Debugging Anveo call flow and Google Voice fast pickup

[JJ97]

Hello,

When incoming calls to Google Voice phone number are forwarded to an Anveo phone number connected to my OBi202, sometimes I can't hear anything on my OBi202 upon answering, and the caller hears ringing and then GV's voicemail.  I searched the forums and debugged to this great extent, but I can't implement the solution (yet):

#1) Caller -> Google Voice -> Anveo DID -> Default Call Flow (detects Fax, Voice, etc) -> OBi202 SP2.
When I quickly pickup the phone (on my OBi202), I hear Google saying to me (not to the caller): something like "... press 1 to take this call".  I obviously press 1 and it connects.  If I pick up the phone slowly, then I miss hearing Google's message, but still doesn't connect the call until I press 1.  Some other times, incoming calls are connected as usual, without such message from Google and without pressing any key.  By the way, Google Voice Call Screening is turned Off in my Google Voice website settings.

#2) Caller -> Google Voice -> Anveo DID -> OBi202 (direct, without Call Flow).
When I quickly pickup the phone, I hear Google's full message: "In case of a fast pickup we ask you to verify that you're not a voicemail system. So you have to press 1 to take this call."  If I pick up the phone slowly (delay a few seconds), then the call connects without hearing Google's message and without pressing any key.  This greatly helped me discover the root cause of the problem (I think).

Google has this feature to detect fast pickups and plays that message to press 1.  I like to avoid this.  I tried but not able so far:

A) When using Anveo Call Flow, I tried adding a Delay block, but doesn't fix the problem.  It seems that whenever Call Flow is enabled (as in case #1 above), Anveo picks up the call very fast, and Google plays that message to press 1.  I don't want Anveo to pick up fast.  I also don't want Anveo to press 1 automatically (if I set this up in Call Flow), otherwise Google connects the call quickly through Anveo, and my other phones don't ring (forwarded from Google).  How can I fix this in Anveo, so that I can still use Anveo Call Flow to detect a fax (coming from Google Voice number or Anveo DID)?

B) OBi202 SPx -> X_SkipCallScreening is set to On, but apparently was only intended to work with Google Voice Chat/XMPP (which is going away on May 14th).  OBi online help says that this setting presses a key to skip Google Voice call screening.  If this can work with any VoIP provider, I think this would be a good solution.  I would like X_SkipCallScreening to press "1" at the time I pick up the phone (and not before, so Google keeps ringing my other forwarded phones).  Do I need a new firmware for this?  Or can I accomplish this with some OBi callroute or digitmap?  Would my caller hear the "1" tone if in case of #1 or #2 above I delay picking up the phone and there is no Google message to press 1?

I hope an OBi expert can help out here, since I suspect many people are starting to have this problem hearing Google telling us to press 1 on incoming calls.  I've read other forum messages without definite root causes or solutions yet.

Thanks!!!

[c3c3]

Try enabling "do not answer the line" in the "start" control.  There may be some functions which require to have that option disabled, but I don't know enough about the call flow to tell you what they are.

[AnveoRep]

I can only answer Anveo related questions.
Google Voice is trying to be "smart" and when it detects that the call was answered to quickly it considers that as Cell Phone has answered the call and activates call confirmation requiring you to press a key.

Anveo Call Flow can answer incoming calls right away (Start Call Flow item configuration "Do not Answer line" checkbox). However, certain call flow items requires the line be in Answered state to operate properly so such call flow items "answer" the call if need.

Here are Call Flow Items that "answer"
ANSWER
GOODIES
FAX DETECT
HUMAN or MACHINE
RECORD
CALL RECORDER


If you are forwarding from Google Voice you need to review your call flow
You can also use more simple call flow like
START (configured with 'Do No Answer Line' option) -> SIP PHONE -> VOICEMAIL

Or better yet port your Google Voice number to Anveo for free and enjoy full power of Anveo Call Flow technology

[JJ97]

Thank you c3c3 and AnveoRep!  I checked On "Do not answer the line" in the Start of the Anveo Call Flow, and it worked along with a simple call flow (suggested by AnveoRep) that doesn't pick up the line to detect Fax, etc.  Thinking about this further, I don't want any item in the Call Flow to answer the line for at least 30 seconds, so Google Voice rings my other phones and eventually directs to Google Voicemail.  So, when Google Voice forwards to my Anveo DID, these are the settings in the simple Anveo Call Flow that works for me:

C)  START (Do not answer the line) -> SIP Legacy (ATA device, 45 seconds) -> VOICEMAIL.

Google Voicemail picks up in 30 seconds, so Anveo's VOICEMAIL should never pick up.  However, when someone calls my Anveo DID phone number directly, then Anveo's VOICEMAIL will pick up if I don't answer my SIP OBi202 phone.


Anveo Call Flow is indeed very powerful (better than Google Voice, for calls), and I ported my landline number to it last year.  However, I don't port my Google Voice number because Anveo doesn't have free SMS or smartphone app, like Google Voice does.

Interestingly to continue on, would it be possible to restore Anveo's Call Flow GOODIES to detect an incoming Fax (at least when calling my Anveo DID without Google Voice)?

D)  START (Do not answer the line) -> SIP Legacy (ATA device, 45 seconds) -> GOODIES -> FAX or VOICEMAIL.

If someone calls my Google Voice which forwards to my Anveo DID number and this Call Flow, then GOODIES will never be reached, since Google Voicemail picks up after 30 seconds.  This is OK.  For faxes, I tell people to call my Anveo DID number directly, then rings my SIP OBi202 for 45 seconds, and goes on to detect the fax.

The problem I see is that I could pick it up the ringing SIP OBi202 phone, hear the fax tones, and then disrupt GOODIES' fax detection/reception.  If I pick up the SIP OBi202 phone and it's a fax, is it possible to press a key sequence that will transfer the call back to GOODIES/FAX?  How?

E)  START (Do not answer the line) -> IF (dialed number = Anveo DID) -> GOODIES (OK to answer the line since it's not coming from Google Voice) -> FAX or SIP -> VOICEMAIL;
ELSE (dialed number not equal to Anveo DID, e.g. from Google Voice) -> SIP Legacy (ATA device, 45 seconds; never answer the line since it's coming from Google Voice) -> VOICEMAIL (fallback in case Google Voicemail didn't pick up).

I tried using the "IF" item (which shouldn't answer the line itself) in the Call Flow, but I couldn't get it to work properly.  I used Call Variables such as RDNIS (not sure if Google Voice forwards RDNIS?), ANVEOPHONENUMBER and ANVEO.DIALED.NUMBER, compared as Text or Number with my Anveo DID with or without the "1" country code.

Thank you in advance to those Anveo expert users!