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Callcentric and Google Voice Setup Guide (with CNAM)

Started by pc44, July 11, 2012, 11:10:47 AM

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Wildcatz

Steve
Thought I would post the outcome of the tests I just did based on your ring extension then voicemail pointer:

Tried the call an extension (default extension in CC) for 30 seconds then set for going to CC voicemail. In this scenario the CC phone rung successfully (result !) but when it got to the end of the 30 seconds it was answered by Google Voice voicemail again ! Now I then tried this same scenario but lowered the ring before VMAIL bit to 20 seconds and bingo the CC Voicemail kicked in.

With the treatment above working I then proceeded to setup the same rule (call default extension, wait 20 and dump in voicemail) but with Telemarketer block added, this time went back to the same experience that started this conversation, i.e. Google Voice voicemail intercepted the call. So it appears that as I mentioned earlier, any treatment other than letting the phone ring causes the call to be pulled back to Google Voice voicemail unfortunately. I still find it interesting though that even when the calls are sucked back they are still showing in the Callcentric call history as inbound 1 second calls but of course never connect.

My hope/use case was that as I give out my Google Voice number, if anyone wants to ring and block there number then as it forwards to CC the Telemarketer treatment would force them to press the digit (therefore at least showing they should be a human :)) and then call through or force to voicemail. Doesn't seem like I will be able to do that in this case as anything over and above ringing the phone does not seem to work.

I did try and setup the treatment similar to what you mentioned, in this case I set it for any calls originating from my Google Voice number (entered the number in explicitly)to go to the error message but that didn't work and instead sent me back to Google Voice voicemail.

For reference, I too have multiple paid DID's with CC including International but only use 1 DID as a forward target of Google Voice.

Thanks



Quote from: SteveInWA on February 03, 2015, 06:51:45 PM
Quote from: Wildcatz on February 03, 2015, 05:00:47 PM
I found that this erroneous routing was being caused by call treatments on my Callcentric account. Specifically if I set a call treatment to allow the Callcentric phone to ring (blocked or unblocked number) irregardless then sure enough the call routed through fine. However if I used ANY call treatment on the Callcentric end to say go straight to voicemail, send the call to another number, perform the telemarketer block etc the call would always default route to Google Voice voicemail and never be passed to Callcentric.

Hi: 

You and I went through a series of posts on this topic on the GV help forum.  The bottom line, regardless of what might have worked in the past, is that the type of call treatments you are attempting to perform on the CC end, should just be performed on the GV end instead.

I can tell you that I have a GV number forwarded to a CC DID, and that the following call treatments do work:


  • Send certain specific inbound numbers (telemarketer/fraudster/spammer) to the no-service SIT error message (create one such treatment for each number that calls you, and you want to block in the future.  If the caller isn't handled by these rules, then the default rule is processed:
  • Send to one, or multiple extensions, and ring each for 30 seconds, then go to CC VM (this should be your only call treatment set as the default for calls made to this DID, and be sure to click the "normalize priority" button after you finish adding treatments.)

Do NOT create any treatments to try to subsequently forward the call to a different phone number, after it hits your CC DID.

The purpose of setting the "forward to CC VM after 30 seconds" is as a GV-compatible fail-safe:  GV will ring a forwarded number for approximately 25 seconds, then, if no answer or busy, it will give up and take back the call to GV VM.  The 30 second ring interval for CC will prevent CC VM from grabbing the calls before GV VM.  However, if someone calls the CC DID directly, the unanswered call will instead go to CC VM.

Wildcatz

Tao
Thats a brilliant idea of a phone book for telemarketers/spam to save on the number of line entries you have for call treatments !

Quote from: Taoman on February 03, 2015, 07:57:57 PM
Quote from: SteveInWA on February 03, 2015, 06:51:45 PM


  • Send certain specific inbound numbers (telemarketer/fraudster/spammer) to the no-service SIT error message (create one such treatment for each number that calls you, and you want to block in the future.  If the caller isn't handled by these rules, then the default rule is processed:

Are you saying the caller literally hears the SIT error message or that the caller just hears a ringback tone until GV voicemail picks up? When I try this (and I've tested this dozens of times) there is no message heard (since it is early media) just the ringback tone.

And I'm not sure why you would recommend making individual call treatments "for each number that calls you, and you want to block in the future." That seems needlessly redundant. Why not make one or two call treatments and make corresponding phone book groups the call treatments act on? Then just add the "telemarketer/fraudster/spammer" contact to one of those groups.

SteveInWA

You're trying to use GV backwards, with respect to voicemail.  The intent is to avoid letting some other phone carrier's voicemail system grab the call.  By setting the CC ring period to less than 25 seconds, you are now circumventing GV's ability to work as it is designed, to take back the call to its own VM.

Your scenario of using CC's telemarketer block, is going to be unpredictable and unsupported.  Either use GV for call processing, or use CC for call processing, but some combination of the two is going to produce variable results.  GV has its own individual call blocking feature, allowing you to (after the first call) flag future calls from that number as Spam or send it to GV VM.  It also has a global spam-blocking feature, similar to, but not identical in operation to, nomorobo.  Millions of GV users are satisfied with these options.  You'll never reach perfect nirvana with this; sooner or later, you just need to talk to somebody you don't want to talk to...you won't catch cooties.

I think I've spent enough time flogging this discussion.

Wildcatz

Steve

Thanks for your help with this, I do appreciate it. Trust me if this hadn't worked for months like it was then I would never have even started a convo about it. The fact is that it was working for a while now for me (don't know how) and then stopped which is why I reached out. As I mentioned in the Google Voice thread, it even worked again when I was troubleshooting the issue the other day then stopped even with no settings from the previous test adjusted. This to me shows that some combination of the routing/transport from Google Voice out did/was allowing this to be processed correctly (albeit maybe not as designed) by a secondary processor (in this case CC).

At this point it seems the only way to have the true flexibility of call treatments (to the level of up front telemarketer block that CC offers) would be to get a separate CC DID and use that as the 'intermediary' number to hand out then at least all processing could be on 1 system.

Thanks all for the input, appreciate the tips Tao, Giqcass. Steve/Bluescat appreciate your suggestions as well. New to this forum and the Google Voice one and appreciate the topics and knowledge shared here.


Quote from: SteveInWA on February 03, 2015, 09:05:49 PM
You're trying to use GV backwards, with respect to voicemail.  The intent is to avoid letting some other phone carrier's voicemail system grab the call.  By setting the CC ring period to less than 25 seconds, you are now circumventing GV's ability to work as it is designed, to take back the call to its own VM.

Your scenario of using CC's telemarketer block, is going to be unpredictable and unsupported.  Either use GV for call processing, or use CC for call processing, but some combination of the two is going to produce variable results.  GV has its own individual call blocking feature, allowing you to (after the first call) flag future calls from that number as Spam or send it to GV VM.  It also has a global spam-blocking feature, similar to, but not identical in operation to, nomorobo.  Millions of GV users are satisfied with these options.  You'll never reach perfect nirvana with this; sooner or later, you just need to talk to somebody you don't want to talk to...you won't catch cooties.

I think I've spent enough time flogging this discussion.

jpw94

I'm new to OBI (Obi202) and I am paying about $36/mo for home and business service which is a bargain in many ways.

But I decided to get that down to near zero so I purchased an Obi202 with the intent of porting my home & business number to GV. So let me lay out what I have in the hopes of providing info to others as I have discovered some tricks in this thread that has enabled me to overcome a few little hurdles. I'll try to make this as readable as possible.

1. I bought the Obi202 so I could maintain two separate phone numbers for home and my home-based businesses.
2. I currently have 4 phone numbers in my world: a) home b) primary biz c) iPhone and d) separate GV number which I give out sparingly to those whom I want to hear from (it rings on all of the above phones.)
3. I followed the instructions of porting my home number by setting up up t-mobile pre-paid sim to get it there and then ported that to GV. That worked fine with a few kinks but successful in 2 days! Planning on porting biz phone to GV next.

I then realized I painted myself into a corner because I could not forward line 4 (GV) to the other GV number. That's a real bummer for me. Plus I wasn't seeing the callerid of incoming calls that is something I need as well. Then I found this thread. Within minutes I had a callcentric account and my phone was ringing with Caller-ID! The by product of that was that I was able to get line 4 to forward to the new GV home number too. Beautiful!

4. I followed the instructions found on at the beginning of this thread to obtain a free DID and configured the OBI202 using the built-in callcentric script. Worked great! Incoming calls are assigned to ring on phone 1.

My question is about a second callcentric line. Seems like the callcentric # (1777) stays the same even if I add a second DID number to my account. So I am uncertain how to get OBI202 to see the second number and ring ONLY on phone 2. Any suggestions? Do I merely need to create a second account (separate email)?

When I get second Free callcentric number for the biz side and port the number over to GV the bottom line for me will be reducing my $36 to $3/month!

Thanks all.

azrobert

In your Callcentric account add a second extension.
Click the Extensions tab then Add New Extension.
Create 2 Call Treatments.
Route the 1st DID to extension 100.
Route 2nd DID to extension 101.

In the OBi202 register an SP trunk to extension 101.
I think you have an open SP trunk for ext101.
If you don't there is a solution.

jpw94

Perfect azrobert. I found that afterposting and I think that will work. First number goes to ext 100 by default.When I provided the CC number in the 202 I added the 101 to end of it and it registered so I think it's going to work.

I now need to port biz over to GV. 2 days it will be done! Thank you for your help.

azrobert

You can test the setup without a 2nd DID.
Temporarily add a Call Treatment to route your current DID to extension 101.

bobd

I'm new to the OBI, GV & CallCentric world, so please bear with me on my questions.

I have the OBI with GV up and woring. Everything seems fine. There are 2 things I want to have in addition to my set up.

1. E911
2. Caller ID Name

From what I gather from this thread is that I can accomplish this with CC. I started to follow the initial instructions but I think they may be dated. I got a "free" number from CC, but it will not give me E911.

So now I believe that I need to get a paid number. The cheapest is $1.95/mo. No biggie I can handle that. But what confuses me on this is that it has a limit on the number of minutes/mo. If I go this route do I eventually set this up with OBI as a incoming call only option? If so, how does that work if I need E911, which I think would need to be an outgoing call?

Sorry if this all seems obvious, but I'm still struggling with how this all hangs together.

dircom

#229
When I signed up, it asks you if you are in the US.  If you are, then you have to pay for 911, not sure why you did not see that upon sign up.

To get CNAM, fwd GV calls to CallCentric.  Set up GV and CallCentric on your Obi.  Setup GV for default of outgoing calls.

"you WILL be billed for 911 separately, at $1.50/month plus a one time $1.50 setup fee, if you state that your are in the US or Canada."

bobd

Thanks for your quick reply.

I siigned up for IP Freedom as it was free, but now think I need to sign up for North America Basic at $1.50 set-up and $1.95/mo.

For just $1.95 per month our new North America Basic Plan comes included with E911, 120 minutes of outbound calling to the United States/Canada/Puerto Rico, UNLIMITED calling to Toll-Free Numbers, UNLIMITED in-network calling to other Callcentric customers, and full support for all of our FREE value added features
.

Again, due to my ignorance of this subject, I believe that the intent of using GV and OBI is to have unlimited talk inbound/outbound. So my confusion is why CC says 120 minutes of OB calling.

So my questions are:

Do I just go ahead and sign up for the No. America Basic plan and us it for inbound calls (a set up on OBI?)?
Do I us GV for outbound calls? If so, then how odes the E911 with CC work?

Bob

dircom

#231
I think this addresses your question:  http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=2076.20
but I don't use CallCentric 911, so another person might verify if the forum posts I found answer your issue

ps
this is what I pasted into Google search to find an answer
e911 callcentric site:obitalk.com

bobd

Thanks.

All the threads seem to be really old on this topic so it is hard for me to align what I am seeing on CC with what is being described in the threads.

I think if I go this route I'm going to need to pay for a plan, but I don't want to be constrained to any minutes allocation. They have outgoing plans and the cheapest is the North America Basic plan ($1.50 set-up/$1.95/mo), but again it says 120 minutes outbound calls per month. I think I can configure OBI to use GV for outbound (I think). But then I believe I won't get the CNAM and E911 from CC if I do this! All the inbound plans are around $5/mo which starts to get pricey when trying to strive for no cost.


Taoman

Quote from: bobd on January 26, 2016, 12:17:58 PM
I think I can configure OBI to use GV for outbound (I think). But then I believe I won't get the CNAM and E911 from CC if I do this!



Don't you see this when you log into your Callcentric account? Just click on the link and sign up for E911.

You don't need to sign up for an inbound or outbound Callcentric plan, just E911. You have unlimited incoming and outgoing calls with Google Voice. Yes, you would receive CNAM for incoming GV calls forwarded to your free and unlimited Callcentric DID. You would set up forwarding to CC from within your Google Voice account. This is much simpler than you are making it out to be.

dircom

#234
Quote from: bobd on January 26, 2016, 12:17:58 PM
Thanks.

All the threads seem to be really old on this topic so it is hard for me to align what I am seeing on CC with what is being described in the threads.

I think if I go this route I'm going to need to pay for a plan, but I don't want to be constrained to any minutes allocation. They have outgoing plans and the cheapest is the North America Basic plan ($1.50 set-up/$1.95/mo), but again it says 120 minutes outbound calls per month. I think I can configure OBI to use GV for outbound (I think). But then I believe I won't get the CNAM and E911 from CC if I do this! All the inbound plans are around $5/mo which starts to get pricey when trying to strive for no cost.

DID you order IP FREEDOM ??
Next, order Free Phone Number?
when you order the free phone number it asks you to pay for 911
(I just created another CallCentric account 5 minutes ago, so I know it is the same process as the old posts explain)

What do you mean by "I think I can configure OBI to use GV for outbound (I think)"  
I just told you in an earlier post that you can.

bobd

Sorry for my questions. Given I was not sure of what I was doing I was getting a bit apprehensive.

I did go through and get another Free Phone Number and was able to set it up with my OBI200. I will need to see if CNAM works when I get a call from someone not in my phonelist. As for E911, I'm still waiting for the email from CC.

But for now, calls are getting through. Voicemails are being transcribed and handled by google just as before.

Thanks for you patience and assistance!

SteveInWA

Geeeeeeeeeez.  The posts are "old" because not much has changed since the thread began.

Callcentric offers different types of inbound service.

"IP Freedom" can only be used to make and receive calls between other Callcentric users, or other SIP users; it does not give you an inbound Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) telephone number.

Callcentric offers different inbound calling plans, either billed per-minute, or per-bucket-o-minutes, or unlimited, with PSTN phone numbers available in most locations.  All inbound calling plans include CNAM.  Some inbound plans require the extra $1.50/month for E911, and other plans bundle in E911 with the monthly fee.

Callcentric also owns its own Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC), Telengy.  It offers free inbound PSTN numbers in the NY State area.  These numbers are ideal as forwarding numbers for Google Voice, since nobody needs to know or call that number; it would only be called by Google Voice to forward your calls.

SO:  your choice.  Get a free NY DID, and pay the $1.50 fee for E911, if you'll only be using this for Google Voice, or, get a local DID if you'd like to use it as a full-function local phone number, or you can even port in an existing local number.

zsak23

bobd -

I just went thru this process myself.  In your callcentric account go into Preferences.  On the General tab is the Caller ID with name (Inbound calls): option.  This is disabled by default. Edit to enable.  Then CNAM should work as it has for me.

zsak23

#238
Is it possible to use the same Callcentric account with 2 DIDs, one each on 2 different Obis?

ETA:  Will a second extension for 1 DID also work on a second Obi?

SteveInWA

Quote from: zsak23 on January 28, 2016, 03:18:34 AM
Is it possible to use the same Callcentric account with 2 DIDs, one each on 2 different Obis?

ETA:  Will a second extension for 1 DID also work on a second Obi?

It would be great if you would not glom on to an old discussion with new questions.

It's confusing at first, but a Callcentric customer has one Callcentric account.  That account can host several different inbound telephone numbers (DIDs).  Any of those DIDs can be configured to ring any or all extensions.

Each extension has a 3-digit suffix added to your 1777 account number.  Each extension can (but doesn't need to) have it's own, unique SIP password.

This is all managed using the Extensions tab and the Call Treatments tab in Callcentric's web portal.

For example:  I have 3 DIDs on my CC account.  I have 3 OBi devices in active use, plus 2 devices from other manufacturers.  I set up a bunch of extensions so that I can individually route calls to all of those devices, depending on which DIDs are being called.  Each extension can be configured to call out using any one of my CC DID numbers as caller ID sent.