Google Contacts and my landline phone

[VisionariesThrive]

After an epic journey porting from Skype to ATT to Google Voice.. (which by the way, ATT repeatedly told me I couldn't port numbers out of Skype) I assumed I could dial my outbound calls from Google Contacts and use my landline phone (desk phone) as a phone rather than the video camera's microphone.

I used Skype for years and simply clicked the name and number on my screen and talked through my landline phone. How do I do this with Google Voice/Obihai? I have an Obi200 and I've moved my contacts into Google Contacts.

Thanks for any help

[SteveInWA]

The feature you are describing is known as "click-to-call".  It is no longer supported by Google Voice for OBi devices.  Instead, you can add a real telephone number, and have GV call THAT number to bridge the call.  For example:

Get a free or paid inbound telephone number (DID number) from a SIP VoIP service provider like Callcentric.  Add and verify that number on your Google Voice account's settings page.  Remove the check mark next to Google Chat, and add a check mark next to your SIP DID.  Provision the Callcentric number on one of your OBi's SP slots.  Now, inbound calls will route through Callcentric, which will also give your Caller ID name and (for a small fee) 911 service.  You will be able to select this DID number when using GV's click-to-call function.

[VisionariesThrive]

Hi Steve,
Thanks for the info..

Do I lose any of the other features? I'm still just learning how to use the features

I will take a look at your remarks again as I learn my way around Google Voice
Thanks for the help

[SteveInWA]

No, you don't lose any features.  You gain three features:

• Click-to-call from the Google Voice extension or from Gmail or Google Contacts
• E911 service (monthly fee)
• Inbound caller ID name (CNAM) provided by Callcentric

All outbound calls continue to go through Google Voice (technically, through Google Chat).  Only inbound calls are routed through Callcentric.  This is the way that a lot of us here on the forum use Google Voice with OBi devices.

[VisionariesThrive]

Hi Steve,
You've been most helpful.. Now my two former Skype lines are happily ensconced within GV. My question is how do I activate the "click to call" feature and caller ID. I have successfully set up Callcentric but have no idea how to activate Caller ID (I assume on my computer screen) and dialing out through GV or Google Contacts.. I've searched and don't see much of anything.

PS I had Callcentric selected (Google Chat deselected) for a bit and saw caller ID incoming call once but didn't know how to answer it.

1) How do I get Caller ID to work on my computer screen and when it does work, how can I answer with a landline handset
2) how do I dial out from GV or Google Contacts such that I can use my landline handset?

Thanks!

[SteveInWA]

At this point, you are asking basic how-to questions that have been thoroughly discussed here on this forum, or on the Google Voice Help Forum.  I don't mind helping people troubleshoot, but you can learn a lot from just reading on your own.

1:  I don't understand what you mean.  You can either answer a call via Google Hangouts on a laptop/desktop computer or on an Android or iOS mobile device, or you can answer the call on the telephone plugged into your OBi.

2:  You can't do that unless you set up a Callcentric inbound number, and then tell Google Voice to call you on that number.  I explained this in my first reply above.

Google Voice Help Center:  https://support.google.com/voice/#topic=1707989

Hangouts Help Center:  https://support.google.com/hangouts?hl=en&authuser=0#topic=6386410

[Standroid]

Get a free or paid inbound telephone number (DID number) from a SIP VoIP service provider like Callcentric.  Add and verify that number on your Google Voice account's settings page.  Remove the check mark next to Google Chat, and add a check mark next to your SIP DID.  Provision the Callcentric number on one of your OBi's SP slots.  Now, inbound calls will route through Callcentric, which will also give your Caller ID name and (for a small fee) 911 service.  You will be able to select this DID number when using GV's click-to-call function.

Is the "small fee" you mention just the monthly charge for 911 service or are there charges from Callcentric for each incoming call?

[drgeoff]

Get a free or paid inbound telephone number (DID number) from a SIP VoIP service provider like Callcentric.  Add and verify that number on your Google Voice account's settings page.  Remove the check mark next to Google Chat, and add a check mark next to your SIP DID.  Provision the Callcentric number on one of your OBi's SP slots.  Now, inbound calls will route through Callcentric, which will also give your Caller ID name and (for a small fee) 911 service.  You will be able to select this DID number when using GV's click-to-call function.

Is the "small fee" you mention just the monthly charge for 911 service or are there charges from Callcentric for each incoming call?

http://www.callcentric.com/dids/free_phone_number

[Standroid]

Get a free or paid inbound telephone number (DID number) from a SIP VoIP service provider like Callcentric.  Add and verify that number on your Google Voice account's settings page.  Remove the check mark next to Google Chat, and add a check mark next to your SIP DID.

OK, my inbound Google Voice calls are forwarding to my OBi202, my TMobile phone and ALSO all of my three Android devices when they have a wifi connection. I like that. Before I execute the next step of adding Callcentric to the puzzle I need another point clarified.

When I UNcheck Google Chat will that be the end of the forwarding to my three Android devices? Aren't they receiving the calls by virtue of Google Chat?

Thanks for your patience,

Stan

[SteveInWA]

Get a free or paid inbound telephone number (DID number) from a SIP VoIP service provider like Callcentric.  Add and verify that number on your Google Voice account's settings page.  Remove the check mark next to Google Chat, and add a check mark next to your SIP DID.

OK, my inbound Google Voice calls are forwarding to my OBi202, my TMobile phone and ALSO all of my three Android devices when they have a wifi connection. I like that. Before I execute the next step of adding Callcentric to the puzzle I need another point clarified.

When I UNcheck Google Chat will that be the end of the forwarding to my three Android devices? Aren't they receiving the calls by virtue of Google Chat?

Thanks for your patience,

Stan

Let's clarify:  you describe forwarding Google Voice calls to your Android devices.  There are two ways to do that:  If an Android device is a smartphone, then you can forward calls from Google Voice to that smartphone's telephone number, just as you would would forward to any telephone number.  This uses your smartphone's regular voice telephone network connection, not WiFi.

If the Android device is not a telephone, then you can install the two Hangouts apps for Android ("Hangouts" and "Hangouts Dialer").  Google Voice forwards to any/all Hangouts clients, at the same time, as long as the Hangouts client a) has some sort of internet data connection, b) is signed into the correct Google account that hosts your GV number, and c) you've enabled the setting on that particular Hangouts client to ring on inbound calls.  Hangouts operates independently of the old Google Chat system that is used by OBi devices.  There are no settings on Google Voice that control forwarding to Hangouts.

[Standroid]

If the Android device is not a telephone, then you can install the two Hangouts apps for Android ("Hangouts" and "Hangouts Dialer").  Google Voice forwards to any/all Hangouts clients, at the same time, as long as the Hangouts client a) has some sort of internet data connection, b) is signed into the correct Google account that hosts your GV number, and c) you've enabled the setting on that particular Hangouts client to ring on inbound calls.  Hangouts operates independently of the old Google Chat system that is used by OBi devices.  There are no settings on Google Voice that control forwarding to Hangouts.

Super! This describes my situation, except that one of my Android devices is also  phone and it current receives the call via TMobile when in service (very rarely) and receives the call via Hangouts (as I've just learned) when the rest of the time (as long as I have an Internet connection). It was the handoff to Hangouts that I was not aware of.

Thanks again,

Stan