[S]Remote control of the OBi 110 questions...

[Robert.Thompson]

Hello:

I am installing an OBi 110 for a friend who runs his business out of his home north of Montreal. Most of his business calls (in & out) are to/from the 514 area code - long-distance for him. Presently, he has in & out business 1-800 lines. It costs him a bundle.

If I setup the OBi 110 can I administer it remotely from Montreal? I would rather that he could not make any changes himself because he knows even less than I about this Obi/VOIP stuff? Is that possible too?

Thanks for any advice on this,

Rob.

[RonR]

Forward port 8080 in his router to the OBi's LAN IP address.

In the OBi, set:

System Management -> Device Admin -> Port : 8080
System Management -> Device Admin -> AdminPassword : (password)

Then login to his OBi remotely using his public_IP_address:8080

If his public IP address is dynamic, sign up for a free DynDNS.org account which will assign a hostname that always points to his current IP address.  Most routers support DynDNS.

[Stewart]

You can remotely manage an OBi either via OBiTalk, or by setting up dynamic DNS and a port forward in his router, so you can access the device directly from your browser.  With either method, if you don't tell him the password and he is not technically adept, he won't be able to access it.  Of course, he has physical access; with a little bit of knowledge he could reset the device with a paper clip and then configure it himself.

I would recommend either VoIP.ms (lower latency) or Anveo (IMO more reliable) for both his main 514 number and his toll-free.  Pricing is similar.  He might want to have one from each, for some redundancy.

[Robert.Thompson]

Forward port 8080 in his router to the OBi's LAN IP address.

In the OBi, set:

System Management -> Device Admin -> Port : 8080
System Management -> Device Admin -> AdminPassword : (password)

Then login to his OBi remotely using his public_IP_address:8080

If his public IP address is dynamic, sign up for a free DynDNS.org account which will assign a hostname that always points to his current IP address.  Most routers support DynDNS.

Thanks Ron.

[Robert.Thompson]

You can remotely manage an OBi either via OBiTalk, or by setting up dynamic DNS and a port forward in his router, so you can access the device directly from your browser.  With either method, if you don't tell him the password and he is not technically adept, he won't be able to access it.  Of course, he has physical access; with a little bit of knowledge he could reset the device with a paper clip and then configure it himself.

I would recommend either VoIP.ms (lower latency) or Anveo (IMO more reliable) for both his main 514 number and his toll-free.  Pricing is similar.  He might want to have one from each, for some redundancy.

Thanks Stewart.

[Robert.Thompson]

I would recommend either VoIP.ms (lower latency) or Anveo (IMO more reliable) for both his main 514 number and his toll-free.  Pricing is similar.  He might want to have one from each, for some redundancy.

Hi Stewart:

Does this mean that VoIP.ms has lower latency but Anveo has better reliability?

Thanks,

[Stewart]

VoIP.ms has a server in Montreal, so (for you) latency should be minimized.  The closest Anveo server is in Texas.  Some folks can't tell the difference, for others it's a big deal.

Edit: As pointed out by Robert, the above is incorrect -- Anveo has a server in Laval, QC.  My apology for the gross error.

IMO, Anveo is more reliable.  You can find many comments and reviews at http://www.dslreports.com/forum/voip and http://www.dslreports.com/gbu .

Another good choice may be Callcentric.  They have servers in New York and are IMO extremely reliable.  I didn't mention them at first, because the cost for an 800 number (when caller is in Canada) is quite high, and that was one of your complaints.  With the OBi, you might use Callcentric for local incoming and possibly outgoing, with one of the other providers for 800 service.

[Everton]

Stewart:

Didn't Anveo add a Canadian Server some months ago?

NEW SIP Registration Server/Proxy (Canada):   sip.ca.anveo.com:5010

VoIP.ms has a server in Montreal, so (for you) latency should be minimized.  The closest Anveo server is in Texas.  Some folks can't tell the difference, for others it's a big deal.

IMO, Anveo is more reliable.  You can find many comments and reviews at http://www.dslreports.com/forum/voip and http://www.dslreports.com/gbu .

Another good choice may be Callcentric.  They have servers in New York and are IMO extremely reliable.  I didn't mention them at first, because the cost for an 800 number (when caller is in Canada) is quite high, and that was one of your complaints.  With the OBi, you might use Callcentric for local incoming and possibly outgoing, with one of the other providers for 800 service.

[Stewart]

Didn't Anveo add a Canadian Server some months ago?

Sorry, I completely forgot about that.  It's in Laval, QC, so your latency should be minimal.

At this point, I'd be in favor of Anveo, unless perhaps you need a feature that Anveo doesn't offer (unlikely), or is extra cost on Anveo but free on VoIP.ms.

[Huib]

Although there is the promise of managing OBi's through the OBiTALK portal it's a crapshoot whether it'll work or not. For instance: at this moment it only sees one of my OBi's online but can't actually connect to it, the other is online as well but shows as offline. In any case, if you need a reliable way of managing it I suggest the method RonR described. I will be moving that direction soon.

[RonR]

The OBiTALK voice server (and presumably the server that supports OBiTALK Web Portal configuration) have been down for at least the past hour.

[Robert.Thompson]

Is it OK to use TeamViewer for remote control purposes on my friends Obi?

Thanks,