Callcentric and Google Voice Setup Guide (with CNAM)
Shinelikethunder:
Quote from: SteveInWA on April 01, 2019, 05:54:34 pm
The absolute minimum needed would be to subscribe to their "dollar unlimited" INbound service, which will become your "detour" for inbound calls to pick up CNAM, and to subscribe to their 911 service (remember, 911 calls are outbound calls) for $1.50/month. That totals $2.50/month. Optionally, instead of the $1.5o/month charge for 911 service, subscribe to the "North America Basic" OUTbound plan, which includes the 911 service AND 120 minutes of outbound calling, that you can either ignore, or you can use in case Google Voice is temporarily not working.
I think I have a pretty good understanding of how this basically works, but I didn't get a clear understanding from the Callcentric site of exactly what Callcentric plans are best for use with GV and Obi. In particular, I wasn't sure from their description whether E911 was included in the North America Basic cost. Thank you very much for this clear summary. Just to be clear, you don't need BOTH an inbound plan and an outbound plan to use Callcentric with GV, right?
SteveInWA:
Callcentric sells inbound calling and outbound calling separately (a la carte).
You don't actually need a Callcentric inbound number or plan to use Google Voice, as long as you are ok with only receiving numeric caller ID on inbound calls to your Google Voice number. If you want to detour inbound calls through one of Callcentric's $1/month numbers, it will add caller ID name (of course, it can only add a name when a matching name and number combination exists in the caller ID name databases).
You have two choices for E911 service: either pay for it a la carte ($1.50/month), or pay for a monthly bucket of OUTbound calling minutes, whereby E911 service is included for the monthly plan charge. Their "North America Basic" plan at $1.95/month includes E911 service. So, you are getting E911 + 120 minutes of outbound calling for 45 cents more per month than just E911 service. It's a nice feature if you need to make some calls when Google Voice isn't working for some reason.
Their rates are explained on their "Make calls" page. Click on each plan to see the details.
For example: https://www.callcentric.com/rate/plans/north_america_basic/
Shinelikethunder:
I thought I understood what I needed for E911 and caller ID name, but after looking at the Callcentric plans, I have another question. I assume that "Callcentric's $1/month numbers" refers to the "Dollar Unlimited" plan, but I find that plan is available in only 4 states. Do I have to live in one of those states, or can I get a "Dollar Unlimited" plan for a phone number in one of those states regardless? Are there any downsides or limitations if I route GV through an out-of-state number? Thanks.
SteveInWA:
Quote from: Shinelikethunder on May 11, 2019, 12:08:48 am
I thought I understood what I needed for E911 and caller ID name, but after looking at the Callcentric plans, I have another question. I assume that "Callcentric's $1/month numbers" refers to the "Dollar Unlimited" plan, but I find that plan is available in only 4 states. Do I have to live in one of those states, or can I get a "Dollar Unlimited" plan for a phone number in one of those states regardless? Are there any downsides or limitations if I route GV through an out-of-state number? Thanks.
The background is: unlike many VoIP service providers, Callcentric operates their own FCC-regulated Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC), named "Telengy". Telengy controls blocks of telephone numbers in only a few states. These numbers cost Callcentric less to offer than numbers that they have to lease from other CLECs. So, they can offer inbound calling to those numbers for $1/month.
Google Voice doesn't care where it forwards calls, as long as the target number is in a telephone rate center (local calling exchange) within the 48 contiguous US states. It doesn't charge the Google Voice user anything to forward calls to these numbers.
Nobody who is calling you needs to know that number, and really, you don't need to remember it either. You simply link it as a forwarding number for your Google Voice number. So, it doesn't matter that you live in one state, and your Callcentric $1/month phone number is in another state.
Shinelikethunder:
Thanks, that's great info. Callcentric should probably explain all of this on their website; it would get them more business from GV subscribers.
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