Obi202 expectations from a newbie
LTN1:
Quote from: tns1 on March 01, 2015, 05:29:46 pm
When picking a provider, some plans talk about supporting a certain number of 'channels', which I gather is the number of simultaneous calls. One channel would mean that callers get a busy signal if you are already on the phone. Two channels would allow call waiting, or going to VM in that situation.
Some plans mention that 2 users/SIP accounts are included. Does this mean 2 phone numbers are supported, or two different billing statements, or?
Sub-accounts are sometimes included. What does that do for you?
Is there any technical difference between a local DID number I get from a provider, and my ported landline#?
Generic (ookla) voip tests show I am getting > 25mbps, 20ms pings, 5ms jitter and no errors. Are there known ISPs that the Obi ATA does not work well with due to voip traffic throttling or other issues?
Some of these questions are best answered by the VoIP provider of your choice. I'll try to answer the channels question. With 2 channels, you can have two separate VoIP (or telephone) lines if your device supports it. For example, you can receive one call on one channel and someone can still make a separate call on a second channel (second line) of the same VoIP service. The Obi200 has only one port, so I don't think 2 channels will make much difference. The Obi202 could work...but since I don't have the 202...I don't know for sure.
What I do have is SIP trunks in my VoIP PBX and so if I have 4 channels from the VoIP provider, I can technically receive four calls simultaneously, etc.
As for locally ported DIDs and ones you obtain from the provider, they should all be similar in that they are DIDs--telephone numbers.
202Owner:
>>When picking a provider, some plans talk about supporting a certain number of 'channels', which I gather is the number of simultaneous calls. One channel would mean that callers get a busy signal if you are already on the phone. Two channels would allow call waiting, or going to VM in that situation.
Correct.
>>Some plans mention that 2 users/SIP accounts are included. Does this mean 2 phone numbers are supported, or two different billing statements, or?
Sub-accounts are sometimes included. What does that do for you?
You get an account with a provider to use their service (1 billing statement). That typically includes 1 configurable voice service/SIP account. It may include additional sub-accounts as additional configurable voice services/SIP accounts. You typically need 1 voice service/SIP account for each individual end user/device... set of phones on 1 'line', 1 softphone on a mobile device, etc.
The OBi202 can be configured for 4 voice services/SIP accounts and 2 end user devices/phones/lines... you'll use 1 voice service/SIP account for each PHONE port to have 2 different phone 'lines'.
A DID can ring one or more voice services/SIP accounts... 1 DID can ring all SIP accounts; 5 DIDs can all ring the same 1 account. You can wire it up how you want it, depending on the provider and practical usage. The typical configuration is to mimic traditional phone service and go from there: did1 >> SIP account1 >> phonejack1.
A voice service/SIP account can carry unlimited SIP sessions/channels subject to the rate plan. So, 1 voice service/SIP account can have many calls in progress, subject to the channels and bandwidth available, and the physical practicalities of the endpoint... an OBi202 with 2 PHONE jacks can only connect 2 users/lines/sets of phones.
>>Is there any technical difference between a local DID number I get from a provider, and my ported landline#?
No.
>>Generic (ookla) voip tests show I am getting > 25mbps, 20ms pings, 5ms jitter and no errors. Are there known ISPs that the Obi ATA does not work well with due to voip traffic throttling or other issues?
Probably. You'll have to try it to find out. Your router is also significant... it must pass SIP traffic without fault.
DIY BYOD VoIP makes it a hobby. VoIP is not POTS. If you go this route and set it up, you will be the one supporting it on your network. Once established, it can be as reliable as any other computing device on your network using an online service 24x7.
MurrayB:
I have been using VOIP.ms for over a year with great success. I just added a fourth DID. The website is feature rich with a Wiki that explains things fairly well. Live chat works well and the porting dept. is very cooperative. In my investigation of VOIP.ms vs Anveo I found VOIP.ms more desirable for my needs.
My experience is that the features available via VOIP.ms and Obi with the ability to configure and manage my own service with support from this forum is far superior to the off shore "support" from Verizon, Comcast/Xfinity, etc.
Yes, if and when the internet goes down phone service goes down. Security systems should not be connected to VOIP the communication between the alarm panel and the central station is typically unreliable. I added a cellular communicator to my security system.
Good Luck!
tns1:
Obi202 just arrived. Set it up via Obitalk 'dashboard' and successfully called the test#. I took a look at the settings via 'Expert Config' in Obitalk but didn't change anything yet. I also took a look via the device manager config pages. Funny how the ***0,30# is missing from the quick start guide.
When I do a ***0,6# to check FW, it says 'not available', yet I can see there is a newer 3.0.1.4581 (http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=9.0) to replace the 3.0.1.4477 that it shipped with. So should I hold off updating? Are there stable vs intermediate versions? Is there a changelog for each version?
The quickstart guide says I can call any Obi without any further setup. Since the 202 has 2 phone jacks, is there a way phone1 can call phone2, by using a suffix like '**9xxxxxxxxx:2' ? If so, it would be a nice testing method that does not need a provider.
azrobert:
Just dial # from either phone port to call the other.
Edit:
In OBi Expert look at the following:
Physical Interfaces -> Phone1/2 Port -> OutboundCallRoute
You will see these rules
Phone1 - {(<#:>):ph2}
Phone2 - {(<#:>):ph}
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