Google Chat not showing up

[gderf]

Well, glad you have it sorted out. When you have that many accounts and numbers, it's easy to lose track of things. Keep better notes As to 911 service, I rely on my cell phone for that.

@sdb - I started looking thru my three accounts while trying to help @Yarrow. I discovered I had an unused but still active GV number associated with one of the accounts. It had been inactive for almost seven months and was not being forwarded anywhere. What it did have was a ton of spam SMS messages and spam voicemails. - about two hundred of each.

[sdb-]

As to 911 service, I rely on my cell phone for that.

@sdb - I started looking thru my three accounts while trying to help @Yarrow. I discovered I had an unused but still active GV number associated with one of the accounts. It had been inactive for almost seven months and was not being forwarded anywhere. What it did have was a ton of spam SMS messages and spam voicemails. - about two hundred of each.

If you want SIP E911, Anveo at $0.80/month was the cheapest I found. To get that you have to sign up with them directly rather than via the link from OBiTalk. The OBiTalk link for $12 is slightly more, the terms are slightly different, but the most interesting part to me was the option $3 addon for 911 usage alerts. I think that feature costs significantly more if you sign up directly with Anveo.

As for GV numbers expiring...

When I got my OBi a few months ago, I hooked it up to a long unused GV account rather than use my android phone google account or my primary google account. The unused account had no spam voice or SMS -- actually no incoming or outgoing anything in the history for nearly 27 months, that is nothing between 2011-7-18 and 2013-10-14.  However that GV number was forwarded to an active cell number.

Perhaps your spam kept your GV number alive, and simply having my GV forwarded to a PSTN number, even with no activity, kept mine alive.

(I have a free jfax, now efax number. Junk fax and voicemail keep that number alive.)

[Ruthhelp]

Previously, I did this from Google Voice, but now I have done it from Gmail with much the same result. There was no handset, but a space into which to type the number. I entered my cell number and called. It was direct, as you described, but GoogleChat did not appear afterwards as a forwarding option. I made a second call from Gmail, and GoogleChat still did not appear as a forwarding option. When I then tried to call my GV number from my cell, it rang on the computer, but not on the phone connected to obihai.

I'm having the same line of problems getting Google chat to appear as a forwarding option in Google voice.  I am trying to set up this obi for my mother-in-law.  She did not have an account, so  I signed up for a new google account for her. Got to the point where I have a google voice number, and that google voice number is forwarding to her mobile.  Like the OP, Google chat does not appear as a forwarding option in google voice.  

Found this thread.  Followed the advice to try to make a call through google mail chat.  Like the OP, there was no handset in on the Google mail screen, just a line where I can type in a number.  Below that box is the following:("Looks like you don't have anyone to chat with yet. Invite some contacts to get started.")

Thus, the chat function is only giving me the option to make a video-enabled call to my landline--which pops up a new window that has the word google hangouts on it.  (NOTE: I reverted to the old chat program when I accidentally turned on google hangouts--so I don't know why my gmail account is still using google hangouts to make this "video" call.)  I can call my landline using this video call function, but chat is still not appearing as a forwarding function. So making a video call must not be the fix everyone is talking about.

Can someone please figure out how to make a call through gmail?

ETA: I have included a screen shot of her gmail account

[Ruthhelp]

Anyone have any idea why I can't make a call in gmail without using hangouts?

[Ruthhelp]

Hope this helps someone. The computer I was using only had Internet explorer installed. I went to a computer using Chrome, signed into Gmail and the handset option appeared on the gmail page. I had to install a plug in, but once I did that I was FINALLY able to make a voice call.
So if you are only seeing a video icon next to the gmail calling line, trying using chrome.

[gderf]

Google Chrome is required to use most of Google features.