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Obi Call-Fowarding Google Voice to Canada?

Started by jasondunn, August 05, 2012, 08:01:57 PM

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jasondunn

Hi everyone! I have a somewhat unique situation that despite a fair amount of searching through these forums, I haven't been able to find a solution to.

I live in the USA. I'm using Google Voice with an Obi 110, and it all works great. I travel to Canada several times a year and have a pre-paid SIM card here. I want my Google Voice number to ring my Canadian cell phone number. When I try to set it up to do just that, Google rejects the number as being invalid because it's a Canadian area code. I've done a bunch of research and the 403-area code loophole no longer works it seems.

So I'm left with wondering if my Obi can help by forwarding my Google Voice number to my Canadian cell number. Anyone know how to set that up? Happy to pay a small fee for a service that allows me to accomplish this.

QBZappy

#1
jasondunn,

Welcome.

Quote from: jasondunn on August 05, 2012, 08:01:57 PM
I want my Google Voice number to ring my Canadian cell phone number. When I try to set it up to do just that, Google rejects the number as being invalid because it's a Canadian area code. I've done a bunch of research and the 403-area code loophole no longer works it seems.

If you already have a GV number it should be trivial to make your Canadian cell phone ring. The 403 area code is not relevant.

1) Incoming calls over the PSTN trunk
Physical Interfaces -> Line -> InboundCallRoute = {spX(aaa),ph}
replace aaa with your cell number
replace spX with your GV acct (Service Provider slot used for GV SP1 or SP2)

2) Incoming calls over voip trunk
SPX Service->X_InboundCallRoute-> = {spX(aaa),ph}

3) Don't know if you need this but OBiTALK Service Settings can be forked as well (Used in combination with another OBi or OBiAPP)
OBiTALK Service Settings->InboundCallRoute->InboundCallRoute = {spX(aaa),ph}

Test it with your current cell phone. Just replace the numbers with the Canadian cell numbers when you need it.
Owner of the 1st OBi110/100 units in service in Canada & South America. 1st OBi202 on my street. 1st OBi1032 in Montreal.

jasondunn

Thanks so much for the fast reply! I saw your name pop up on several of the other threads I researched and I was hoping you'd show up here.  ;D

Pardon the n00b question, but when you say "GV acct", do you mean my Google Voice phone number? Or account ID? It seems like it should be the Google Voice phone number, but maybe that's wrong...

jasondunn

OK, so I'm making the changes, clicking SUBMIT, seeing the change made, the Obi tells me it needs to reboot, I reboot, and it's back to the default of saying "ph" instead of the change I made. What am I missing here? Does the Obi need to be put in a special mode to accept changes?

I'm running hardware version 3.4, software version 1.3.0 (Build 2711)

QBZappy

jasondunn,

I knew you would ask me that question. As I typed it I was unsure if it would be clear to the reader.  :D

In this case GV acct means what ever Service Provider slot you used for GV. It would have to be SP1 or SP2.

Quote from: jasondunn on August 05, 2012, 09:55:21 PM
OK, so I'm making the changes, clicking SUBMIT, seeing the change made, the Obi tells me it needs to reboot, I reboot, and it's back to the default of saying "ph" instead of the change I made. What am I missing here? Does the Obi need to be put in a special mode to accept changes?

Welcome to noob gotcha #1. Easy to fix once you know how.

Read up on it here:    
Managing Your OBi Device Configuration: OBiTALK or OBi Web Page but NOT Both
http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=61.0
Owner of the 1st OBi110/100 units in service in Canada & South America. 1st OBi202 on my street. 1st OBi1032 in Montreal.

jasondunn

Thanks for the fast response! I've disabled the auto config - wow, I never would have figured that one out on my own - and the X_InboundCallRoute for SP1 Service (which is my Google Voice #) now reads:

{SP1(xxxxxxxxxx),ph}

xxxxxxxxxx = my local Canadian cell phone #

It's not working - the cell phone doesn't ring when I try a test call from a land line. I've triple-checked that syntax...any ideas as to what could be wrong?

Thanks again for your help - you rock!

QBZappy

jasondunn,

I believe that you might be short one "x". There should be 11 of them.
eg:15145551212
Owner of the 1st OBi110/100 units in service in Canada & South America. 1st OBi202 on my street. 1st OBi1032 in Montreal.

jasondunn

Ah yes, of course, the country code!

IT NOW WORKS! WOO HOO!!   ;D ;D ;D

Thanks so much for your help, you're amazing - I really appreciate it. The Obi system is powerful but so deeply complex and confusing; without people like you, people like me wouldn't be able to use it. I deeply appreciate your help.

Just out of sheer curiosity, what kind of mobile phone do you use?

QBZappy

jasondunn,

Nokia N95 and Nokia C1 (Are you offering  :D )
Owner of the 1st OBi110/100 units in service in Canada & South America. 1st OBi202 on my street. 1st OBi1032 in Montreal.

jasondunn

Quote from: QBZappy on August 06, 2012, 07:56:51 AM
Nokia N95 and Nokia C1 (Are you offering  :D )

Ah, a Nokia fan. That's not the company I work for.  ;)

joe888

Quote from: QBZappy on August 05, 2012, 08:24:22 PM
2) Incoming calls over voip trunk
SPX Service->X_InboundCallRoute-> = {spX(aaa),ph}

I have OBi100 and OBi202 all firmware updated. The method 2) is working but display my GV number not the caller ID on my cell phone. Any way to fix this? Thanks.

Stewart

GV will not allow you to spoof a caller ID.  If you want to pass the original caller ID on a bridged call, the outbound leg must use a provider that permits spoofing.  Unfortunately, I'm not aware of any free ones.  Anveo is a good choice; calls to most of Canada are $0.005/min, with 30/6 billing. 

Alternatively, you could get a US DID from a commercial provider that forwards to your Canada number (this has nothing to do with the OBi).  In theory, VoxOx should be a free solution, but AFAIK there is no way to make it pass DTMF, so you would be unable to verify the number with GV.

You could use a free Callcentric (New York) DID, which you could forward via iNum to VoxOx, which would in turn forward to your Canada number.  Though this would be free, I wouldn't expect a chain of three providers to be reliable or have the best quality.  Also, you would have to state that you were using CC outside of North America, to avoid the $1.50/mo. 911 fee.

QBZappy

#12
jasondunn,

Quote from: jasondunn on August 06, 2012, 07:45:10 AM
Just out of sheer curiosity, what kind of mobile phone do you use?

Quote from: QBZappy on August 06, 2012, 07:56:51 AM
jasondunn,

Nokia N95 and Nokia C1 (Are you offering  :D )

NO, NO, NO, I take that back. Of course I love my HTC  :D
http://www.jasondunn.com/
Owner of the 1st OBi110/100 units in service in Canada & South America. 1st OBi202 on my street. 1st OBi1032 in Montreal.

joe888

I tried *72 (Call Forward All) to my cell phone but the same, only show my own GV number, not the caller ID. I am new to VoIP, I have to learn more. Thank you.