly helped me solve a problem. So he gets the lion's share of my gratitude.

Regards,
Steve

+1!

[eightminobi]

Hello again,

I still love the Auto Attendant and "make a new call" feature. But something happened, and I don't understand what setting is wrong.

Everything works as it should--up to a point: I call my Obi, the AA answers when I call from my cell phone based on the X_InboundCallRoute I have programmed, I provide my AA password, then use option 2 to make a new call. I then use **3 to make a call from SP3. The target phone rings and the caller ID for SP3 appears on that phone. But when the person I called answers, I do not hear them and they tell me that the call dropped as soon as they picked up.

I've tried a few experiments calling different numbers and this behavior seems to be consistent.

Does anyone have any insight as to what's going on after the called party picks up? I suspect that one of my timeouts is set too low but I don't know which one... Then again, I might be on the wrong track entirely.

Kindly advise, and thank you again.

[azrobert]

Have you resolved this problem? If not, post which provider you are calling and which provider is defined on SP3.

[eightminobi]

No, I have not.

I think I understood your question: I am using Vitelity as the DID for my system; I'm also using a second Vitelity account as the outbound on SP3.

Does that help?

[azrobert]

You can have a problem like this when you have a mismatched codec on the inbound and outbound call. The inbound call is assigned a codec and then the outbound call is assigned a different codec.  If you are using Vitelity for both the inbound and outbound calls, I don't think you will have this problem. If you want to check the codecs anyway, do the following:

Log into OBi Expert
Click Status
Call into the AA
Click Call Status
This should show the 2 codecs (TX and RX) for the inbound call
Now start the outbound call
Repeat clicking Call Status until the codecs for the outbound call are displayed
All the codecs should be the same
If the call ends before the outbound codec is displayed, just make an outbound call from the phone port using the 2nd Vitelity line and click Call Status. This should assign the same codec as an outbound call from the AA.

This does work when you use a different outbound provider. Correct?

[eightminobi]

Wow, I realize how little I really understand about the OBi box...

I followed your steps and saw the call status. It reported on Terminal 1:

    Audio Codec   tx=G711U; rx=G711U

I then tried to make the outbound call by using option 2. As soon as the target phone picked up, the call disconnected. I was unable to obtain the codec from the new call. So I placed a call from the second Vitelity line and saw this on Terminal 2:

    Audio Codec   tx=G711U; rx=G711U

What's interesting is that I mistakenly pressed option 3 (call back) at one point, then I decided to do the following: I called my AA from my cell phone, used Option 3, specified my cell phone number, and hung up. When the OBi called back, I used option 2 to place a new call and then used **3 to specify that the new call should be made using SP3's caller ID. I then specified the destination number, and everything worked!

When things do not work, what I am doing is this: I called my AA from my cell phone, used Option 2, used **3 to specify that the new call should be made using SP3's caller ID. I then specify the same destination number I used in the working example from the previous paragraph, and the call disconnects as soon as the destination number answers. There is no lag or anything--the callee answers and the line instantly drops.

[azrobert]

The codecs look good. The only other suggestion I have is to make sure you're at the current firmware level.

You can make the callback function easier by having the OBi call you back without entering your number.

Change the inbound route to:
{(1?8005551212):aa($1)}

$1 is a variable containing the inbound callerid.

You can also hard code the number:
{(1?8005551212):aa(18005551212)}

Now call the OBi.
Let it ring once and hang up.
The OBi will call you back.
If you let it ring until the AA answers, it will work as previously.

[azrobert]

Is GV your AA primary line?
What happens if you setup GV to route the call to the AA and then call the GV number with your mobile?

[eightminobi]

Yes, Google Voice (GV) is my SP1 device. I didn't mention it because I am calling a DID that is serviced by Vitelity on SP2 and I'm making an outbound call using the AA on SP3 (also serviced by a second account with Vitelity). I must admit that I don't understand why GV on SP1 would affect the "make a new call" feature but clearly you are onto something....

I think what you are asking me to do is to have GV forward to my AA when it sees the caller iD of my cell phone. I will try that and will get back to you.

[azrobert]

Maybe the callback works because you are using GV for one leg of the call. If GV is used for the callback, you would see the GV callerid when the AA calls you back. I don't know why using Vitelity on both legs of the call would cause a problem. Does Vitelity have a call log that would show the reason the call was dropped?

Edit:
You can check the OBi call history for any errors.
To access Call History:
Log directly into the OBi using the local interface.
Key the IP address of the OBi into a Web Browser.
Hit Enter
The UserID and default Password are both "admin".
Click Status on the left column then click Call History.

[eightminobi]

Well things are really weird, then, because I do not see the GV caller ID when the AA calls me back--I see the caller ID for SP2. So I guess Vitelity is involved in the successful callback phone call...

I will look at logs later today after work. And if I need to get Vitelity involved, I'll open a support ticket. They've been helpful in general so I hope they will be in this case too.

Thank you. I'll keep you posted here.

[ByronMurdock]

Those who have created end-user documentation for the product whether in English or Chinese or Farsi; those who helped to teach the people who ultimately contributed to the OBi 202-such as kindergarten, high school, college and university teachers, gym coaches, band leaders, etc., and those who might have inspired along the way, such as actors, musicians, theater performers, scientists, businessmen--including priests, rabbis, The Pope, write my term paper and other possible religious figures; and not to leave out the politicians, past and present, in the U.S. (where I am) who made and continue to make democracy and free-trade possible; and all who ever lived, breathed, and were somehow involved directly or indirectly in making the OBi 202 unit a reality.

The professors at the college I attend say it is incredible how many better grades undergraduates forfeit simply because they do not seem to be able to read (and follow) assignment and test directions. Many involved willing people in colleges and high schools.