Every couple of years, a newcomer shows up, posts a bunch of flames about Google, Obihai, and Google Voice, tells everyone to only configure their devices locally, spreads various "fake news", etc.
None of that stuff is accurate, and it just misleads other users, reflecting a personal bias that is not supported by the facts.
Google has been investing a huge amount of money and staff resources over the past couple of years, to update and improve the entire Google Voice ecosystem. The entire back-end infrastructure is being replaced with newer technology, better and more direct connections to carrier partners, improved number portability, improved desktop and mobile apps, and, yes, direct cooperation with Polycom to provide robust device support. The recent and ongoing conversion from XMPP to SIP is one major example of Google's ongoing and future commitment to the platform.
The new Google Voice back-end consolidates all of their other offerings onto one hardware and network platform. It now supports:
- Google Voice on desktop/laptop computer web browsers
- Google Voice on Android and iOS apps
- Google Voice on all current Polycom devices
- Google Voice on soon-to-be-released next-gen Polycom devices
- Google Hangouts clients on desktop or mobile devices
- Project Fi
- Google Fiber Phone
Unlike the past, infamously reversed decision to end Google Voice support on OBi devices, Google really is going to shut down the XMPP servers this time. A bug was uncovered during the shutdown that has paused the process, until it can be resolved, but it will continue eventually; there are a lot (hundreds) of older XMPP servers wasting electricity, until they can be shut down and/or re-purposed.
As you can see, this is a major investment in current and future offerings, and it is not going away. There are tens of millions of users of Google Voice and its related offerings.
Furthermore, as I've posted in the past, the Obihai/Polycom merger is being specifically leveraged to migrate the Obihai remote deployment and device management platform to Polycom VoIP products. This isn't something that will be abandoned as a result of a merger.
Lest the trolls accuse me of being a "shill", I do not work for, nor do I receive any compensation for, my efforts to support Google Voice and to support it on Polycom devices. I also use and recommend other ITSPs. I have direct, frequent contact, under Non-Disclosure Agreements, with both Google Voice and Polycom staff. I leverage these contacts to solve problems, again, with no personal compensation, other than the satisfaction that I've helped some folks use the technology. I've been doing this since the service was first introduced, and my track record has resulted in the trust the two companies place in interacting with me. At the moment, for example, I'm beta testing a future product under NDA, specifically looking for any compatibility and UI/UX issues.
I don't care if people use Google Voice or not, and I am the first to recommend when Google Voice is an unwise choice. Cloud-based telephony, be it from Cisco, Avaya, Polycom, Microsoft Skype for Business, Dialpad, Ringcentral, Nextiva, Phonepower, Comcast or Google, is the future. If individual users don't want to embrace that, they're free to manage and use their ATAs locally, using a "DIY" ITSP, just as they did with the first Cisco ATAs many years ago. Google Voice is a cloud-based solution, not a bare-bones SIP ITSP, and it will never be designed for local management.