Incoming Obi calls to use VOIP provider's voicemail (call forking to voip.ms)
dailyglen:
Hi,
My family/friends are getting Obi-s and to get free calls we call each other's Obi. The problem is I use voip.ms for voicemail but calling directly to an Obi bypasses my voicemail. I could setup a voicemail machine on the PH at home but I like having one voicemail box and voip.ms will email the voicemails and has a lot of other nice features.
After reading the admin guide I think I can fork calls coming in on the Obi trunk and ring both voip.ms and my ph with this setting for OBiTALK InboundCallRoute:
{(xxxxxxxxx):sp2($1>2151234567),ph},{ph}
This is untested but I believe it will take any 9 digit incoming number (assuming all obi numbers are 9 digit) and ring sp2 and ph1 simultaneously. SP2 will keep the callers caller-id and phone my voip.ms number: 2151234567 (associated with sp1). I think sp1 will be busy and then the voip.ms voicemail would pick up immediately which and not allow me to answer the call if I'm home. I want the voip.ms to ring until there is no answer, then voicemail. I think it would work if I had a separate voip.ms number but I don't want to pay $1/month for the DID.
Has anyone tried something like this? Any advice?
Thanks.
Stewart:
This scheme would have several problems. You don't say what's on SP2, but if it's another VoIP.ms sub-account, it won't pass caller ID as you expect. If it's a different provider, you will probably be charged for the call. Also, the call sent to VoIP.ms will be coming back to the OBi and conflict with the direct path to PH.
IMO, your friends' and family's OBi devices should be set up to call directly to your VoIP.ms account, instead of using OBiTALK. You can use a speed dial coded with a SIP URI; the call will then not be charged.
infin8loop:
Here's a Rube Goldberg approach.
This exercise will route unanswered calls on OBi110 LINE port to your voip.ms mailbox. I can't think of a reason it wouldn't work on inbound OBiTALK calls on the OBi100/110 as well. I don't know anyone with an OBi that could help me test. Unfortunately inbound callerid number will be lost and calls in the mailbox will have your iNum on them.
Given SP1: Google Voice and SP2: voip.ms
Google Voice is not used in this exercise, only voip.ms on SP2. If voip.ms is on SP1 then change SP2 to SP1 in these instructions.
1. In your voip.ms account:
a. Get a free iNum DID (inbound and outbound calls are free and no monthly fee)
b. Go to DID Numbers -> CallerID Filtering and set up a new filter:
Callerid: your new iNum number 8835100xxxxxxxx (replace the x's with your real iNum number)
DID number to apply Filter: All (just your iNum DID would probably work as well though I didn't test that)
Set Routing and Failover Routing(Busy,Unreachable,No Answer) to the desired Mailbox
c. Main Menu -> Account Setting -> Account Restrictions -> Allow International Calls : International Calls Enabled
d. Main Menu -> Account Setting -> Account Restrictions -> Allow Calls to Countries : iNum
iNum is under Miscellaneous in the countries list. I suggest checking only countries you need. I only
have iNum, Toll Free, and the United States selected.
2. On the OBi110 (I configure locally):
a. Physical Interfaces > LINE Port > Calling Features >
CallForwardOnNoAnswerEnable : Checked
CallForwardOnNoAnswerNumber : sp2(0118835100xxxxxxxx)
(replace the x's with your real iNum. The 011 prefix is for International dialing.)
CallForwardOnNoAnswerRingCount : # of rings before going to VM
The above is tested and works. Hopefully I've listed all parameters.
For unanswered OBiTALK inbound calls to voip.ms voice mail (untested):
3. On the OBi100/110:
a. Voice Services > OBiTALK Service > Calling Features >
CallForwardOnNoAnswerEnable : Checked
CallForwardOnNoAnswerNumber : sp2(0118835100xxxxxxxx)
(replace the x's with your real iNum. The 011 prefix is for International dialing.)
CallForwardOnNoAnswerRingCount : # of rings before going to VM
Why and how this works: The unanswered call is routed to your iNum number provided by voip.ms. Basically the OBi100/110 is calling itself (yourself?) but the CallerID filter at voip.ms traps incoming calls with your iNum as the callerid number and routes them immediately to voice mail. Or something like that. I need a drink.
Update: It didn't occur to me until later that this same process works using a regular DID for a voip.ms account. My initial thought was that forwarding to a regular DID would incur a cost but since the forwarding is done through voip.ms to a voip.ms DID it's the same as calling another customer of voip.ms which is free. To implement the process this way, skip steps 1.a,c,d. In step 1.b use a regular voip.ms DID number instead of an iNum for Callerid of the filter. In step 2.a and 3.a set CallForwardOnNoAnswerNumber : sp2(1231234567) where 1231234567 is the regular voip.ms DID. This requires voip.ms Main Menu -> Accounts Settings -> General -> CallerID Number to be the same as the regular DID the calls are forwarded to so the callerid number of the outbound (forwarded call) matches the DID in the voip.ms filter. I left the voip.ms filter for the iNum and created another filter for the regular DID. This way if in the future I want the flexibility of say forwarding calls from OBiTALK to one mailbox and calls from LINE port to another mailbox, I can simply forward one of them to the iNum and the other to the regular DID and change the filter rules at voip.ms to point the iNum filter to one mailbox and the regular DID filter to another mailbox. Or using the same CallForwardOnNoAnswer parameters in OBi's Voice Services > SP1 Service -> Calling Features I could set up Google Voice calls to forward unanswered calls to a voip.ms mailbox making sure CallForwardOnNoAnswerRingCount was set low enough to forward the call before the GV 25 second timeout routes the call to GV VM.
dailyglen:
Hi,
infin8loop, thanks for the detailed response. The CallForwardOnNoAnswer* settings and call filtering did the magic but a I would suggest a few modifications:
1) From the Expert Config portal of the Obi, set the CallForwardOnNoAnswer* settings under "Voice Service -> Obitalk Service" (and not the LINE settings since the call is coming into Obitalk)
1.2) For CallForwardOnNoAnswerNumber I set it to my own DID associated with voip.ms. On a incoming ObiTALK call, with no extra settings, the Obi will forward to voip.ms on no answer and voip.ms will ring the Obi back and I can receive the call. I was hoping the Obi would ring busy when voip.ms sends the call back but it can complete the call (pretty amazing but I want it to go to voicemail instead).
2) In voip.ms portal, I used my own DID as the call filter and routed it to my voicemail. This will prevent the undesired behavior in 1.2. This has an added benefit that if I call my own number I get my voicemail which is useful setting since I use an IVR and can do other admin things as well as access voicemail.
So, in summary, my settings are:
1. In your voip.ms account:
a. Go to DID Numbers -> CallerID Filtering and set up a new filter:
Callerid: xxxxxxxxxx (my own DID number from voip.ms associated with my Obi110, eg I'm calling myself)
DID number to apply Filter: All or my own DID
Set Routing and Failover Routing(Busy,Unreachable,No Answer) to the desired Mailbox
2. On Obi 110 (I configure via Obitalk.com Expert configuration)
a. Voice Service > ObiTALK Service > Calling Features >
CallForwardOnNoAnswerEnable : Checked
CallForwardOnNoAnswerNumber : xxxxxxxxxx [or, if not default route out] sp2(xxxxxxxxxx)
(replace the x's with your voip.ms DID as in step 1.a.)
CallForwardOnNoAnswerRingCount: 4 # of rings before going to VM
I have verified this and it works. Thanks for the help! Now my free ObiTALK calls will use my regular, voip.ms, voicemail!
If people have any improvements please post. Is this worthy to go in the favorite tricks collection?
Cheers.
dailyglen:
Hi Stewart,
Using a speed dial as a SIP URI sounds interesting if it is free. Can you point me to more info or explain it further?
Thanks.
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