OBi 202

[SilverHD]

I have (2) OBi 202's with (4) lines and I have been through all of the transition with using Google Voice, except I hung in there and stayed with GV even thought it was said that they would be cutting off. Anyway, the problem is that with the last update the 202's no longer have message notifiction. There is no longer a flashing light or a stutter tone. I have to go to the computer to see if there are any messages. I had asked Obhai and was told that they are no longer offering this service. I thought this awfully strange, so I checked Amazon and they are still offering this feature with the 202. What is going on? Can anyone tell me? Is there any way to get this feature back. It is very annoying. Thanks in advance for any help you may be able to provide.

[SteveInWA]

Hi:

Obihai updated the firmware on their devices this past spring, to comply with Google's stronger security requirements for account authentication.  A side effect of the new firmware is that MWI / VMWI is no longer supported on GV.  It was always a rather unreliable hack of Google's XMPP protocol, that frequently stopped working.  If this is a deal-breaker for you, then there are plenty of other service providers to choose from.  Here on the forum, many people are happy with SIP providers Callcentric or voip.ms, both of which reliably support MWI/VMWI.

[SilverHD]

Steve:

I had just noticed that it stopped working after the last update. Then when I placed a support ticket, that is when OBi told me that they no longer supported it. Do you think that a complete reset would help the matter? Or "is it what it is?"

Thank you.

[SteveInWA]

The feature is simply no longer implemented at all when using Google Voice as the service provider (as opposed to using a SIP ITSP)  Factory-resetting it won't do anything.

If you have set up a mobile phone as a forwarding phone, you can have GV send it a text message when you receive a voicemail message.  Another way to be notified is to have GV send you an email note.  Here's the settings page:  https://www.google.com/voice#voicemailsettings

[SilverHD]

Thanks Steve, I appreciate your help. I was just trying to keep it free. I am on a fixed income, being disabled. I'm sure you understand. It was sure nice when it worked! Happy New Year!

[SteveInWA]

Yes, I'm sure that saving money wherever you can is a priority.  If the lack of MWI is the only issue for you, then I'd suggest setting up the email or text message notifications.  You can get a cheap or used GSM cell phone and a SIM from Lycamobile that offers free inbound text messages.  Happy holidays and best wishes for the coming new year!