Google Voice back as Approved Service Provider!?
SteveInWA:
Thanks, but you're missing the points I made. I can't disclose any further details, but calling Google Voice an "approved service provider" is a meaningless marketing buzzword. Obihai was using that term to describe its business arrangements (joint marketing and automated provisioning) for a few SIP ITSPs like Anveo and Phone Power. They're being sloppy (intentionally or unintentionally) by lumping GV into that bucket. Google Voice is not a service provider, in the same sense as the ITSPs in Obihai's program. I really don't see the point in all this endless speculation on what Obihai and Google may or may not mean by their ambiguous statements or lack of statements. At least, when people hung on every word that Alan Greenspan spoke, there were big bucks involved.
It's like the word "natural" in food marketing. Imagine if Snoop Dawg Lion said that Chivas Regal is his approved beverage of choice after smoking a blunt, and Lil' Wayne chimed in to say that he prefers Robitussin. So what? Chivas and Robitussin don't "approve" of them saying that, and it doesn't mean anything. It's misleading. Here is how I believe it should be interpreted: "As of today, you can use Google Voice via Chat on your OBi device, as one of your configured service providers, and we "Approve" of you doing that. It might not work tomorrow, but we'll keep working on it."
As I mentioned, the new OBi IP phone is a high-end, business-targeted product. Yes, you can use GV on it if you wish. Most mid-to-large size business customers won't be that foolish. Google Voice is a very bad choice for business use, and business use is specifically discouraged by Google. There is no direct customer support for GV, no service level guarantees, as there is for Gmail and the other Google Apps, and there is a major business risk to customer satisfaction or business reputation, when the phones don't work and nobody can reach the business. Again, Altria "approves" of you buying its beer, wine and cigarette brands, but it isn't necessarily a wise thing for the purchaser.
Here is the most important point: just use it or don't use it, as you wish, and don't try to read anything into the changed GV language on the website. Nobody is going to get in trouble with Google for using the service on their OBi devices, and Obihai has correctly addressed the prior security exposure. Perhaps Obihai and Google had some confidential discussion on how to resolve the security issue, or perhaps not. You will never know, and you can't imply anything about any future availability.
Neither company will be liable if it stops working. There is no guarantee expressed, nor implied. Remember, if lawyers got involved, vs. salespeople, they'd point out the concept of "no implied warranty of merchantability or fitness of purpose."
So, enjoy it while it's here, if it meets your needs.
cluckercreek:
I appreciate the info SteveInWA! BTW, welcome back.
dircom:
Most of the senseless area 51 type talk has been posted by people with 1-10 posts.
I'm glad I got a paid provider. GV was never going to be good enough for my wife. I ported my home # to a VOIP provider. I still enjoy GV for 2nd lines, and #'s in other states. I will enjoy GV for as long as it lasts. Hard to believe people get so stirred up by a free service. And even though Obihai is not the best at communicating (I know, an understatement), the product is so good, and so inexpensive, that I can overlook "not knowing" all the details; however this doesn't mean I don't wish they would communicate better i.e., changelogs, etc. (but I'm not holding my breath for that to happen)
cluckercreek:
Quote from: dircom on August 19, 2014, 07:31:04 am
Most of the senseless area 51 type talk has been posted by people with 1-10 posts.
I'm glad I got a paid provider. GV was never going to be good enough for my wife. I ported my home # to a VOIP provider. I still enjoy GV for 2nd lines, and #'s in other states. I will enjoy GV for as long as it lasts. Hard to believe people get so stirred up by a free service. And even though Obihai is not the best at communicating (I know, an understatement), the product is so good, and so inexpensive, that I can overlook "not knowing" all the details; however this doesn't mean I don't wish they would communicate better i.e., changelogs, etc. (but I'm not holding my breath for that to happen)
Ditto! I'm doing the same as you but have also added Ring.to to the mix. Always, always have backups.
billsimon:
SteveInWA / Bluescat: thank you. This is clarifying information that a lot of folks, for various reasons, really wanted to understand. Why it needs to be relayed to us by a third-party volunteer and not from the "official" channels is really beyond me, but you've done what you could to explain that also. Would you kindly post this information in the Google Voice product forum as well? Every post in there with the term "XMPP" has been shunted off to a null message or a simple explanation that is not answering anyone's questions. The post you have written above answers everything.
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