PC-initiated Obi110 calls on attached phone... possible?

[VulcanTourist]

There are times when I encounter a phone number in a Web page or perhaps in some other application like Thunderbird or Outlook, and it would be rather helpful to automate the process of transferring that number to the networked Obi110 device and initiate a call to that number.  Is that possible?  Would there be limitations, perhaps needing to pick up the phone and place it off-hook immediately beforehand?  Surely I'm not the first person to consider this scenario?

[QBZappy]

If you are using the computer, these may work for you. I have used this one in the past (siptapi). Works with versions of Outlook 2007 and prior. I have read that Outlook 2010 needs a reg tweak to make it work.
Use scenario: From the contacts in Outlook press call, it will ring your phone and then dial out.
http://www.ipcom.at/en/telephony/siptapi/

This addon "Telify" seems to work with Firefox and Thunderbird
http://www.codepad.de/en/software/firefox-add-ons/telify.html?install=1.2.4&app=Firefox

[VulcanTourist]

I've installed Telify, but when I try to use it:

No application is installed which registered itself for the used protocol.  Please configure a suitable protocol in the Telify preferences or install a suitable application.

Telify defaulted to the skype: protocol, but I tried all of the other choices and all of them produced the same error dialog.  Telify requires using the PC as a softphone, doesn't it?  That's not what I want: the number should be passed to the Obihai device and dialed.

[QBZappy]

VulcanTourist,

You need the OBiAPP+Softphone running to make calls. It works here. Sip must be selected on the Telify pick list. This will do what you want. It will pass number to OBi device using a softphone.

I understand that you want to use the phone. Then this will not work for you.

[QBZappy]

I wonder if a physical IP phone+OBiAPP would work. I've never tried it. Configuration for an ip phone and a softphone is similar.

[VulcanTourist]

Even though it isn't what I wanted, I installed OpiApp and XTalk, and I still can't get Telify to pass the number correctly to XTalk.  The XTalk taskbar icon flashes, but no number appears in its window and no dialing occurs.  If I enter it manually it works (though I have some vexing issue with the front panel microphone connection).

[QBZappy]

VulcanTourist,

I was lucky when I tested "Telify" Firefox addon this afternoon. It worked right away with a sip softphone Jitsi ( http://jitsi.org/ ). This is an open source sip phone with many features. One feature in particular you may be interested in is it natively reads contacts on Outlook for dialing. This is one of the few that I have found that can do this, and certainly the only free one I could find.

Next I tried using Eyebeam v1.5, and Bria Professional. It didn't work. I did some digging on the Telify web site. It looks like you need a registry tweak for some sip clients to work. I looked in my registry and found Jitsi configured already. It must have been installed by the app.

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\sip\shell\open\command = "C:\Program Files\Jitsi\run.exe" %1

If you have another sip app modify the registry to point to the path of the executable of your sip soft phone.

Click2Dial Solution:
Jitsi in theory can be used to make outbound calls using Outlook, and in addition with the ObiApp (Jitsi+OBiAPP) can be used as a Click2Dial from web pages and Emails using the OBi. If the reg tweak above works, I suppose any sip phone could be used to Click2Dial.

Off Topic: I was also able to make a call using Skype (v5.5.0.114). I did not test the other calling options. (Used Telify v1.2.4 + Firefox v7)

[VulcanTourist]

That Registry value appears to already be set correctly for me as a result of simply installing XTalk:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\CounterPath\X-Lite 4\X-Lite4.exe" -action=call?to="%1"

Still doesn't work.  It pops up the XTalk window if it's not already and flashes the taskbar icon, but does nothing further.

The Obi110 works well enough for simply making and receiving calls, but for me all the promises of extra features are a joke, and so is Obihai support.  I couldn't get Skype set up on it, the voicemail notifications don't work, and the advanced setup required to do *anything* is hopelessly arcane without expert hand-holding that Obihai doesn't provide.  The one single support request I initiated weeks ago was never even acknowledged.  Google Voice is also proving to be less robust and reliable than Skype was; virtually every call has some kind of issue.  I'm increasingly tempted to swallow bile over the new Skype ownership, dust off my old D-Link DPH-50U device, find a workaround for the Windows 7 x64 driver issue, and then find a Craigslist buyer for the Obi110.

[QBZappy]

VulcanTourist,

The Telify web site seems to be off line at the moment. I am certain that I read X-Lite was supported when I read the page. Which version of XLite the site was referring to I can not say at the moment. Try it with Jitsi, you might like it. At least so that you have a positive experience with the product in combination with the OBiAPP and the OBi hardware.

[VulcanTourist]

I've tried Jitsi now, it STILL doesn't work, and the whole combined configuration is so outside my expertise that I don't know WTF I'm doing when it's not perfectly auto-configured.

[VulcanTourist]

I am FINALLY able to get essentially the behavior I wanted, but I'm getting it by virtue of Google Voice and not the Obihai device.  Someone produced a Firefox extension similar to Telify but specific to Google Voice; it uses a Google Voice account and the callback feature to initiate a call and ring a specified phone number.  Since it says I can't use the Google Voice number itself (at least not one for the same account?), I used my landline number which arrives at the Obi110 at the LINE port.

Now when I click on a phone number in a Web page, it dials the number via my Google Voice account and rings my landline, which rings the same phone attached to the Obi110 that I had wanted to ring via the Obi110 itself.  Since I now have two other GV accounts with numbers, I might be able to use one of the other accounts to configure the extension and then specify my primary GV phone number, the one associated with SP1 on the device, and have it ring the phone through the GV number instead.

It's not as elegant a solution as one that communicates directly with the Obi110 via the local network to initiate a call, but at least it works.  Since discovering that someone had written a WSH script to initiate recording an active call, I had thought that what I wanted should also be possible, but I'm disappointed to find that it's not implemented even if it's possible.