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New DID (inbound call provider) needed

Started by tome, January 05, 2014, 07:31:22 PM

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tome

I have been using CallCentric for quite a while now for both e911 and also for the free DID which I use to forward my Google Voice number to in order to get CID on my phones for incoming calls.  As you may have read, CID has been intermittent (at best) for the last several weeks at least.  In the last week it has been worse in that I am now not getting calls sent to the phones, and also getting several odd CID numbers in place of the actual CID.  This is likely due to CallCentric playing games with their cut-rate CLEC to encourage people to pay for service rather than get it free.  

But, whatever the cause, I am ready to either find a new free DID provider that works with GV or to buy an inexpensive DID in order to get CallerID.

Does anyone have recommendations?  I want to keep my GV number for the moment and forward inbound calls to a voip provider for CID (I know the issues there).  In the future, if GV deteriorates and I like the voip provider, I may port my GV number to the voip provider but that is future.  

In the bit of research I have done I don't see anyone offering free DIDs like CallCentric though some folks claim they have them and they are still working with GV (someone mentioned IPComms - but I don't see free DIDs there).  In terms of paying per month, Anveo seems to be the cheapest, if I am reading their somewhat confusing rates correctly.  I could get a DID for $0.50/mo and $0.01/call for inbound (I use GV for outbound).  And I could get e911 for 0.80/mo.

Or I could stay with CallCentric whose user interface and customer service I like (with the exception of lying to me about the CID issues) but their service is more than Anveo at $1.50/mo for e911 and $1.95/mo and $0.015/call for the DID.

This is a home phone that we don't use that much as we all have cell phones.  I don't want to pay a monthly fee (or as low as possible) for CID on incoming calls but I would like it to actually work  ::)
Tom

gderf

Start by trying a free DID from IPKall.com pointed to your Callcentric SIP URI.
Help me OBiHai PhoneOBi. You're my only hope.

tome

#2
Quote from: gderf on January 05, 2014, 07:33:35 PM
Start by trying a free DID from IPKall.com pointed to your Callcentric SIP URI.

I will look at IPKall, but not sure what you mean by pointing it at my Callcentric URI.  The number people are calling is my GV number.  GV is passing the call to my free Callcentric DID who is botching the CID.  Are you saying I should have GV pass it to IPKall and then IPKall SIP it to Callcentric?   That seems like just adding another point of failure...?
Thanks,

Tom

giqcass

Ipkall will point to
1777XXXXXXX@in.callcentric.com
Replace 1777XXXXXXX with your callcentric 1777 number.

This could be another point of failure but some people find it works better.  Ipkall seems very reliable.
Long live our new ObiLords!

gderf

You can try pointing IPKall to your OBi directly via your IP address using an added SP configuration instead of using Callcentric SIP URI.

I have tried to get this working but I can only get as far as having my phone ring. When I answer the call there is no sound in either direction.
Help me OBiHai PhoneOBi. You're my only hope.

giqcass

Quote from: gderf on January 06, 2014, 06:32:04 AM
You can try pointing IPKall to your OBi directly via your IP address using an added SP configuration instead of using Callcentric SIP URI.

I have tried to get this working but I can only get as far as having my phone ring. When I answer the call there is no sound in either direction.

I have done this with no problems on my Obi202 and pap2na.  Your port must already be forwarded or the call would not have rang.  If you have another device in DMZ it might "steal" the traffic. That happened to me once.  My first thought is always set a stun server for audio issues like that but I don't know if that would help here. Turn off sip alg would be my number 2 thought based on common issues. 
Long live our new ObiLords!

gderf

The proper X_UserAgentPort was forwarded which allowed the phone to ring. There is no DMZ. And setting a STUN server was tried too. And the proper RTP ports were also forwarded. There is no SIP ALG in the router either. Details of my attempts are in this other thread:

http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=6603.0

Help me OBiHai PhoneOBi. You're my only hope.

tome

So I got a DID from IPKall and have it sent to my CallCentric account.  I need some more testing but I don't think I am getting CID on my phones now.  Not sure what the problem is...

MikeHObi

Quote from: tome on January 07, 2014, 06:59:04 AM
So I got a DID from IPKall and have it sent to my CallCentric account.  I need some more testing but I don't think I am getting CID on my phones now.  Not sure what the problem is...

I have always received CID through the IPKall to Callcentric.  Never receive Caller Name unless the number coming through matches one in my Callcentric address book.
Obi202 user & Obi100 using Anveo and Callcentric.

tome

Quote from: MikeHObi on January 07, 2014, 09:23:47 AM
Quote from: tome on January 07, 2014, 06:59:04 AM
So I got a DID from IPKall and have it sent to my CallCentric account.  I need some more testing but I don't think I am getting CID on my phones now.  Not sure what the problem is...

I have always received CID through the IPKall to Callcentric.  Never receive Caller Name unless the number coming through matches one in my Callcentric address book.

Bummer, I want full CID (name and number).  I have that with my free Callcentric DID (when it is working, that is).   I guess my quest is still on for a free or best inexpensive DID provider for CID.  Any recommendations for or against Anveo?

Tom

MikeHObi

Quote from: tome on January 07, 2014, 12:11:20 PM
Bummer, I want full CID (name and number).  I have that with my free Callcentric DID (when it is working, that is).   I guess my quest is still on for a free or best inexpensive DID provider for CID.  Any recommendations for or against Anveo?

To be clear.  CID stands for Caller ID and that information is sent by the person calling you, thus no work for the VOIP provider.  CNAME or caller name is a completely different technology and must be implemented by the called party system which means the VOIP provider would need to support it.  CID is essentially free.  CNAME requires lookups into databases that require payment for access.

Anveo charges 0.0090 for CNAM lookup.
Obi202 user & Obi100 using Anveo and Callcentric.

tome

Quote from: MikeHObi on January 08, 2014, 03:10:30 PMTo be clear.  CID stands for Caller ID and that information is sent by the person calling you, thus no work for the VOIP provider.  CNAME or caller name is a completely different technology and must be implemented by the called party system which means the VOIP provider would need to support it.  CID is essentially free.  CNAME requires lookups into databases that require payment for access.

Yep, and Callcentric claims they do a best effort LIDB lookup for each call even for the free DIDs.  It was working great until recently.

Quote from: MikeHObi on January 08, 2014, 03:10:30 PMAnveo charges 0.0090 for CNAM lookup.

Thanks, I didn't realize that Anveo charged for that.
Tom

carl

Quote from: tome on January 08, 2014, 04:42:32 PM

Yep, and Callcentric claims they do a best effort LIDB lookup for each call even for the free DIDs.  It was working great until recently.



it still works great except for calls forwarded by google voice.

MikeHObi

Quote from: carl on January 08, 2014, 07:42:31 PM

it still works great except for calls forwarded by google voice.

I assume it still works only if callcentric receives CID.  If it didn't get CID then CC can't perform the CNAME lookup to give you the name.
Obi202 user & Obi100 using Anveo and Callcentric.

gmercator

I had been using GV forwarded to a Free NY CallCentric DID reliably until Sept/Oct 2013..... then unexpectedly the calls starting showing "anonymous" once they reached CallCentric.

Many other users started reporting the same/similar problems.  My calls coming into GV that were forwarded to a Verizon Wireless Cell or T-Mobile Cell showed reliable Caller ID, but CallCentric's Free NY DID was on-again/off-again.

It seemed that the interchange between GV's CLEC and CallCentric's in-house CLEC (Telengy) might be an issue.

Since it was low-risk, and didn't involve setting up another account with a different provider, I decided to add one of CallCentric's "Dirt-Cheap" DID's to my account.  Once that was working, I added it to GV as an alternate destination number for forwarding purposes.

The "Dirt-Cheap" number assigned by CallCentric uses a different CLEC (XO Communications) than the Free NY DID.

The "Dirt-Cheap" DID runs $2.95/mo and has unlimited (non-metered) incoming calls, so it is a perfect experimental substitute for the Free NY DID, except of course, that it is not Free...

So far, the results have been nearly perfect as regards to incoming calls which use my CallCentric phonebook to match customized names with numbers of those I have entered.  Other calls from random callers will show the name part of the Caller ID if CallCentric's LIDB lookup worked correctly.

I realize that paying $2.95/mo is not exactly free, but for me I valued the reliability more than the small cost, and it was a plus that it didn't involve setting up yet another provider.

CallCentric already can be used to show my GV number on outbound calls (since I set that up at the beginning), but for now I am either dialling out directly using GV or using the GV online "web-trigger" to call me back on the CallCentric number for lengthy outgoing calls.

I am still looking at options for May 2014 when GV pulls the plug on working directly with the OBi ATA.

Hope this helps someone else who is trying to find a workaround.

tome

Quote from: gmercator on January 09, 2014, 09:50:16 PM
The "Dirt-Cheap" number assigned by CallCentric uses a different CLEC (XO Communications) than the Free NY DID.

Ok, I signed up for one of these.  We'll see if anything improves.  I have money in my Callcentric account so this is an easy thing to try.  If it works perhaps I'll just stick with CC for a while...
Thanks,
Tom

gderf

Have you tried a free IPKall DID pointed to your Callcentric SIP URI? In my limited testing so far it works well. Won't cost you anything to try it.

Help me OBiHai PhoneOBi. You're my only hope.

tome

Quote from: gderf on January 11, 2014, 11:34:32 AM
Have you tried a free IPKall DID pointed to your Callcentric SIP URI? In my limited testing so far it works well. Won't cost you anything to try it.

Yes, I got one on the 6th.  It seems to have the same issues, intermittent caller name (tending towards never) and sometimes the call does't ever get to Callcentric and I just get a voicemail at Google.  The issue where the call doesn't get to CC may be less frequent, but I am not 100% sure about that. More data would be required but I am getting less and less interested in collecting data, if you know what I mean...
Tom





gderf

I know what you mean. Once GV stops XMPP in May, a reliable DID will be required to keep going that way.

Looking at the $2.95/mo for a cheap (not free) CC DID, that's almost the same thing as $3.33/mo (when paid annually) for the new obivoice.com service which is both incoming and outgoing, and unlimited minutes at that.
Help me OBiHai PhoneOBi. You're my only hope.

tome

Quote from: gderf on January 11, 2014, 12:02:37 PM
I know what you mean. Once GV stops XMPP in May, a reliable DID will be required to keep going that way.

Looking at the $2.95/mo for a cheap (not free) CC DID, that's almost the same thing as $3.33/mo (when paid annually) for the new obivoice.com service which is both incoming and outgoing, and unlimited minutes at that.


I also pay an additional $1.5/mo for e911 from CC.  I think that too is included in the obivoice offer, yes?  On the other hand I have a bit of money in my CC account to use, so I have time to figure it out.  I'll let others be the guinea pigs for obivoice or other cheap services..
Tom