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GVSip and OBi devices

Started by Marc, March 31, 2015, 10:51:27 AM

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Marc

I just received notice about a new service, GVSip, which claims to allow the use of ANY SIP device to connect and use Google Voice.  Right now they are offering a free 30 day/60min trial and then a one time fee of $4.99.

The service is from Vestalink.

http://www.gvsip.com

Has anyone tried this service?  With OBi's, I don't see much advantage, other than being able to use existing stock of VOIP devices.  But, they do offer some addon services, for a fee, which may be interesting to some, Voicemail w/ MWI, E911, and Caller ID w/ name.  Personally, the CID w/Name would be nice, the only real feature I feel GV is missing that I miss having.

Would love to hear people's thoughts and or experiences.


Here's their blurb,"GVsip allows you to use your Google Voice account with any VoIP device. Register up to 10 VoIP devices to your Google Voice account to make and receive unlimited free calls to the United States and Canada. Signup today to get your unlimited 30 day risk free trial. If you decide you like the service there is only a one time upfront fee to keep your acount active forever."
OBi110 (stored in closet now,) OBi200 x 3, Polycom 200 x 1, OBi202 x 4, Polycom 202 x 2, OBi1032 x 3, OBi1062 x 5, OBi2182 x 3

Combination of GV (consumer,) CallCentric & voip.ms both direct and via Asterisk.

dircom

as you say, it was just announced.
Why don't you sign up, and share your experience? ::)

Marc

Quote from: dircom on March 31, 2015, 12:46:25 PM
as you say, it was just announced.
Why don't you sign up, and share your experience? ::)

I have, and I will  ;D
Just figured some may have been part of a beta or have more information than the almost zero I was given.  I have also sent a long list of questions to the company and will share those and the answers, if I hear back.
OBi110 (stored in closet now,) OBi200 x 3, Polycom 200 x 1, OBi202 x 4, Polycom 202 x 2, OBi1032 x 3, OBi1062 x 5, OBi2182 x 3

Combination of GV (consumer,) CallCentric & voip.ms both direct and via Asterisk.

dircom

yes, it is surprising how little info there is.
I have had Vestalink for over a year, so I would assume if there was a beta test, they would have contacted me, but they didn't.

The lack of CNAM is one of the drawbacks of using GV for my primary line.  So I am interested so see what you have to report.

thanks

lrosenman

I've solved the CNAM problem by having a RaspberryPi running IncrediblePBX doing CNAM lookups against bulkvs.com ($0.009/dip).

I also have a script running on the Pi that pulls my Google Contacts every night, and CallerID Superfecta looking there first, to save money for those I have.

Works well.


Marc

Quote from: lrosenman on March 31, 2015, 06:00:55 PM
I've solved the CNAM problem by having a RaspberryPi running IncrediblePBX doing CNAM lookups against bulkvs.com ($0.009/dip).

I also have a script running on the Pi that pulls my Google Contacts every night, and CallerID Superfecta looking there first, to save money for those I have.

Works well.

The lack of CNAM is by far the biggest drawback for me.  I've lived without it now for going on almost 8 years.  But I definitely miss it.

I'd be very interested in learning the details of your setup.  I have yet to play around with a RaspberryPi, but have wanted a reason to do so.  How much do they run?

Is the script you have something you would be willing to share with us?

Thank you...
OBi110 (stored in closet now,) OBi200 x 3, Polycom 200 x 1, OBi202 x 4, Polycom 202 x 2, OBi1032 x 3, OBi1062 x 5, OBi2182 x 3

Combination of GV (consumer,) CallCentric & voip.ms both direct and via Asterisk.

Marc

Some additional pricing information:


  • 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee
  • One time $4.99 Setup Fee (No Monthly Fees)
  • Caller ID with name (add $2.99/mo)
  • E911 with alerts (add $1.29/mo)
  • Voicemail w/ transcription, message waiting indicator and alerts (add $4.99/mo)
OBi110 (stored in closet now,) OBi200 x 3, Polycom 200 x 1, OBi202 x 4, Polycom 202 x 2, OBi1032 x 3, OBi1062 x 5, OBi2182 x 3

Combination of GV (consumer,) CallCentric & voip.ms both direct and via Asterisk.

dircom

#7
I think I paid $80 for 2 yrs of unlimited calling
with CNAM, 911, voicemail, per number call block (and for a while, even free faxing) etc
[if you have an Obi 202, you can have two concurrent outbound or inbound calls using the same number, which is really nice]
all without jumping through any hoops or paying for per call lookup
if Vestalink service remains good, I will definitely, re-up my subscription

so their new offering is more than I previously paid for a feature rich service

Marc

Quote from: dircom on March 31, 2015, 08:34:27 PM
I think I paid $80 for 2 yrs of unlimited calling
with CNAM, 911, etc
so their new offering is more than I previously paid for a feature rich service

The difference is this new service uses your Google Voice service.  The $80 you paid is for full VOIP service.  So if you look at it that way and you're one who would want all the addons they are offering, GVSip would be a total rip off.

I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure their target audience are people that don't want to deal with a separate VOIP account and may just need one or two of the addons.

The E911 service is actually priced pretty well.  The other addons are more than double what I think their fair market value are.  If you're using Google Voice, you don't need voicemail.  That seems like a stupid addon to even offer.  But CNAM and E911 may be very attractive addons to many people.  I already have E911 through CallCentric and I also have 12 phone numbers through them, so I have to pay their $1.50/month anyway.  Their voicemail is free, although it doesn't include transcribing.  But I like the flexibility I have with them and their extensions and rules.  Not to mention the phone numbers are all free from them.  So We pay $0.02 per minute, if any outgoing calls are made plus $1.50 per month.  Most months I'm only charged the $1.50.  Yet both of my businesses have multiple phone numbers, fax lines, and I can assign extensions to people and via softphones or mobile device apps, it looks like we are all working in the same office.
OBi110 (stored in closet now,) OBi200 x 3, Polycom 200 x 1, OBi202 x 4, Polycom 202 x 2, OBi1032 x 3, OBi1062 x 5, OBi2182 x 3

Combination of GV (consumer,) CallCentric & voip.ms both direct and via Asterisk.

lrosenman

#9
Quote from: Marc on March 31, 2015, 08:26:00 PM
Quote from: lrosenman on March 31, 2015, 06:00:55 PM
I've solved the CNAM problem by having a RaspberryPi running IncrediblePBX doing CNAM lookups against bulkvs.com ($0.009/dip).

I also have a script running on the Pi that pulls my Google Contacts every night, and CallerID Superfecta looking there first, to save money for those I have.

Works well.

The lack of CNAM is by far the biggest drawback for me.  I've lived without it now for going on almost 8 years.  But I definitely miss it.

I'd be very interested in learning the details of your setup.  I have yet to play around with a RaspberryPi, but have wanted a reason to do so.  How much do they run?

Is the script you have something you would be willing to share with us?

Thank you...

The script is one I found on the web.  (I'll see if I can find the definitive reference somewhere).

Details:
OBI202: GoogleVoice on SP1 for my number, Vitelity on SP2 for the (legacy) house landline and E911, GoogleVoice on SP3 for my wife's number, and Asterisk Extension/SIP on SP4.

When a call comes in via SP1 or SP3 it calls Asterisk via a VoiceGateway with an indication of which DID it was.  The Pi then looks up in the local DB for CNAM, if it's NOT there, it makes a call to BULKCNAM.COM (bulkvs.com) for the CNAM. When it's done there, it rings the Asterisk extension which then rings the house phones.

References:
http://tech.iprock.com/?p=6416
http://tech.iprock.com/?p=6431
http://pbxinaflash.com/community/index.php?threads/google-contacts-to-asterisk-phonebook.10943/

If anyone wants more details, or a more cookbookish approach let me know, and I can try to write something up.

The above captioned web pages do well.

edited to add:
RaspberryPi's run around $35ish for just the Pi.  Add a case, power supply, and an SDCard it's around $80ish.

I'm using a B+, since I bought mine back in September, they've come out with the RaspberryPI 2, which is a quad-core and more memory for about the same price, but beware, some of the Asterisk Distros haven't quite gotten working on the Pi 2, but they are close.


azrobert

#10
That is an insanely complex way to do a cnam lookup.
See:
http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=5615.msg36243#msg36243

Edit:
I missed something in the above link.
ITSP Profile B SIP must have X_SpoofCallerID checked.

Things have changed since I wrote the instructions.
You put a check next to Enable Superfecta in the inbound route.

lrosenman

My setup gives me lots of flexibility.  Note that I have 2 GV lines on the Obi, and my setup allows me to prefix the CNAM with indicators as to which GV line was called (I use my initials and my wife's initials).

Why do you say it's complex? 

202Owner

>>Why do you say it's complex?

It requires an additional computer.  :)

lrosenman

Quote from: 202Owner on April 01, 2015, 10:08:10 AM
>>Why do you say it's complex?

It requires an additional computer.  :)
AZRobert is using a VM to the same purpose, so it's not the number of machines.

202Owner

Quote from: lrosenman on April 01, 2015, 10:10:06 AM
Quote from: 202Owner on April 01, 2015, 10:08:10 AM
>>Why do you say it's complex?

It requires an additional computer.  :)
AZRobert is using a VM to the same purpose, so it's not the number of machines.


And I would probably find an 'appliance' machine less complex than a virtual machine.  How many friends and neighbors could you convince to install your CNAM solution?  If none, then it's complex.  :)

azrobert

#15
The following is to set the record straight.
My post on PIAF under VMWare was posted about 2 years ago.
At the time I wanted to see if I could get Asterisk running.
I had a Shuttle XS-35 computer running Windows XP used for testing.
I didn't want to remove XP, so I installed PIAF under VMWare.
It was basically just a toy.
There were several posts about CNAM, so just for a challenge I setup the CNAM lookup on PIAF.
I DO NOT use this procedure for myself.
I have a provider (not Callcentric) that supplies CNAM.
Since then I bought a Raspberry Pi and installed Raspbx.
I have installed a few functions on the Pi, but nothing related to my daily telephone use.
When everyone thought GV was going away, I installed both GV callback methods.
I have a fax to email function and a couple other things.

Now comparing our CNAM methods.
1st, my setup will not work as posted.
The call from the OBi to Raspbx is an Anonymous call and will be rejected.
I know 2 ways to correct this.
Change Raspbx to accept Anonymous calls (not recommended) or add a trunk pointing to the OBi's IP address. Now the call will not be considered Anonymous.

My setup:
1 trunk definition
1 extension
1 inbound route

Your setup, I think:
1 custom context
1 trunk
1 Perl script (needing mods)
1 custom extension

I have a bare bones Raspbx that doesn't have an edit function, so I would need to use WinSCP to install the Perl script, custom extension and the custom context.
I do not have the Perl modules, so I would need Putty to install them (I don't have a monitor or keyboard connected to my Raspbx).

You really don't think your setup is more complicated than mine? Someone familiar with Asterisk wouldn't have trouble, but a newbie would have a more difficult time installing your method.  

For Identifying the GV trunk just add another extension and inbound route to my setup for the 2nd line. Route 1st extension to SP3 and the 2nd to SP4. Add a distinctive ring tone to SP4. Now you don't have to look at the CNAM to determine the trunk.

lrosenman

No perl (CallerID SuperFecta is part of the IPBX Distro).

I do have one Python script that runs nightly to scrape my contacts, but that's optional.


azrobert

I had to install Superfecta separately using Module Admin. Before posting I took a quick look and didn't see any Perl folders. If Superfecta needs Perl maybe it gets installed at the same time or maybe I'm wrong. I don't think it makes much of a difference either way.

lrosenman

As you say, it doesn't matter either way.

I don't have the luxury of being able to send both GV's to separate Asterisk extensions, since I have the Vitelity trunk as well.

I think we're arguing for no particular reason.

What I have works *FOR ME*. If others have other ways, great.

Let's all learn.

azrobert

lrosenman,

A few years ago I checked out the free service OpenNAM and they were horrible. Recently when I was playing with Superfecta they seemed solid. I don't use Raspbx for my daily telephone use, but a tried about a dozen CIDs and OpenCNAM found them all. I just now tried 2 telemarketer's CIDs and OpenCNAM found them too. Maybe you should check them out. It might save you a few dollars.