Question about OBiTalk and Google Voice
SteveInWA:
"OBiTALK" has several meanings:
It is the name of the company's remote device provisioning and management platform, along with the website portal it provides.It is now the name of the product line (as opposed to the legacy Polycom devices).It is the name of the domain hosting this forum, along with hosting the portalIt is the name of the proprietary VoIP telephony network provided at no charge for use by OBiTALK device owners, to make calls from one device to another.
Where you might be confused, is that Google Voice requires that you use the OBiTALK portal to configure Google Voice service on a device. It is not a plain-vanilla SIP ITSP. It's best to use the portal, vs. the device's local webserver, for configuration, since the portal will overwrite any changes made to the local webpage UI.
olrowdy01:
"Where you might be confused, is that Google Voice requires that you use the OBiTALK portal to configure Google Voice service on a device."
I read that and I will of course let it do that while praying that Florida Flicker & Flash (Fla Power & Light) doesn't hiccup while updating the firmware.
I saw the illustration of how OBiTalk controls the 202 etc.
My main confusion point was the last one you presented. It just isn't presented on the site as straight out as you put it. That's where the webmaster needed a new customer to try to make heads or tails out of what is presented.
In our previous posts and on the website, making "Calls" to me only means I can call someone else. That someone might have to -also- be using a OBi device for the call to be free. Making "Calls" to me doesn't say a thing about -receiving- calls. This is of course no fault of the forum gurus.
The description points you just gave in your post should be prominently shown on the website. In affect I found hints of the points in my reading all over the site for several days.
The last point would have saved me a -lot- of time in trying to figure out that I don't need to have an external SIP ITSP for the OBi device because I was used to having to search around to find one that would provide enough minutes of usage etc at a reasonable price because (as a friend used to say) "It's always been thus."
Another confusing thing is that in my Google Voice/legacy settings my PAP2T was listed as a "OBi Device".
Just today after the last few posts I finally figured out that the price of 202 was the one time charge to use it. :-[
The OBiTalk webmaster etc probably didn't realize that newcomers won't realize that if they come from other ATAs that have to be setup manually with other companies settings etc. Pay by the minute etc. (Thumbs down.)
So thanks again for the information.
olrowdy01:
Update:
The OBi202 arrived today. The hardest part of setting it up was moving things around for an hour so the 45" long wall wart cable could reach the place where the 202 was going to sit.
Getting it linked and working was easy compared to the 3" of power cable slack I ended up with. And I can now make & receive calls again.
I do notice that there is a longer wait for the ringing tone to start when making a call. I assume that OBiTalk gets involved in making & receiving calls. With my PAP2T setup everything seemed to go directly through Google Voice even though the legacy settings showed that the Linksys was an "OBi device".
Is there someway to reduce the delay?
When I set up the PAP2T system I used a slightly different dialing plan from the default one & calls were made with no delay. I looked into the setup of the OBi202 and don't see a setting that specifically says "Dial plan" to change. (Which might get changed back to the default setting if OBiTalk doesn't like changes made.
With OBiTalk I had to turn the GV "attendant" off in the Google Voice legacy settings because it was talking the same time my normal answering machine gave it's message. It used to be that I heard GV ring 5 times before it give it's message, so I set my answering machine to answer in two rings. My test caller person said today that he heard 5 rings before the phone answered. I heard my phone rang 2 times and it started to gave it's message. About 1/2 second later GV started giving it's message at the same time my answering machine was still talking. My caller said he only heard the GV message to leave a voice message.
Strangely enough the tail end of the GV message that the "attendant" gave my caller was left on my answering machine. I got his voice message via gmail by going through the ritual of signing into GV, clicking around for awhile and finally hearing his message.
Has anyone else commented on dueling answering machines vs ring times?
The main thing is I have phone service again and we can hear each other etc. The voice quality is excellent; same as my PAP2T. Also the OBi202 case temperature is -much- cooler than the PAP2T.
SteveInWA:
Now I have to agree with DrGeoff, that you really do not understand Google Voice, and it's design, at all.
For the umpteenth time, it is not a bare bones ITSP. It is not a basic SIP VoIP trunk provider. It is a complete telephone call management, voicemail, and text messaging service. It is intended that you use its voicemail, not your answering machine. If this is more complex than you wish, and you wish it would work like your PAP2T did a decade ago, then get service from a bare-bones SIP ITSP. Heck, Circlenet Sam would love to have your business at an extremely low cost.
And, comparing an OBi 20x to an ancient PAP2T in terms of sound quality or performance is ridiculous. It would be like comparing a 1957 Chevy Impala to a 2018 Chevy Volt. The PAP2T was a very basic device with a low-performance, simple microcontroller. The OBi products are Linux computers, running on an ARM SOC. All you were asking the PAP2T to do was the bare-bones registration and SIP VoIP stuff. And of course the OBi is going to run cooler because again, the guts are about 15 years older in the PAP2T, compared to modern, low-power electronics.
I'll let someone else give you a tutorial on digit maps, which are roughly comparable in purpose, but not in syntax, to PAP dial plans
olrowdy01:
Now I have to agree with DrGeoff, that you really do not understand Google Voice, and it's design, at all.
(My response to your comments will be in bold text.)
Thank you for that.
As long as it works the way I want it to I'm satisfied. If I wanted to understand it's internal electrical design I would have bought two of them and reversed engineered one of them.
For the umpteenth time, it is not a bare bones ITSP. It is not a basic SIP VoIP trunk provider. It is a complete telephone call management, voicemail, and text messaging service. It is intended that you use its voicemail, not your answering machine.
Steve, it is very difficult for the manufacture of various products to force people to use their product exactly the way the CEO, Engineering & Sales Departments thinks they should.
i.e. Again, I don't need all that stuff. I just need a phone that will receive and make calls. And I clearly stated that in the beginning of this thread.
Since I don't use a cell phone or tablet etc either; when I want to check if I had any calls I don't have to turn my computer on to see if sales people left me a "click" or a sales pitch. I just look at the number of messages on the answering machine (zero in most cases) and if necessary, push one button and I hear the message. For the way I use a phone that simplifies things greatly.
If this is more complex than you wish, and you wish it would work like your PAP2T did a decade ago, then get service from a bare-bones SIP ITSP. Heck, Circlenet Sam would love to have your business at an extremely low cost.
Yes it IS more complex than I wish. And my phone system using OBiTalk, the OBi202 and my answering machine *IS* working like it did with the PAP2T.
Steve: don't take it so personally. It's not a failure of OBiTalk to allow me to use it the way I want to.
And, comparing an OBi 20x to an ancient PAP2T in terms of sound quality or performance is ridiculous.
Does finding out that the sound quality of both units is the same really cause that much grief on this forum? And it's not ridiculous if it -is- true in my case.
It would be like comparing a 1957 Chevy Impala to a 2018 Chevy Volt. The PAP2T was a very basic device with a low-performance, simple microcontroller.
My first car was a Model T Ford. The car and I were both young at the time. ;-)
As basic as the '57 Cheby, T and the PAP2T seem now, they all served their intended purposes. And still can.
On the other hand, many people drive cars all their lives and don't have any idea how they work. Not everyone has to fully understand how electronics or mechanical things work to get them to do what they need them to do.
The OBi products are Linux computers, running on an ARM SOC. All you were asking the PAP2T to do was the bare-bones registration and SIP VoIP stuff. And of course the OBi is going to run cooler because again, the guts are about 15 years older in the PAP2T, compared to modern, low-power electronics.
Please, I started designing electrical circuits most likely before you were born. It was just a casual observation and not meant to cause umbrage concerning the wonderfully modern (cooler running but with a short power cable) OBi202.
I'll let someone else give you a tutorial on digit maps, which are roughly comparable in purpose, but not in syntax, to PAP dial plans
And I can return the favor if you need to know more about the internal workings of a Model T Ford. Or my present 13 yr old Honda that can get almost twice the driving range of the Chevy Volt at 64 mph. Even my 30 year old Honda CRX-HF got more mpg than the Volt.
And now, getting back to the OBi202:
I found a 3 year old forum post how the poster changed the ring delay of incoming calls, I'll try that.
Come on Steve, lighten up.
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