Callcentric Backup - Using Anveo with the Obi for E911 and DID
MikeHObi:
I understand that Callcentric is having many issues outside their control, but when my Free incoming NY DID started giving fast busy, I finally took some time to setup a backup service.
In summary, Anveo is a capable backup service. As I have it configured, my costs are going to be $2.80 per month for a DID with free incoming minutes and E911. From what I can tell it is possible to have E911 with Anveo for only .80 per month using it as a SIP only account.
Here is a summary of how I got it setup. It took about 3 hours since there was a wait until my account was funded. Not to mention it took a bit if trial and error since the Anveo website is not particularly friendly for someone who doesn't know anything (like me).
Anveo configuration.
#1 - Go to the Anveo website and create an account. This account is free and is necessary to add services.
#2 - Enable SIP. Note the recommendations on putting some Call Security on that, and take those steps. Once you enable sip you can configure your Obi to talk to the sip. Obi has built in support for Anveo. I have an Obi202 so I set up Anveo as SIP3. Once the Obi is configured your Anveo dashboard will show SIP Status as Online. Note that Anveo will give you a username and password to configure the account.
#3 - Add money to your account balance. Use Paypal or Google Wallet to add a minumum of $10 to your Anveo balance. Note this can take a few hours to 24 hours to show up in your Anveo account. For me it took about 2 hours for my $10 to show up.
#4 - Turn on E911. You can not configure E911 until you have a balance as the first seutp takes the monthly access fee. But once the money is there you can turn it on.
You should now have E911 and can configure that SIP provider in the Obi for to support E911. Anveo will generate a generic call back number if you place 911 over the sip that if dialed by 911 will ring back to your sip account. So I don't believe you need a DID to get 911 service. Now I didn't test that. But that is what ever indication I had was.
#5 - order a new phone number. You pick your region, state, and area code, then pick the type of number. There is the Anveo Value which is $1.00p/month in the US, and allows 150 min/day incoming calls. I chose the Personal Unlimited number which allows all incoming calls Free. Cost is $2.00 per month. That plus E911 has me at $2.80 per month vs CallCentric of 1.80 per month for the NY DID. One big difference is this number can be from many places, not just NY.
#6 - Once you have the number on your account, configure the new phone number to use "This Account" ATA/IP Phone/softphone on the Call handler. This will cause your Obi to ring however you have it configured from step 2.
You can now enroll that number for Google Voice. And have it setup so Google voice calls route through it. Calls to that number will ring on SP3 of your Obi (assuming you put the Aveno on SP3).
CNAME w/ CALLER ID
The down side to Anveo vs Callcentric is that Cname callerid isn't free. It is .009 cents per lookup.
I've enabled it for now to see how it works, but since I started using google voice and callcentric, I've started building a contact list, and I was able to export my list as CSV from Callcentric and load it into Anveo's contact list. Like Callcentric, if a call comes in for someone in the contact list, the contact info from the list is presented as the incoming caller id rather than doing the cname lookup. So you can have CNAME disabled and still get names for those you regularly get calls from by setting them up in contacts.
Anveo does have a service to sync your contacts with Google, but with a setup charge of around $30 and a $5.00 monthly fee, I can manage my list myself.
So that's what I'll be experimenting with for a while.
CoalMinerRetired:
Interesting. Like many on here I've been considering a replacement for Call Centric's E911 and CNAM. But even more than those two features I liked how forwarded GV calls you hear the spoken "Call from {person says their name}, press 1 to ..."
This may very well turn into the Anveo version of the classic 'Google Voice Setup Guide (with CNAM).'
HMishra:
1: I would like to propose using the first option (of using call flow) instead of the one shown. It does need some configuration changes when setting up the call flow, but once done, will provide a failsafe mechanism to route your incoming calls to an alternative number e.g. cell# in the event of power failure or internet outage at your premises. The call flow I have setup is below.
2: The other option is to sign up for SIP status alert at an additional costy of $2.99/month.
(Interestingly, I cannot upload a screen print of my call flow. Says "The upload folder is full. Please try a smaller file and/or contact an administrator.")
rsriram22:
with anveo's E911, i d suggest you read up couple of post about the same on www.dslreports.com/forum/voip - few more providers are discussed as well. please be aware of the limitations of what each provider has to offer vs what you think you may be getting (in terms of cost per month)..
eg., when does the provider make an entry into E911 provider's database, what CID goes to 911 dispatch when 911 call is made etc..
MikeHObi:
I embedded the image that is hosted in my google picassa account. I've never seen image uploads work here. you could use flickr or other free image hosting service.
"Call from {person says their name}, press 1 to ..." is a function of Google Voice and has nothing to do with the SIP provider. I believe OBI through the Google Chat interface disables this as it automatically presses 1 for you when you pick up the call. If using a different route for phone calls other than Google Talk to the Obi, you don't get the automatic configure to press 1. The configuration for this in Google Voice under settings, Calls, Call Screening. There is an option to turn on call screening, and a check box for asking unknown callers to say their name. Note, if you create groups for your contacts and put them in groups you can have different call behaviors for each group from google voice.
I didn't pick call flow because I didn't see a need for it and the risk of additional unexpected costs. If you can provide a good example of the benefit for it, I'd love to hear.
For E911 my expectation is simply that the 911 operator sees my address, and if they need to call me back they can. I do understand that with Anveo I can configure my Google Voice number and have it presented as the CID number for E911. But that isn't really required is it? I will read some of the other posts to see if there is something I'm missing.
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