Caller ID: out of area?

[Chris.GNV]

New user here. Successfully connected my Obi202 to GV. Forwarded my Verizon Wireless home phone to the Google Voice number, then ported that Verizon number to GV.

Calls to the (presently) Verizon number are forwarded by the Verizon switch to the GV number, which connects it to the Obi202 and my phone rings. When the port completes, calls to that number will go directly go GV and on to the Obi202. Seamless.

What puzzles me is the appearance of the caller ID on my desk phone. From a Verizon cell phone on the same area code, to the Verizon Wireless landline device, it shows the cell phone I'm calling from, with a leading "1-". From the same Verizon cell phone through GV-Obi202, it shows the same but also says "Out of area".

I'm not clear what controls that. Is it GV? Obihai? How do I fix it? How do I get the name to display?

Thanks

[Chris.GNV]

OK. Found that by adding my phone number as a contact in the Google account used for GV, I get the name display. But the "out of area" still puzzles me.

[SteveInWA]

Google Voice doesn't support caller ID name (CNAM).  If that feature is important to you, then:

1) instead of forwarding the calls to Google Chat on your OBi device, forward them first to a SIP VoIP service provider that does offer CNAM, such as a free inbound number from Callcentric, or

2) subscribe to the new "OBiEXTRAs" fee-based service, which can do lookups of contacts' names in your Google contacts list on the fly, or, most difficult of all,

3) run your inbound number through a Asterisk-based PBX that is configured to feed numbers to a third-party CNAM provider.

And, by the way, do not forward your Verizon number TO the GV number that is being ported-into GV.  That's going to cause a mess with call routing.  Just wait for the port to finish, and then forward the now-GV number to whatever destinations you wish.

[Chris.GNV]

Google Voice doesn't support caller ID name (CNAM).  If that feature is important to you, then:

It's valuable to me but I'm not sure I'd call it important. Anyway, I got CNAM on my phone by adding the inbound number to contacts on the Google account used for GV. Not sure why that worked, but it did.

And, by the way, do not forward your Verizon number TO the GV number that is being ported-into GV.  That's going to cause a mess with call routing.  Just wait for the port to finish, and then forward the now-GV number to whatever destinations you wish.

The Verizon number being ported is what I forwarded, before porting. It's working at the moment. I guess that puts me in limbo at a bad time, since I just got a call about a family medical emergency, and the folks who would call know only the Verizon landline number being ported. (Giving them my cell phone wouldn't do any good.)

Let's hope it works.

[Chris.GNV]

FYI, the port to GV completed without error in about 24 hours. The fact it was forwarded by Verizon to the old GV number seems to have been independent of Google porting the number. Whatever the case, the approach did not interfere with a successful port.

I conclude that forwarding the ported number to GV, using the service you're porting it from, and redirecting it to the GV account, makes the transfer completely transparent. Calls made to the ported number 1 minute before the port was complete rang the Obi200 device, as did calls made 1 minute after the port was complete.

As for the "out of area", Google showed the same for other numbers. It shows the number but not the name. I'll import my list of known numbers to the contacts list on my GV home phone account. That way I'll get the name (as I wish to label them) on the ones I know. I'll add others as they occur, if I wish to keep them.

[Chris.GNV]

I do not subscribe to ObiExtras. My name did not show up when calling from my cell phone until I added it to the contacts in my Google account.

I cannot explain why it didn't, nor why it now does, but it is a fact that it does and that I don't subscribe to ObiExtras.

Other names do not display. Mine is the only contact record in my GV account. I'll experiment by adding others to the GV contacts list to learn if they also show up when I do.