Hello all - New prospective user here. I would like to know if an Obi200 device hooked to a traditional DTMF telephone would be a good solution for my use.
Use: Elderly person with dementia, in a memory care facility. Needs an extremely simply setup. Outgoing call: Pick up phone handset, push single button (pre-programmed speed dial) to initiate call. Replace handset to hangup. Incoming call: Pick up handset to answer, replace handset to hangup. In other words, "POTS". Plain Old Telephone Service. The issue is, it is difficult to get a POTS landline installed at this time (due to coronavirus restrictions at the memory care facility).
The facility has WiFi access to the internet. I can currently use an Alexa device for VOIP "drop in" and transmit video from a camera, so apparently the WiFi connection is "fast enough", although I cannot say just how fast it is, I don't have building access to test that anymore.
We already have a simple old analog phone with the pre-programmed big buttons we need, and this phone is already familiar to the person with dementia. Plan is to use an old WiFi router configured as a client to the building WiFi, with one of its Ethernet LAN jacks connected to an Obi200, which in turn is connected to the old analog telephone. I would then need some VOIP provider to provide service. I know nothing of Google Voice yet, but that's a free service (I think) that may do what I need. I simply need to create a phone number people can call, and can be used to call out. Will Google Voice do that? I read somewhere that you need a separate phone number to give to Google Voice, and we don't have that in this case. I want to create a new single phone number, not tied to any other cell number (or whatever).
After initial set up and configuration - I would do that at my home - I will need to turn all the hardware over to the maintenance department at the facility for them to plug in to power and pray that what I configured is "plug and play" and just works the first try. In the end, the resulting system needs to function just like on old POTS telephone for the person with dementia.
Would an old telephone + Obi200 + WiFi router configured as a client + Google Voice be a functional and reliable solution for my use case? I realize that Obihai makes a WiFi dongle, but I've got plenty of spare routers and they would most likely have better WiFi antennas and performance than a simple USB WiFi dongle like Obihai markets. Also, will Google Voice be the service I need to tie this all together, or would I need some other VOIP provider? What VOIP provider would you recommend? We need no extra features from the Obi200 or the VOIP provider other than simple incoming and outgoing calls. No caller id, conferencing, flash switch hook, last number redial - those features are all useless for a person with dementia.
Thanks in advance for any help, suggestions, comments, recommendations anyone can make.