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How do I remove the OBiTALK without it breaking my Google Voice service??

Started by ktpl, June 08, 2018, 02:41:33 PM

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ktpl

Hello,
I've been using Google Voice as my business line for years. I have the max of 6 phone numbers that the Google Voice forwards calls to. Just recently I purchased and installed an OBiTALK 200 as an experiment to possibly replace a landline. It installed and was working fine but then I decided to remove/delete the OBiTALK line because I was still paying for the landline service and hadn't yet made the decision to cancel the service. However, as soon as I deleted the ObiTalk from my Google Voice, all incoming calls to my Google Voice receive a message of "We could not complete your call. Please try again later." For a full day I could NOT answer any calls. The phone wouldn't even ring. Customers were emailing us saying our phone line was down, that's how I discovered it. As soon as I could I reinstalled and set up the OBiTALK and my Google Voice number started working again. Later I tried to carefully uninstall and remove and even reset the OBiTALK 200 and again it broke my Google Voice service. How do I remove/uninstall the OBiTALK 200 without it breaking my Google Voice service??

I've had the thought to set up a new Google Voice number with an alternate google account and set the OBiTALK up on that Google Voice number and see if that frees my business number from having to have the OBiTALK installed.

I use Chrome and I'm on a Macbook Pro.

Thank you in advance for your time and advice :)
-k

SteveInWA

You should be able to disable the OBiTALK service's access to Google Voice.

Using a desktop web browser, sign into the correct Google account that holds your Google Voice number.

Go here:  https://myaccount.google.com/

Under "Sign-in & security",  click "Apps with account access".  On the next page, click "MANAGE APPS".  Delete the OBiTALK/Google Voice access permission.

ktpl

Nice, thank you! This seems like it would be the root of the problem. I'll give it a try later once we are "after hours." Don't want to miss any phone calls in case there is an issue.

Thanks again.


ktpl

It didn't work, I just did a test and removed and reset my ObiTalk 200 and unfortunately, I'm still having the issues. Unless my OBiTalk 200 is configured and installed my Google Voice number which I rely on for my business and have been using for years won't work at all!

This poses some terrifying scenarios. What if I'm traveling and there is an issue with the internet or power at my apartment where the OBiTalk is installed. Would this break my google voice (my business line's) service? Or just in general, what if it comes up again and suddenly no calls are coming through and only solution to to reconfigure my OBiTalk? That would require me to be at the location of where the OBi is so I can configure the phone. Why on earth would this device/service have so much control over my google voice number and it's functionality without there being an obvious solution? Surely, I can't be the only person EVER to have this issue. I didn't set it up in an unusual way.

Only other thing I can think of is if I have another OBi account that needs to be deleted. I'm only thinking this because when I set it up, I think I started with one email address and then switched to "Sign in with Google." Now, I've switched logins to my yahoo again to avoid any connection with Google. Then, I've tried "forgot password" for all other possible email addresses and it nothing came up.

Someone, please help! Thank you.
- K

SteveInWA

Sorry to hear that.

Google is working on fixing this.  My "informed guess" is that it will be solved by Monday.

However, perhaps this will give you a real-world example of why I do not recommend using Google Voice for business purposes.  It has a great feature set and awesome tools for managing one's personal voice and text communications.  However, there is no service level guarantee, and no direct customer support.  The small cost savings it offers will be quickly offset by blowback from unhappy customers, when they can't reach you.  In today's environment of Yelp, Angie's List, and many other review websites, people are too quick to condemn a business for something like this.

You may want to consider porting your Google Voice number out to an Internet Telephone Service Provider (ITSP) that has a good track record and reasonable prices.

ktpl

Thank you SteveInWA, for your speedy reply!

I've noticed Google Voice has been doing some updates, so you think my situation related to those updates? When will I know that the updates or fixes have been made? Is there a site or forum where that is posted? I'll do another test next week to see if I'm Google Voice service is still requiring that I have my OBiTalk 200 configured to it for it to work.

I had been considered porting from Google Voice but hesitated when I read mixed reviews on the two that I thought would be a good next step, where were mightycall.com or grasshopper.com. Do you have a recommendation for an Internet Telephone Service Provider (ITSP) that has a good track record and reasonable has prices?

Many thanks!
- k


SteveInWA

Quote from: ktpl on June 14, 2018, 01:43:56 AM
Thank you SteveInWA, for your speedy reply!

I've noticed Google Voice has been doing some updates, so you think my situation related to those updates? When will I know that the updates or fixes have been made? Is there a site or forum where that is posted? I'll do another test next week to see if I'm Google Voice service is still requiring that I have my OBiTalk 200 configured to it for it to work.

I had been considered porting from Google Voice but hesitated when I read mixed reviews on the two that I thought would be a good next step, where were mightycall.com or grasshopper.com. Do you have a recommendation for an Internet Telephone Service Provider (ITSP) that has a good track record and reasonable has prices?

Many thanks!
- k



Yes, the issue is related to the recent major update to the Google Voice infrastructure.  It's up to you:  you could hang in there, or you could port out your number to another service provider.  If it was me, I'd record a new voicemail greeting for my Google Voice number, informing callers that the number is not working properly at this time, and to please call xxx-xxx-xxxx instead.  Then, turn on Do not disturb mode in Google Voice settings.

You can make a test call on Monday to see if the problem has gone away; if so, then you can revert your settings and your greeting back to normal.

678pc

I FIGURED IT OUT - FIRST do this step that someone else mentioned: Go here:  https://myaccount.google.com/

Under "Sign-in & security",  click "Apps with account access".  On the next page, click "MANAGE APPS".  Delete the OBiTALK/Google Voice access permission.

THEN YOU MUST GO TO GOOGLE VOICE - THEN CLICK ON THE MENU ON THE TOP LEFT AND CHOOSE 'LEGACY GOOGLE VOICE' - THEN GO TO GOOGLE VOICE SETTINGS (now in the old style) and you can see an entry for OBI that needs to be deleted.  This is not visible in standard settings... has to be legacy mode.... once it is deleted the old phone lines start ringing again like normal....

Phew.. I about had a heart attack thinking my company line was dead... been using with no issues for nearly a decade and have a history of over 60,000 calls/texts.  Couldn't find this info anywhere online and finally stumbled across the setting after being down for 2 days.