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How to configure OBi to make calls to three countries?

Started by Frodo, December 28, 2011, 02:01:19 PM

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Frodo

I have a set of calling  requirements, which I was hoping to solve by either buying Ooma or ObiHai or Vonage, can someone help me in guiding on which is the best (read cheapest) way to do so?

Requirements:

need to call from USA to three countries on a daily basis. The countries and the average min.s that I spend on them talking per day are:

India: 60 mins
UK: 20mins
Germany (cell phone): 30 mins
USA: 120 mins.

Current set up:
Two Vonage phones one in India and another in USA, with the world plan (unlimited calling within USA and to UK): pay about a total of $70 ($35 for each plan)
To call Germany cell phone, I buy calling cards, but it still costs me about 25c per min.

Expectation:

Can someone please help me in reducing my monthly phone bill? Is ObiHai the way to go? If yes, then how? I am willing to make an initial onetime investment, but would like to keep that low as well.

thanks for the help!


Stewart

Quote from: Frodo on December 28, 2011, 02:01:19 PMTo call Germany cell phone, I buy calling cards, but it still costs me about 25c per min.
Are you really spending 30 (min./day) times 20 (bus. days/mo.) times $0.25/min. = $150/mo., just for Germany?

There are many better choices.  Cheapest are the Betamax companies; list is here http://backsla.sh/betamax (prices in Euro cent/min.) Lowest to DE mobile is Intervoip; $0.029/min.  Quality and reliability are not the best, but your usage is so high, you may want to risk €5, to see if it meets your needs.

Next step up is Localphone; $0.069/min. to DE mobile.  You get a few minutes of free credit at signup, so you can test without making a payment or supplying any financial info.

If your contact in DE has a cell plan with lots of minutes, you might try Rebtel.  Your contact calls you back on the local number provided and the call is free (except for cellular airtime).

Any of the above can be used as calling cards, with an OBi or other VoIP hardware, or with softphone, smartphone app, etc.

If you buy a couple of OBi devices, you'll have free calling between them, and to US numbers with Google Voice.  You could add additional providers for 911, or for inexpensive calling to UK; several are less than $0.01/min.

You might also look at the offerings of VOIPo or Phonepower; though not cheap, they are much less expensive than Vonage, have good support, and include a "cloned line" feature, so you could make and receive calls while another family member is on the phone.

Although somewhat of a hassle to set up, Voxbeam (Premium route) may meet some of your requirements.  Quality is IMO quite high; UK landline is $0.0058/min, DE mobile is $0.0502 - $0.0521, depending on carrier.  You get a small credit at signup; until you get your OBi, you could test with a free softphone.

Frodo

1) Thanks for the detailed answer, Stewart

2) Calling to Germany mobile will go way eventually, in about a couple of month's time  - Sorry should have mentioned that in my OP - will be replaced by Germany Land line

3) If I buy a couple of OBi devices (for US and India, let's assume) - then calling between India and US becomes Free, correct?

     a) Then the only question remains of buying a calling card or a VOIP provider  (Google Voice or Voxbeam or VOIPo or Phonepower) service for UK, is that correct? Forgive my ignorance here, but I am not familiar with all the VOIP providers or the services they offer.

So in conclusion, I will only have to pay for calling UK, if i buy OBi. What if I have to call to UK from India? Is that a possibility? Maybe I can use Google voice to do so as well.

johnoei

I need someone who knows about obihai to configure.
I am willing to pay.
Please call me at 415 823 1586 or email me at john@thinkapril.com .

JohnOei

Stewart

Quote from: Frodo on December 29, 2011, 09:34:12 AM
     a) Then the only question remains of buying a calling card or a VOIP provider  ...
You will have to make the decision yourself.  I'm not affiliated with any of the companies mentioned and can't guarantee that you won't have problems with quality, reliability or support, or that they will even stay in business.

If you do nothing, your bill will soon drop quite a bit, because Germany landline is included in your Vonage plan.  In the short term, there is not much risk trying an alternate calling card provider -- you can only lose what you have deposited with them, and can always revert to your present calling card.  Localphone, though not the cheapest, does give you five minutes of free calling to try them out.

Though much more expensive than the Google Voice solution, I suggested VOIPo and Phonepower for several reasons:  They include a second line, so others at your home or office could use the phone while you are on.  Like Vonage, they send you a preconfigured adapter, so no technical knowledge is required.  The service includes 911 (with the OBi, you'd need a separate provider for that) and decent support.  You should read their respective web sites to see what they offer; reviews of them (and many others) can be found at http://www.dslreports.com/gbu , or by searching the web.

If you go the OBi route, calls between them will of course be free.  Although you can set them up so that each one can access the services of the other, it's IMO simpler (and you'll get lower latency) if you just get separate GV accounts at both ends.  That will also make it easy to call either location from a US mobile.  If you won't be making many international calls from your India location, GV at $0.02/min. to UK or DE landline is not too bad.  Or, you could add an account with another provider.

At the US OBi, you might use Callcentric, VoIP.ms or Anveo for 911.  VoIP.ms has pretty good international rates, or you could add a third provider (a Betamax brand, Localphone or Voxbeam, as discussed earlier).  With the OBi, there is probably no reason to use a calling card service; the direct VoIP connection gives better quality and does not require two-stage dialing.

larrybob

There is a way to do what you want ..... not too difficult.... if you want private message me so i can understand exactly what you are looking for.. Larry

Stewart

Quote from: larrybob on December 29, 2011, 09:42:11 PM
There is a way to do what you want ..... not too difficult.... if you want private message me so i can understand exactly what you are looking for.. Larry
Why the secrecy?  If you have something to sell that is a good value, others may be interested.

Of course, spamming is prohibited, but take a look at the last forum, titiled North American ITSPs.  It's clearly labeled "Where ITSPs can post OBi-relevant information about their services".  Put a description of your offering there, along with a reference in this thread.

DaveTap

I would get a free PBXes.com (or similar) account and set up one or two of the Betamax providers mentioned in that. Set up all your Obis with a unique Google# as one provider and PBXes extension as the other. (You're allowed up to 5 free extensions and 5 providers in PBXes) Then set up dial rules in PBXes to select correct provider for each country you call.

Stewart

Quote from: DaveTap on December 31, 2011, 03:36:04 AM
I would get a free PBXes.com (or similar) account and set up one or two of the Betamax providers mentioned in that. ...
PBXes provides no benefit in this application; it would only add latency and a possible point of failure.

I believe that Betamax providers do not require registration, so you can configure a separate VGx in the OBi for each provider, then use the digit maps to select the desired provider for each destination.

Of course, if you needed two or more SIP providers that do not accept unregistered calls, PBXes would be a good solution.

hwittenb

To expand on what Stewart is saying, with the OBi you can even make things simpler if you just have a limited number of numbers you call by using OBi speed dials.  You can setup up to 100 speed dial numbers and it is possible to setup each one with a different voip provider assuming the provider allows unregistered calls and you have an account with the provider.  You don't even have to go to the trouble to setup a VoiceGateway for them.  You just need to have one Sip Provider setup under SP1 or SP2.  With a speed dial you just dial xx# where xx is the speed dial number.

This capability was added in OBi firmware maintenance release 1.2.1(2283)

You may now append these URL parameters to speed dial and SIP Gateway VG1-8 access number, separated by ';',
   - ui=userid[:password]
   - ui=user-info, password is optional
   - op=[ i ][ m ][ n ][ s ]        ;option flags, i=ice,  -m=symmetic-rtp, n=natted-address, s=stun
    Examples:
     SpeedDial = sp2(1234@sip.inum.net;ui=1000:xyz;op=sm)
     VG1-8 AccessNumber = SP1(sip.inum.net;user=1000;op=imns)


DaveTap

Quote from: Stewart on December 31, 2011, 03:48:18 AM
Quote from: DaveTap on December 31, 2011, 03:36:04 AM
I would get a free PBXes.com (or similar) account and set up one or two of the Betamax providers mentioned in that. ...
PBXes provides no benefit in this application; it would only add latency and a possible point of failure.

I believe that Betamax providers do not require registration, so you can configure a separate VGx in the OBi for each provider, then use the digit maps to select the desired provider for each destination.

Of course, if you needed two or more SIP providers that do not accept unregistered calls, PBXes would be a good solution.
Wow, didn't realize Obi had this capability... Although I've never had any problem with latency using PBXes this could be a more elegant solution for sharing my betamax accounts over the 7 OBIs I got for my family.
Thanks Stewart!!!  ;D

lk96

Quote from: Frodo on December 29, 2011, 09:34:12 AM
1) Thanks for the detailed answer, Stewart

2) Calling to Germany mobile will go way eventually, in about a couple of month's time  - Sorry should have mentioned that in my OP - will be replaced by Germany Land line

3) If I buy a couple of OBi devices (for US and India, let's assume) - then calling between India and US becomes Free, correct?

     a) Then the only question remains of buying a calling card or a VOIP provider  (Google Voice or Voxbeam or VOIPo or Phonepower) service for UK, is that correct? Forgive my ignorance here, but I am not familiar with all the VOIP providers or the services they offer.

So in conclusion, I will only have to pay for calling UK, if i buy OBi. What if I have to call to UK from India? Is that a possibility? Maybe I can use Google voice to do so as well.

To add couple comments based on my own experience and usage model of Obi so far:
+ If you have the ability to supply an Obi for the remote locations, then that will be by far the cheapest
option: yes you can dial directly from a phone handset attached to one Obi, another Obi device using
its factory assigned 9-digit #, or with a preprogrammed speed dial or through more involved configurations
that folks have already posted some info about.

+ Calls to US  #s will be free with GV

+ For calls to mobiles in Europe I will second Stewart's suggestion to look at some of the betamax companies.
I make quite a few such calls and I use EasyVoip and VoipALot (disclosure: I'm not reselling and I'm not affiliated with these two companies in any way - they simply seem to work well and be the cheapest options
for my calls). My experience so far in terms of quality has been very good for calls to mobile in Europe.
The rates vary but they can be as low as 4c/min to mobiles in Germany. I have used extensively such
SIP providers for business conf calls to India (calls that last 1-2hours) and didn't experience any
choppiness, disconnects or other voice degradation problems.

+ For calls to UK you will have to do your own investigation. It seems that the per min cost for
calls to UK vary A LOT depending on destination #.

Overall, and based on what you shared so for, it seems that the calls to UK will be the one
that will be hitting your pocket mostly.

L.


Paulo

Wow, I didn't even know you could set up something so complex. Congartulations, I am amazed  8)