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One time charge of $50 for a SIP Acct at freephoneline+How to setup GV in Canada

Started by QBZappy, January 31, 2011, 02:25:49 PM

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QBZappy

Sounds like I'm promoting them. I can assure everyone I have no association with them nor with the fine people at Obi central. The price is right and I thought other Obi users might want to know about this. Very easy to setup on the Obi.

This is for the people in Canada who want an inexpensive SIP account that works great with the Obi. You get a choice of DIDs from the major cities in Canada. There are more features with their voip service. You guys can read about it yourself on their site if you like.

By the way, if you live in Canada you might not know that you can not get Google voice here. At least not without some effort. All Google voice activations are sent to  USA numbers only. There seems to be a glitch with the Google voice activation process. Somehow they forgot to block area code 403. This is an area code for Calgary, Canada.

The neat thing about Freephoneline, you can call forward unconditionally, on busy, on no answer. To activate your Google voice account in Canada get yourself a free 403 area code number with them. Set it up so that it forwards to a telephone you can answer. Then follow through with the Google voice activation process. They have their own softphone which works with their SIP account. With some tweaking you can also manage to use their accounts on an Asterisk box. That's for another forum.

Of course, it's not that easy. Google also blocks Canadian IPs. To get around this, get yourself a VPN service that offers USA IPs. I've noticed that many people are using Hotspot Shield. I find that there are too many ads popping up with that product after you install it. I found a VPN service called proXPN (http://proxpn.com/). Both products get you an IP in the USA. Both are free. (As an aside we can also watch Hulu with this VPN service from Canada. This is also blocked)

This opens up a whole new market for the Obi. Now Canadians can enjoy the Google voice service by making free calls within North America. Enjoy it while it lasts. Without this how to, a lot of potential Canadian Obi users might not be able to use one of the more interesting features of the unit. Think of the money you could be saving with a practically free DID number which offers 2 channels, and free long distance calls. What's not to like about this combination. This opportunity offered to us with a low cost ATA type device. :D

Edit: Modified Subject title
Owner of the 1st OBi110/100 units in service in Canada & South America. 1st OBi202 on my street. 1st OBi1032 in Montreal.

Robert.Thompson

The Google Voice 403 loophole has been closed.

Anyone, like me, using the 403 area code on their GV account will find that it no longer works. I think it happen last Friday or Thursday. I thought that there was something wrong with my Android phone because the Voice+ app would no longer  call me back and connect me to the number I had dialed.

Anyway, it's gone.

Now, to save minutes on your cell plan you'll need a US area code number forwarded to you cell phone. Use a VOIP  SP like Voip.ms or Anveo and you will still save a bundle by using GV.
Rob. (Obi newbie.)

OBi 110 using Anveo - but presently testing AcroVoice
My blog: www.googlevoiceforcanadians.com


Robert.Thompson

Rob. (Obi newbie.)

OBi 110 using Anveo - but presently testing AcroVoice
My blog: www.googlevoiceforcanadians.com

tillithz

Quote from: Robert.Thompson on October 23, 2012, 06:39:32 AM
Quote from: tillithz on October 22, 2012, 10:06:27 PM
google voice app doesnt work?

What do you mean?
couldnt you use the google voice app for calls in the U.S. and save on your minutes? it would use data, wouldnt it?

QBZappy

Owner of the 1st OBi110/100 units in service in Canada & South America. 1st OBi202 on my street. 1st OBi1032 in Montreal.

tillithz

Quote from: QBZappy on October 23, 2012, 08:46:31 AM
Robert.Thompson,

From the misery loves company department:

Google Voice closing down the loophole for existing 403 Numbers?
http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php/1779677-Google-Voice-closing-down-the-loophole-for-existing-403-Numbers
Im just thinking out loud here, but what if you use google talk? that way it uses your google email and data, not a phone number. Not sure if it works this way but a landline (non smartphone) dials your google voice issued Chicago issued phone number and the phones on your google voice account (including your google chat email) ring? thus google talk ringing and you can pick it up? Im not 100% about this...

Robert.Thompson

Quote from: tillithz on October 23, 2012, 08:52:11 AM
Quote from: QBZappy on October 23, 2012, 08:46:31 AM
Robert.Thompson,

From the misery loves company department:

Google Voice closing down the loophole for existing 403 Numbers?
http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php/1779677-Google-Voice-closing-down-the-loophole-for-existing-403-Numbers
Im just thinking out loud here, but what if you use google talk? that way it uses your google email and data, not a phone number. Not sure if it works this way but a landline (non smartphone) dials your google voice issued Chicago issued phone number and the phones on your google voice account (including your google chat email) ring? thus google talk ringing and you can pick it up? Im not 100% about this...

See my post: http://googlevoiceforcanadians.com/2012/10/23/anveo-how-to-get-1200-minutes-of-outgoing-calls-per-month-on-your-cell-phone-for-7-80/
Rob. (Obi newbie.)

OBi 110 using Anveo - but presently testing AcroVoice
My blog: www.googlevoiceforcanadians.com

QBZappy

Since the (403) area code is no longer available, the Canadians can always get a GV number using a free Callcentric DID since they are New York numbers. If you don't have an ATA, a softphone will do to receive the confirmation call from GV.
Owner of the 1st OBi110/100 units in service in Canada & South America. 1st OBi202 on my street. 1st OBi1032 in Montreal.

QBZappy

Quote from: QBZappy on October 23, 2012, 01:18:31 PM
Since the (403) area code is no longer available, the Canadians can always get a GV number using a free Callcentric DID since they are New York numbers. If you don't have an ATA, a softphone will do to receive the confirmation call from GV.

UPDATE:
For Canadians that used the area code 403 to register, as you know by now, outgoing calls using GV no longer works. You must have received an email from GV saying the following. If you want to keep your current GV number or avoid the hassle of getting a new number using VPN to get a USA ip, then it's time to change that (403) verification number to another one. The free Callcentric DID route is the way to go. Once you register your OBi with CC, the GV verification call lands on your OBi. Type in the verification code, and then you're done. The ability to make calls is not activated right away. I believe that you need to give GV some time to update the settings. I will update this post later tonight.

http://www.groovypost.com/howto/google/how-to-set-up-google-voice-on-your-android-phone/
Step 12
Unlike the web-based Google Voice, the app will automatically verify your phone number by sending a text message.  This is just a standard text message that will count as 1 outgoing text according to your providers texting plan.

Subject: Action Required: Your Google Voice forwarding phone (403) 879-1111 needs to be verified within 30 days
"Hello,
It looks as if you haven't used your Google Voice forwarding phone (403) 879-1111 in a while. We would like to make sure that the information on your account is accurate and that you still own this phone number.

If you'd like Google Voice to continue forwarding calls and texts to this forwarding number, you will need to verify it by December 19, 2012 at https://www.google.com/voice#phones. If you no longer own this phone number, please remove it from your account at https://www.google.com/voice#phones."

Owner of the 1st OBi110/100 units in service in Canada & South America. 1st OBi202 on my street. 1st OBi1032 in Montreal.