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Grasshopper + Google voice + Obitalk + Cisco IP phone

Started by 872368, December 02, 2015, 07:51:33 PM

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872368

Hello.
I am starting a company and thinking about communications.
- Every member of our team has their own GV number + Obitalk (probably Obi200 will be enough, if there is no different in performance).
- Also, we got 800 number from Grasshopper.

I need to set up every Cisco IP phone for two accounts: GV and Grasshopper.
- As I understand I can use Obi200 as proxy, right? If it supports 4 accounts, I can connect two Cisco IP phones to one single Obi200 for two different GV accounts, correct?
- For Grasshopper I need a regular physical phone number. I will get FIOS phone number and connect it to OBiLINE. Will this OBiLINE work with Cisco? Would I be able to use one single Obi200 as proxy for two GV accounts and one OBiLINE inbound calls at the same time?
- What other services can I use to connect Cisco directly to Grasshopper? Unfortunately, GV is not an acceptable solution, since I can't disable Voicemail for Google hangout.
- Can I use Obi100 as SIP proxy? I was reading the instruction, but I was not able to find X_Proxy parameter in Obi100.
- Would I be able to use Cisco 8841 IP Phone as a SIP device, or only something like SPA525G2. I am just confused about all these modifications and models.
- Would I be able to connect two different SIP devices to one single Obi proxy?

Thank you!

SteveInWA

That's a really bad, and unnecessarily complex solution.  Google Voice is designed and intended for individual consumer use.  There is no customer support whatsoever, with the volunteer-staffed Google Voice help forum being your only avenue for help.  Furthermore, certain calling patterns may trigger Google's anti-abuse algorithms, identifying you as a robocaller or spammer, which can shut down the account(s).  Forwarding a toll-free number into a Google Voice number may or may not work reliably.

Instead, sign up with the cloud-based SIP VoIP service provider of your choice, where you can easily add/delete/move individual users and inbound DID numbers around, and take advantage of all the usual calling features.  If you already own a pile of Cisco IP phones, you can provision them directly with the service provider -- no OBi(s) needed.  Otherwise, the better choice would be to buy OBi IP phones.

872368

You are right and I totally agree with you. But I think GV will work fine for us. We don't make 100 calls every day and for lats 6 years I did not have any problems with GV.

The only one question is how to connect cisco phones to GV.
1.Obitalk with SIP proxy settings.
+ supported by Google.
+ transferring calls to another obi device.
- one extra device between a phone and GV. Does it make any impact on delay?

2. Simon Telephonics.
+ almost direct connect to GV
- Not sure about the quality and how stable it is.

For 800 number, I think, I will go with Flowroute.

drgeoff


872368

I am going to use obi202. I also have obi100, but yes, I understood it does not work like that.

azrobert

You can register multiple IP phones to a single OBi2xx SP trunk defined as a proxy.
You can use an OBi1xx as a proxy if your IP phone can place calls without registration.
Some people have had problems forwarding inbound calls to Cisco IP Phones.

872368

Quote from: azrobert on December 10, 2015, 01:12:40 PM
You can register multiple IP phones to a single OBi2xx SP trunk defined as a proxy.

On one single OBi2xx I set up only two different GV lines?

BTW, can you say something about Flowroute? How good is it?

Thank you!

azrobert

You can define a GV line on each SP trunk, so can have up to 4 GV lines on a single OBi2xx. Each proxy definition would reduce the number of GV lines by 1 each.

I'm not familiar with Flowroute, so I can't comment.

SteveInWA

Quote from: 872368 on December 10, 2015, 11:11:14 AM
You are right and I totally agree with you. But I think GV will work fine for us. We don't make 100 calls every day and for lats 6 years I did not have any problems with GV.

The only one question is how to connect cisco phones to GV.
1.Obitalk with SIP proxy settings.
+ supported by Google.
+ transferring calls to another obi device.
- one extra device between a phone and GV. Does it make any impact on delay?

2. Simon Telephonics.
+ almost direct connect to GV
- Not sure about the quality and how stable it is.

For 800 number, I think, I will go with Flowroute.

I should just give up, but it pains me to see somebody trying to start a business, making such poor business decisions.

The business Internet Telephone Service Provider (SIP VoIP) market has matured now, to the point that it is the most versatile, flexible, reliable, and cost-effective way to provide telephone-based services, no matter how small your business may be.

You don't need any OBi products whatsoever, unless you don't yet own the Cisco IP phones you mentioned.  In that case, buy some OBi IP phones, which are considerably less expensive and are perfect for business use.

All you need to do is get service from one Internet Telephone Service Provider (ITSP).  You can get as few or as many inbound telephone numbers (DIDs) as you need, and those numbers can be either toll-free or not.

You would then simply provision those numbers directly on whichever IP phones you wish; there is absolutely no need for any OBi or other brand ATAs, since the phones themselves have built-in SIP VoIP functionality. 

Outbound calling is purchased in terms of SIP "trunks" or "channels", priced either on an unlimited or per-minute/per-channel basis.  You'll be able to take advantage of call transfer, hold, caller ID with name, caller ID spoofing for sending one consistent number on outbound calls, IVR features, voicemail, and so on.  You can get out of the nerd/hobbyist/techie role, and can focus on building your business.

Flowroute is one good example of a stable and growing company that can provide all these features.   There are lots of competitors in the market, too -- for example, Nextiva, Grasshopper, or RingCentral.

Trying to cobble something together with a mish-mash of different service providers, using a collection of hardware, proxies, digit maps, and a bunch of coding, is foolish and outdated, and unreliable.