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Google Voice Voicemail Notification feature behaving unreliably

Started by VulcanTourist, September 04, 2011, 01:55:28 PM

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VulcanTourist

This is a continuation or tangent from the thread "stutter" dial tone for Google Voice message indication (http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=466.0).  Based on advice given in that thread, I had cleared the MessageWaiting field in the Obi110's Web interface, attempting to clear a stubborn "New Voice Mail" notice on my phones that had persisted for many weeks.  I also tried some other things.  One of those changes made the indicators stop, but apparently it did more than just that: Now I have new voicemail sitting in Google Voice since yesterday afternoon, and the phones display no indicators of the new message, though a missed-call notice for the same call did appear on the phone.  I understand now that there can be quite a delay up to an hour (which is NOT helpful, BTW), but 24 hours?

Q: Does clearing the MessageWaiting field in any way disable the Obi110's ability to trigger new-message indicators on the phone?  Should the Default field be enabled?

Both of the MWIEnable and X_MWIEnable fields are still checked.  I tried disabling them from the device Web page, intending to immediately enable them again, but it rejected the changes.  However, when I un-checked the Google Voice Voicemail Notification field at the ObiTalk Web site, that cleared both of those fields.  I re-enabled them the same way.

Q: How do I now get the phones to correctly begin displaying new-voicemail indicators again, that appear shortly when there is new voicemail and disappear shortly after removing the voicemail?  The simple intuitive answer involving Google Voice Voicemail Notification doesn't seem to be the correct or at least complete one.

Q: Does using the ObiTalk Web site prevent changing anything via the Obi110 Web interface?  If so, why did clearing the MessageWaiting field succeed in the first place?

Q: Are there only certain fields that are unchangeable when using ObiTalk?  If so, how do I know which ones those are?  Do I have to completely discontinue the convenience and easier intelligibility of the ObiTalk site in order to make everything alterable from the device Web interface?  (Well, "easier intelligibility" aside from the fact that certain things don't guarantee the behavior they allege to control.)


RonR

Quote from: VulcanTourist on September 04, 2011, 01:55:28 PM
Q: Does clearing the MessageWaiting field in any way disable the Obi110's ability to trigger new-message indicators on the phone?  Should the Default field be enabled?

Both of the MWIEnable and X_MWIEnable fields are still checked.  I tried disabling them from the device Web page, intending to immediately enable them again, but it rejected the changes.  However, when I un-checked the Google Voice Voicemail Notification field at the ObiTalk Web site, that cleared both of those fields.  I re-enabled them the same way.

There are three settings:

MWIEnable : Plays the stutter dial tone on the PHONE Port when there are new messages.  It will also turn on the VMWI signal on the PHONE Port if X_VMWIEnable is checked.

X_VMWIEnable : Enables Visual Message Waiting Indication on the phone.

MessageWaiting : This is a state rather than a configuration parameter that indicates if there are any new messages.  Clearing it and rebooting sometimes clears a hung state in the OBi.  Default must be unchecked for this status/setting to be meaningful.

Quote from: VulcanTourist on September 04, 2011, 01:55:28 PM
Q: How do I now get the phones to correctly begin displaying new-voicemail indicators again, that appear shortly when there is new voicemail and disappear shortly after removing the voicemail?  The simple intuitive answer involving Google Voice Voicemail Notification doesn't seem to be the correct or at least complete one.

It should be a simple matter of checking MWIEnable and X_VMWIEnable.

Quote from: VulcanTourist on September 04, 2011, 01:55:28 PM
Q: Does using the ObiTalk Web site prevent changing anything via the Obi110 Web interface?  If so, why did clearing the MessageWaiting field succeed in the first place?

Quote from: VulcanTourist on September 04, 2011, 01:55:28 PM
Q: Are there only certain fields that are unchangeable when using ObiTalk?  If so, how do I know which ones those are?  Do I have to completely discontinue the convenience and easier intelligibility of the ObiTalk site in order to make everything alterable from the device Web interface?  (Well, "easier intelligibility" aside from the fact that certain things don't guarantee the behavior they allege to control.)

There are settings and status in the OBi that are not accessible from the OBiTALK Web Portal.

In my opinion, the OBiTALK Web Portal is much more confusing to use and requires a lot more effort than simply configuring the OBi directly.  If all you need is a simple configuration of Google Voice and you don't intend to do any more than that and don't have any problems, then the OBiTALK Web Portal is adequate.  If you intend to go any further with the OBi or need to troubleshoot a problem, then it's much much simpler and faster to deal with the OBi directly.  No functionality is lost if you don't use the OBiTALK Web Portal.

The rules are simple - you have to use one method or the other consistently.  If you want to use the OBiTALK Web Portal, then leave Auto Provisioning in the OBi enabled and don't make any changes to the OBi directly, as they will be overwritten by the OBiTALK Web Portal shortly thereafter.  If you want to configure the OBi directly, disable Auto Provisioning in the OBi and don't attempt to make any changes through the OBiTALK Web Portal as they won't be effective.

rpankoe

I'm also having this issue.  If I receive a message on Google Voice, it doesn't enable the MessageWaiting state.  I never get notified with the message waiting light, or stutter tone on phones connected to the PHONE port.  If I manually enable MessageWaiting state on SP1, I verified that it does work.  Now how can i get it to work for my GoogleVoice account associated with SP1?

RonR

And if you log into your OBi directly using the IP address returned by dialing ***1, the following are checked?:

Voice Services -> SP1 Service -> MWIEnable

Voice Services -> SP1 Service -> X_VMWIEnable

and Default is unchecked on?:

Voice Services -> SP1 Service -> MessageWaiting

rpankoe

Correct.  I have them all checked except MessageWaiting (which is unchecked and "default" not set)

If I manually check MessageWaiting, then it acts as if there's a message.  When I uncheck, it goes away, so that part is working.  I just can't get it to work when a message is left on GoogleVoice.

RonR

Also, verify that these are checked:

Physical Interfaces -> PHONE Port -> MWIEnable  

Physical Interfaces -> PHONE Port -> VMWIEnable

rpankoe

Quote from: RonR on September 07, 2011, 12:00:18 PM
Also, verify that these are checked:

Physical Interfaces -> PHONE Port -> MWIEnable  

Physical Interfaces -> PHONE Port -> VMWIEnable


Yes, they are all checked also.

RonR

I just verified that's it's all working correctly in f/w version 1.3.0 (Build: 2532).  The indicator on my phone (Vtech DS6321) came on within 60 seconds of leaving a mesage and it went off within 60 seconds of calling my Google Voice number and marking the message read.

rpankoe

I just updated to that version, but so far no luck.  Anything else to try?  How does GV tell the Obi that there is a new message waiting? 

RonR

I don't know if it's through the XMPP connection the OBi establishes with Google Voice or through some other mechanism.

I assume you're successfully connected to Google Voice on SP1 and can make and receive calls without any problems?

rpankoe

Quote from: RonR on September 07, 2011, 12:22:41 PM
I don't know if it's through the XMPP connection the OBi establishes with Google Voice or through some other mechanism.

I assume you're successfully connected to Google Voice on SP1 and can make and receive calls without any problems?


Correct.  No other issues.  Just not being notified of the voicemails in any way.  I did enable Voicemail Notification Forwarding in my GV account so that it would forward a copy of the voicemail to my YouMail account so that I would at least get that notification on my cell-phone... but the MWI on the PHONE port is still not working to advise me there.

RonR

I have email notification enabled also and it doesn't interfere with message waiting on the OBi/phone.

You may have to ask Obihai support for help as it appears you have everything configured correctly.

If you determine the cause, please let us know so others might benefit.

rpankoe

Quote from: RonR on September 07, 2011, 12:28:35 PM
I have email notification enabled also and it doesn't interfere with message waiting on the OBi/phone.

You may have to ask Obihai support for help as it appears you have everything configured correctly.

If you determine the cause, please let us know so others might benefit.


I'm not sure if this is the reason or not, but found this browsing the FAQs... Notice the end bold section.

If you have enabled Google 2-step verification for Gmail, please follow these instructions so that you will be able to use your OBi and Google Voice.
• Log in to your Google Account Management Settings page.
• Select the, 'Authorizing applications & sites' link.
• Create an application specific password for Google Voice.
• Use this password when you configure Google Voice as a service on your OBi device.
Please note: The Google Voice voicemail notification does not work for users who have 2-Step verification. With that, it is recommended you disable Google Voice voicemail notification on the OBi device via the OBiTALK device configuration settings for that particular OBi device.

RonR

Do you use 2-step verification?  I don't have any experience with it myself.  Is it something you can switch on and off?

rpankoe

Quote from: RonR on September 07, 2011, 06:02:14 PM
Do you use 2-step verification?  I don't have any experience with it myself.  Is it something you can switch on and off?


Yes, i do use it.  You can turn it on/off for your whole google account.  It is nice to have enabled because it only allows you to login from certain computers that you've given access.  If you get to a new computer, you can have an app on your phone that you run that provides you a code so that you can login and add that computer to your trusted devices.  That way someone can't hijack your account from somewhere else, even if they HAVE your password.  It looks like that needs to be turned off on the google accounts to work though.  I'm not sure why that is that the voicemail notification doesn't work with that.  I'd think that you could assign it to be trusted.  I'd be interested in finding out from Obi why that's not an option, or if they're working on it. (or ways around it) 

I turned off 2-factor authentication, turned off the forwarding to the Obi (since my kids are asleep) and then called and left a message.  While leaving it, I re-enabled forwarding to GoogleChat in GV so it went back to the Obi110, but it's still not working.  Tomorrow when my kids are in school, I'll give it a try again with the whole system active and see what happens.

VulcanTourist

I'm now having the opposite of my original problem, and apparently the same as rpankoe: the Obi110 now no longer triggers the phones to indicate that new voice mail has arrived.  Is there new firmware that fixes this?  How can I be having both problems with the exact same settings?

Randrage

Quote from: rpankoe on September 07, 2011, 06:07:29 PM
I'm not sure why that is that the voicemail notification doesn't work with that.  I'd think that you could assign it to be trusted.  I'd be interested in finding out from Obi why that's not an option, or if they're working on it. (or ways around it) 

I'm also interested to hear from OBi about 2-step verification with Google. I currently do not use it because, as you said, VM notification wouldn't work. Thankfully, I don't seem to be having the problem you are having. In general, VM notification IS working for me; However, it does sometimes seem delayed / sporadic. I'm assuming that is due to Google Voice being slow in forwarding the notification but, who knows.

VulcanTourist

I contacted Obihai support directly about this and another issue, and they have made no attempt to respond in the week and a half since.  YMMV, but I'm still sitting in the driveway.

rikev

I have heard of special app-specific passwords for instances when you wouldn't normally be wanting to (or able to) enter a 2-step verification code, like in smartphone apps. Maybe you'd have to do something like that with the obi...




Quote from: Randrage on September 20, 2011, 11:54:22 PM
Quote from: rpankoe on September 07, 2011, 06:07:29 PM
I'm not sure why that is that the voicemail notification doesn't work with that.  I'd think that you could assign it to be trusted.  I'd be interested in finding out from Obi why that's not an option, or if they're working on it. (or ways around it) 

I'm also interested to hear from OBi about 2-step verification with Google. I currently do not use it because, as you said, VM notification wouldn't work. Thankfully, I don't seem to be having the problem you are having. In general, VM notification IS working for me; However, it does sometimes seem delayed / sporadic. I'm assuming that is due to Google Voice being slow in forwarding the notification but, who knows.

Ziflin

Did anyone ever get this working.  Earlier I had it where after some amount of time it would show on my Panasonic phone that I had new voice mail.  Only it would *never* turn off.  I followed some of the steps here and now after leaving a new voice mail, it wont turn on.. LOL!

This feature was one reason that I just bought the OBI, so it'd be great to know how to get it to work.