Newbie Questions
CFoote:
Hi Everyone,
A current frustrated MagicJack user here - MJ works OK, but for business calls it is frustrating to use since MJ cuts off calls after ~1 hour or so.
Anyway, I am on the hunt for a new VOIP provider and heard about Obi and how people love it.
I heard Google Voice will be retired and Hangouts will be taking its place? Is that still happening and will that affect Obi at all?
What is the typical configuration that Obi users are setting up - Google Voice for incoming/outgoing calls and CallCentric or Anveo for 911?
I was looking at Callcentric for plans but it looks like you need both a incoming and outgoing plan, which raises the price quite a bit.
Chris
TonyTib:
I'd recommend getting a Obi 200 or Obi 202, since more service provider slots is good. I have an Obi 202, with all 4 slots filled. In my opinion, the Obi is a good mix of fairly easy setup (harder than Ooma, but still pretty easy) and flexibility (much more flexible than Ooma and such).
GV is not going away; it just requires a different (OAuth) authentication method, which is easy to do if your Obi is up to date. On newer Obi units you can also use Ring.to for free voice calls; opinions on ring.to vary.
If all you want is E911, Anveo is pretty cheap at $0.75/month IIRC, but you have to put in $20 at a time. I had Anveo for several years for a DID (incoming number) and E911. Their pricing for unlimited person DID is pretty good, but you don't get CNAM (Caller ID name lookup).
IIRC Callcentric has free DIDs in certain area codes, and it's popular service for Obi users.
VoIP.ms is another popular service provider.
I ended up dropping Anveo since I have 2 other E911/911 providers and ported my Anveo DID to Ring.to (the porting was free and quick). My Obi doesn't support Ring.to, but I've had GrooveIP for a long time. I haven't had any major problems with them. Neither Ring.to nor GV support CNAM. Ring.to can port in land line numbers, GV won't (you have to port to a cell phone first).
ceg3:
If you want a full-feature premium service that is simple to set up take a look at PhonePower. I just recently signed up and I'm liking it. Support is good and for 60.00 a year you get unlimited and 60 minutes a month of international calling. Just click on one of your SP setups(ex SP1) when you get your OBi for details. It's cheaper for us OBi users setting up BYOD accounts than if you sign up on their site and get one of their devices.
jnmarshall:
I also recommend PhonePower. They came thru at the last minute to get my number ported and service started before I had to renew my old service for another 2 years. Ring.TO and Anveo have too many issues and wasn't able to provide the services due to a busted website and other issues. It is only $15/year for the Anveo 911 service but with all the issues trying to signup, mostly on Ring.To's part, I figured it wasn't worth the savings.
I got PhonePower's basic service for $35/year for inbound calls and it includes everything you could want. If you are porting a number, their signup page doesn't match their FAQs and you have to obtain new service first, then port your number. Their billing department took care of the port and waived the fee as per their FAQ. It takes about 2 business days to start new service though in my case it was available within 24 hours (weekends not counting). Porting takes about 7-10 business days. They told me 3-5 at first and when I called back I was told it's 7-10 and I was misinformed. But it was all done on the day my old service expired.
For unlimited outbound calls I'm using Google Voice for now.
The voice quality for everything is excellent. Can't tell any difference over a landline or cell call.
ceg3:
I'll go you one better. ;D I signed for PP through my OBi and I was using the service, with my Google Voice number spoofed in about 15 minutes. I'm not porting, but just to get a number and get started is immediate.
Based on past experience, I was amazed how quickly and easily it just worked right out of the box. I've had a voicemail issue fixed, but other than that it worked perfectly from day one.
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