If Obihai goes out of business, will Obi110 continue to work with Google Voice?
CoalMinerRetired:
Quote from: carl on November 20, 2012, 04:49:45 pm
I do not think anyone is spreading FUD here. It is a legitimate concern. Smaller tech companies often go out of business without prior indications or any notice.
In such a case, Obi might be usable for a while for SIP providers but I think sooner or later most of us would have to buy another ATA. .
I agree no one is spreading FUD here. However, I'm not so sure it's a big concern. Why is that? The people (or individual person) who started ObiHai also started two other ATA equipment suppliers. Both of those companies were bought up by much larger tech companies (Cisco being one of the buyers). So Obi is their third one. I don't know the people or the prior companies, I've read this elsewhere (dslr, etc.).
Trev:
Quote from: carl on November 20, 2012, 04:49:45 pm
In such a case, Obi might be usable for a while for SIP providers but I think sooner or later most of us would have to buy another ATA. .
Why sooner or later? It wouldn't be any different than using a Sipura SPA-2000 or a Linksys SPA-2102, both of which are discontinued products with little to no support.
Unless the device physically fails, it'll still work as a regular SIP device which is certainly a well established standard for VoIP services.
Koby:
The two previous companies were Komodo (sold to Cisco) and Sipura (sold to Linksys, which was in turn purchased by Cisco). And Trev is right; the units would continue to work. There are probably people still using old Komodo/Cisco ATA-186's, and there are many people still using the Sipura/Linksys/Cisco products (SPA-2000, PAP2, etc.). The only difference is that those companies never offered their own network for placing device-to-device calls, nor a web-based configuration portal that makes configuration easier and allows remote configuration of a device (particularly handy for when you have given a device to your parents, or to someone else who could never figure out how to configure such a device on their own, and you are located in another part of the country). If Obihai went out of business, those are the things that might cease to function, however the device itself would continue to work and could still be used with any SIP-based VoIP provider or with Google Voice (at least until Google changes their protocols or something). You'd be no worse off than if you had a Sipura SPA-2000 or a Linksys PAP-2 (and both of those devices still work if you know how to configure them) and you certainly would not be stuck with a "doorstop". Even if you were totally technically uninclined, the device would still be worth something on FleaBay.
giqcass:
I bought this device primarily for it's Google Voice capability but it's actually one of the better VOIP devices even without Google Voice. I set my device up without using the ObiHai portal. I found out how to set it up from a website not run by ObiHai. If OBI went out of business I could still configure it and I would probably snap up another one just in case this one fails. I see no reason why Google Voice functionality would stop just because ObiHai went out of business. Personally I think it's unlikely they will go out of business any time soon with a device like this.
I own a Peek email device and they did go out of business. At least the peek email business. That device is now a doorstop. When I bought it I knew it would eventually become a doorstop because it is locked in to one service. The Obi definitely is not locked into any one service. The question I asked myself when I bought my Peek was "Will this device become a doorstop before I get my monies worth?"
When Peek wasn't giving us proper support the users gave each other support. I personally took over a domain name to support one of the services and I created an alternate forum when Peeks forum was locked. Other people also created forums for "Peeksters". Whenever you have a community large enough users support each other.
Now ask yourself this about the Obi. Will the OBi become a doorstop before you get your monies worth? How long does it need to function before you have saved money? :-\
onepolarbear:
where is Obihai located? how is their financial situation?
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