Google Voice back as Approved Service Provider!?
gadgetrants:
Quote from: Crow550 on September 11, 2014, 05:45:20 pm
Try searching for: "Google Voice is now Officially Supported on OBi VoIP devices"
Also: https://plus.google.com/+CheeChew/posts/DRi3GxJ5hWK
Super, thanks!
Quote from: Crow550 on September 11, 2014, 05:45:20 pm
For all intents and purposes it seemed that XMPP support was going away as Google was saying it was insecure and Google Talk was merging with Hangouts.
Now Google has a more secure way and has officially supported 3rd parties.
Do not get on to others claiming they were over dramatic. The message was clear.
I agree 110%. Assuming that latter comment was directed to me: I did my darndest to NOT sound like I was pointing fingers, but apparently didn't do good enough. Note the term "rants" in my screen name. ;) That was just venting a bit. I went back and reread the beginning of this thread and noticed that I'm not the only one with 20-20 vision!
-Matt
Crow550:
I was directing it at all the people criticizing those who were going with other services because of the message.
Yes it seemed Google Voice was still working on Obi but all other methods were patched to not use Google Voice anymore so it seemed that any day the G-Voice calling with G-Talk would end.
Kinda rude to refer to these people as claiming the sky is falling....
Again for all intents and purposes it seemed like it was going away and those few who were still using it would have a rude awaking at any time.
I always assumed that Google would eventually add real 3rd party support or there own ATA device or something.
I myself don't own an Obi yet. As I use my Cell Phone at Home. However I get like 1-2 bars in parts of the House. I was using Wifi calling with GrooveIP but it was patched out and I was S.O.L.
So for important calls I was tethered to my PC lol! Unless I was out and about of course.
Now I did help someone setup an Obi box and since they are not experts when it comes to this kinda stuff I had to help them setup Phone Power as it appeared that G-Voice calling with G-Talk was going away at anytime.
Keep in mind this was always a hack too. So once more they said they were closing off this hack that 3rd parties were using. Yes Obi was still working but there just wasn't a guarantee it would keep working.
Many like myself assumed that once Android calling was added that would be the end of XMPP.
However it appears what I also assumed did come true for Google offering real support for 3rd Parties. ;)
Now to see if Phone Power can be canceled without any fees or whatever. As you can't even check your voicemail on the phone through Phone Power from what I heard without using *67 but if you block unknown numbers in Google Voice you're well S.O.L.... Unless you check on a PC or a Tablet....
GH-UpNorth:
On my Obi-110, since early May, I've been using PhonePower ( one year unlimited ) on SP1, with incoming calls routed from GV, and with my GV number spoofed in PP. Would it be possible to keep this as is on SP1 and set up SP2 with GV for outgoing calls using the new authorization for SP2? PhonePower works great most of the time, but on rare occasions, to specific area codes, I have some trouble with PP outgoing calls, and the option to use GV directly on SP2 would be a nice alternative. I don't want to give up PP, as I've paid for a year unlimited. Thanks
SteveInWA:
Quote from: gadgetrants on September 11, 2014, 05:24:22 pm
Guys, I'm not nearly as smart (or informed) as Steve, but I did a text search through Obi's announcement and did NOT find the words "supported by Google" or any variant thereof in the same sentence. I might go back and reread Steve's (fantastic) post with a fine-toothed comb, but my original read was that Google is *tolerating* the use of older protocol by Obi (now permitted given the security fix).
As I see it, there is no indication that *anything* was formally approved or supported by Google. Like Steve said, the "approved" word seems to be Obi's clever way of assuring its customers that GV calling works on their device. This shouldn't be read as Google green-lighting/approving/condoning/shaking-hands-with/etc. Obi in any meaningful sense. In other words, it works as long as it works. Correct, Steve?
-Matt
PS On a personal note, I *am* somewhat peeved at all the SKY-IS-FALLING language on various forums late last year. None of this is Steve's fault (who I first met on the GV boards, where he does the work of ten men), but his efforts to step in and remind people about the looming "deadline" had rational people like me assuming that Google's date was for real. He was just doing the best he could with the information available at the time. Still, A LOT OF PEOPLE "needlessly" fretted and in many cases, end up purchasing a VOIP plan they *may not* have needed (this is, BTW, called "counterfactual reasoning", AKA "hindsight is always 20/20" or if you prefer, Monday-morning-quarterbacking). In fact, a year from now we may discover that we ALL could have just kept the GV status quo and it all would have worked out. Again, not pointing my finger at anyone in particular -- just bemoaning the fact that on September 11, 2014 the "OBi is losing GV" story is a lot less compelling than it was last year at this time. Sometimes the confusion and uncertainty is a reasonable byproduct of the circumstances, and sometimes it's just...totally avoidable.
Matt, thanks so much for the words of support; it means a lot.
I've posted more comments elsewhere on this forum (the unfortunate side effect of this being such a big part of the whole OBi experience). But, to respond to your points about my recent remarks, I was (and still am) under NDA with Google and also had been discussing this in private with Obihai, so I simply couldn't comment in more detail. I described the new OAUTH 2.0 authentication solution right after Obihai released it into their production firmware, but, until Chee Chew at Google publicly acknowledged the agreement today, that's all anyone knew as far as how long it would last. So, yes, I was giving Sherman and the Obihai guys some grief over the use of the term "approved", and they couldn't talk about what that really meant until yesterday. Google's remarkable announcement today (remarkable given their usual secrecy), is icing on the proverbial cake.
So yes: "Official" and "Approved" means this: Google told the third parties to get the heck off of their users' accounts via direct user name/password means. Obihai did the software and firmware engineering to use Google's approved OAUTH 2.0 API, and Google said "That's a good thing, thanks, and good for you. We officially approve of you using this method to access our service." As for the anticipated question: no, I have no idea if the service itself will continue to use XMPP, or be migrated to WebRTC, but really, who cares. Just use it with Google's blessing, and enjoy.
For your own security, and to ensure uninterrupted operation of GV on your OBi, if you haven't already done so, delete the old GV SP configuration(s), log into the associated GV account on your computer's web browser, open another tab, go to the OBiTALK portal, and re-configure GV using OAUTH authentication. It will download the necessary firmware as needed. There is no benefit to maintaining the old setup.
Crow550:
This needs to be put in it's own pinned thread.
Plus E-mailed to all Obi users. ;)
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