First-time setup questions
SteveInWA:
The setup described here is the best way to use Google Voice with an OBi, with the added benefits of CNAM and E911 service.
Callcentric's new "North America Basic" plan, mentioned by Taoman, is the cheapest way to add those features.
Taoman:
Quote from: Carnivore on April 08, 2016, 01:30:30 pm
Your description of using separate Callcentric and GV numbers is the issue I was wondering about when I originally asked about juggling numbers. I follow what you're doing, I just wonder if that's the best way to do it or if there's another way that would accomplish the same things without the need for the extra number and forwarding calls.
Yes, you have two numbers but as I mentioned, once the setup is complete you can pretty much forget about the Callcentric number. I've had mine for years. I'd have to login to Callcentric to even see what the number actually is. Sure if something breaks with your Callcentric configuration you'll have to "manage" that but that has never happened to me. Callcentric is quite reliable. What specifically are you concerned about regarding "juggling" two numbers?
Yes, there are other ways to do this. But if you want CNAM you must forward your call to a VoIP provider that supports it. Here is how you could do this without another "number" since that seems to be what you're concerned about. But you'll still have to configure another service provider on your OBi (or two).
You can subscribe to the Simonics Google Voice gateway for a one-time fee of $6.00. This gateway supports CNAM. So you would "register" to the Simonics gateway with your OBi via SIP instead of "connecting" to GV via XMPP. The gateway does the translation. All your inbound/outbound GV calls would go thru the Simonics gateway. I use the Simonics gateway myself and it works well and has been reliable.
But that won't take care of your E911 needs. You would still need to find a different provider (like Callcentric or Anveo) for E911 support.
And realize if you go this route you lose all the features Callcentric has to offer. Callcentric is considered by many to be the gold standard as far as their web portal and feature set. Anveo probably has more features but their web portal is nowhere near as user friendly as Callcentric's site. One feature you may miss is CNAM override which Callcentric supports. Any numbers you put in your CC phone book can be given a descriptive name. So instead of seeing "Jane Doe" (from CNAM) on your CallerID you could see "Mom" or "Sis" or whatever you choose. I have found this feature to be indispensable.
But it's your choice. Pick your poison.
Carnivore:
Quote from: Taoman on April 08, 2016, 03:38:19 pm
What specifically are you concerned about regarding "juggling" two numbers?
I just looked at it as an extra potential point of failure. My GV number would become dependent on Callcentric forwarding the call without a substantial lag or failing for whatever reason. But it sound like that's the generally accepted way to do this and if people are happy with the performance then that's reassuring.
I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing any good alternatives. The Simonics workaround seems to be lacking features I'd like so I'll plan to go the Callcentric route.
Thanks again to all for the help.
Taoman:
Quote from: Carnivore on April 08, 2016, 03:54:16 pm
I just looked at it as an extra potential point of failure. My GV number would become dependent on Callcentric forwarding the call without a substantial lag or failing for whatever reason. But it sound like that's the generally accepted way to do this and if people are happy with the performance then that's reassuring.
You would not be "dependent." You would still have an SP configured for GV on your OBi for outbound calls. If anything goes wrong with your Callcentric connection you just login to your Google Voice account and uncheck the box for Callcentric and check the box for Chat. You are immediately back up and running again just without CNAM (and presumably E911).
Lag (or latency) can be a concern. I am on the other side of the country from Callcentric but I can't detect any discernible lag. As a test you can ping Callcentric and see what your average round trip time is.
From a command prompt type the following:
ping ping.callcentric.com -t
Let it run for 30 seconds to a minute and then break out of it with Ctrl-C. What is the average of your "Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds?"
Carnivore:
Packets: Sent = 91, Received = 91, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 7ms, Maximum = 26ms, Average = 8ms
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