OBiTALK Community

So, gurus--Obivoice is really appealing esp, since I don't need to suffer the delay or cost to port my numbers. . . . however--how safe is this forwarding method they are using? 

Also--Obihai--can you share more details about your service?  Please--I don't want to wait till everyone and their dog is dropping GV---I'd like to switch now and not loose my numbers.  When will your service launch. . . what are the plan details?

I don't see how you could lose your GV numbers other than by deleting them yourself. I have one that has seen no use at all for quite a few months and it is still mine.

you can loose your GV number if you don't use it and ignore the e-mail they send notifying you that they are about to pull it due to disuse.  How long Google waits to send you the e-mail is not known.

So, I'm impetuous.  :) 

I went whole hog, signed up for the 2 year unlimited plan, and ported my number to Obivoice.  The port went smooth except for one hiccup - it seems that due to the way I ended up at GV some information was lost in the shuffle and the initial port request was rejected.  I needed to chat with Ryan and he contacted the company who owned my number and got it sorted out in minutes while I was on the chat with him.

FYI - I started with a landline, then ported it to the local cable company when we got a cable modem, then ported it to another cable modem company when we switched service, then ported it to a go-phone, then ported it to GV, then to Callcentric, and finally to Obivoice - yeah, I really wanted to keep my number.

One reason I wanted to take GV out of the loop entirely is because of the latency I experienced with it.  I had incoming routed through both "dirt cheap" and "free" DIDs at Callcentric (to see if there was a difference) for CID/CNAM and had outgoing straight through GV.  Every call we either made or received frustrated my wife but it was free so she dealt with it.  We always had a crazy lag - like a second or two that constantly ended up causing us to talk over the other person.  Pretty much every time, we ended up just hanging up and calling back on our cell phones.  Your mileage may vary, and I personally know people who love GV and have no issues with it at all, but it was less than ideal for us.

I've been using Obivoice for a little over a week now, but so far, call quality is awesome, support is great, and the price is phenomenal for unlimited minutes/month.  Granted, I'm not gonna tax the system, but an extra $0.08/month for the safety net of "just in case" was worth it.  With Obivoice, just like Callcentric when I took GV out of the loop, there is no lag and the quality is excellent.

I'm not sure how responsive they will be to improving their service, but they have a site to add requests and there are a few there now.  For example, I missed the phone-book capability of CallCentric to show CNAM.  MY phone has a basic one, but it's tedious, so I added a request to Obivoice's "request a feature" page.  We'll see how that goes.

I'm very pleased so far.

Thanks for the review of Obivoice!  This does look very interesting.

What I like about Obivoice right now is they are watching these forums and trying to accommodate us.  Unfortunately this thread is one sided since ObiHai isn't giving us anything to compare yet.  Come on ObiHai give us something!

Quote from: TheoGeek on January 17, 2014, 10:39:50 AM
I went whole hog, signed up for the 2 year unlimited plan, and ported my number to Obivoice. 

Give us an update in a month or so.

Quote from: giqcass on January 18, 2014, 07:00:12 PM
Give us an update in a month or so.

Will do!  I just need to remember... ;)

Sounds like a viable option if you don't make certain international calls.  Some international call prices are quite high.  I'd have to keep my prepaid long distance service I used before GV.

Quote from: giqcass on January 18, 2014, 07:00:12 PM
What I like about Obivoice right now is they are watching these forums and trying to accommodate us.

Which ObiHai unfortunately is not doing. They need to provide a complete solution. If all you are going to do is sell an ATA, this opens the door for the other VOIP companies that provide an integrated package when you open the box that UPS delivers.

Quote from: AlanB on January 19, 2014, 08:20:31 AM
Sounds like a viable option if you don't make certain international calls.  Some international call prices are quite high.  I'd have to keep my prepaid long distance service I used before GV.

Or simply add another SIP provider for outgoing calls.  Find one which has good rates to where you need to call (localphone, callwithus, etc).

Or it sounds like you could keep your GV service and use it the way Google intended it to be used.  That is, either call your GV number from some existing service and press <2> to initiate the call, or use the GV website to initiate the call at which point it will call you on your desired number(s) and when you answer it will call your chosen destination.

With an OBi you have flexibility.  Go with Ooma, Magic Jack, or whatever 'canned' provider and you have a very simple solution but you have no flexibility.  You have to add other device.  That flexibility gives you the opportunity to save money but at the cost of some complexity.  Always tradeoffs...

Are the 500 minutes per month with Obivoice outgoing and incoming minutes?

I could be mistaken but I don't believe Obivoice is affiliated with Obihai?  Can someone confirm or deny?

There is no relationship between Obivoice and OBihai.

@jazzy A minute is a minute. It doesn't matter which direction the call is.

Quote from: gderf on January 19, 2014, 04:27:40 PM
There is no relationship between Obivoice and OBihai.

@jazzy A minute is a minute. It doesn't matter which direction the call is.

That was my understanding as well.  I'm torn about a company that seems to want to identify with another company (Obihai) without any affiliation.  Seems like a marketing gimmick to me. 

Quote from: Ansextra on January 19, 2014, 04:30:12 PM
I'm torn about a company that seems to want to identify with another company (Obihai) without any affiliation.  Seems like a marketing gimmick to me. 

Lol... Crazy as it may seem, the name is way better than intellaphone.
I am checking them out and so far it seems to be easy, but the true test will be if more and more people sign up.
My hesitation is on if they can handle the traffic they will be getting. I have used a betamax voip for years and they have been phenomenal.

Looking at all the other guys, ObiVoice seems to understand what most GV users are losing and are positioning themselves to fill that gap easily. Having looked for solutions on this board, every other offering was half-baked. With Obivoice it appears I can make a seamless transition from XMPP without any issues.

Their website could sure do with some jazzing up, that Fax portal looks like something from the dial-up internet days. Another thing is the sign up appears to be a subscription which auto-renews, didn't know what rate that occurs at?

Quote from: simpleAnswers on January 19, 2014, 05:23:41 PM
With Obivoice it appears I can make a seamless transition from XMPP without any issues.

As you could just as easily with any other VoIP provider.

I picked up voipvoip,com as an outgoing only provider as a backup--because the don't charge for tollfree numbers. .. so ten bucks gets me a years worth of service (essentially.)  Callcentric I looked at for incoming. . . . they have free incoming/DID now, but it's not really free because they charge you no option for E911.   I am not sure what to do here. 
I call a ton of tollfree numbers.  I am worried Obivoice will call that business use and want to charge me 300 bucks. 

There are plenty of things you can do.

One is you can get a free Callcentric DID and just tell them you are not using it inside the US - poof! no E911 fee.

Another thing you can do is use a VoIP service who will terminate your toll calls for free. One such provider who does this is CallWithUs. There are others.

So thank you for this--I missed the free tollfree on CallwithUs . . . .I did however check the 888 number I use most often (conference call service) and it shows that it's 1.5 cents per minute. 

So which is it?  888 is free or 1.5 cents per minute---anyone got any feedback?

I have communicated with Intelafone and they are working with Obihai to become one the re-sellers Obiahi will be linking to when they finish with their plans.  The name Obivoice does not mean there is a direct relationship with Obihai. I think this means early adopters could move their GV setup with confidence they would not be missing out on something if they don't wait.  Also, and good news, the posted rates include e911 fees and taxes, so what you see is what you pay! For 39.99 total you would get unlimited residential talk.

This is from the CallWithUs site:

"Toll free service: if you need to terminate calls to US toll free numbers, send SIP calls to tf.callwithus.com, accepted area codes are 1800, 1888, 1877, 1866, 1855 and 1844, codec G711u. You don't need to have an account with us to terminate calls to TF numbers."

Looks like it includes AC 888 to me.

So, FYI to all---I asked ObiVoice what they considered business usage---they said about 5 hours or more per day would be considered business usage. 

I am on the phone more than that, some days--so this won't work for me.  At least not as a primary line.

Quote from: AlanB on January 19, 2014, 08:20:31 AM
Sounds like a viable option if you don't make certain international calls.  Some international call prices are quite high.  I'd have to keep my prepaid long distance service I used before GV.

Localphone is a good option for international calls.  Low rates and prepaid credit lasts forever as long as you use the credit at least once every 365 days. No monthly fees for basic service. Caller ID spoofing for verified numbers.  The Obi can be set up to use Localphone or another similar service for only the outgoing calls to certain destinations if you like.  No extra dialing needed.

Quote from: Arghtastic on January 20, 2014, 12:28:34 PM
So, FYI to all---I asked ObiVoice what they considered business usage---they said about 5 hours or more per day would be considered business usage.  

I am on the phone more than that, some days--so this won't work for me.  At least not as a primary line.

I don't think I will ever use the phone more than 5 hrs a day because I don't have a job that requires using the phone most of the time and I don't have a big family that shares the same phone line. But that converts to 9000 mins a month as normal usage and that sounds about right.

Quote from: giqcass on January 18, 2014, 07:00:12 PM
What I like about Obivoice right now is they are watching these forums and trying to accommodate us.  Unfortunately this thread is one sided since ObiHai isn't giving us anything to compare yet.  Come on ObiHai give us something!

Quote from: TheoGeek on January 17, 2014, 10:39:50 AM
I went whole hog, signed up for the 2 year unlimited plan, and ported my number to Obivoice. 

Give us an update in a month or so.

I've contacted Obivoice twice now & they've been very polite & informative. I got this, this am.
P.S. The help on these forums is fenominal, but you wizards, please remember that not all of us are familiar yet with the voip terminology; I did dwnl a glossary. Many thanks for all the info.

Subject: using Obivoice
JAN 20, 2014  |  10:54AM PST
Andrew Tilton replied:
Colleen,

You can have our service at the same time as Century Link home phone service. Unfortunately we do not recommend use of our service with Satellite or Wireless service as we cannot guarantee quality VoIP service with that sort of internet connection.

Our service would work with a cordless phone system. As long as you plug in the main phone line with the adapter the rest of the phones will receive the calls wirelessly.

Intelafone Customer Relations
http://www.intelafone.com

Quote from: gderf on January 19, 2014, 05:40:25 PM

Quote from: simpleAnswers on January 19, 2014, 05:23:41 PM
With Obivoice it appears I can make a seamless transition from XMPP without any issues.

As you could just as easily with any other VoIP provider.

Sorry but I have to disagree with you on that one. Every other option I found here was full of gimmicks and take backs. If I wasn't paying X for E911, it was Y for DID, Z for per minute calling or some other charge using perl script.

Truth is like most GV-OBi users, I bought the OBi because I could easily use it with GV without worrying about all of these issues.

I tried CallCentric, Localphone and Obivoice, and I'll have to say ObiVoice is the most transparent when it comes to what you get and you get a lot. All the others are just full of nickel and dime here with too much hassle. I never liked my cable company so I'm not one for a bunch of charges. Just give me a final number and no hassle which is what most of the GV-Obi users are crying for.

ObiVoice is the easiest way to transition off GV XMPP. I got a DID, unlimited calling, voicemail, even FAX from the portal. All for $30 per year. Which is the cost of 1year of SipSorcery, I already get everything I need without the Perl.
I didn't even have to port my number, it works seamlessly with the Obi device, in just 3 steps, I'm now using it instead of GV as the SP in my Obi, my callers don't know the difference, same CID and all, so far so good.

Quote from: simpleAnswers on January 20, 2014, 04:23:26 PM
ObiVoice is the easiest way to transition off GV XMPP. I got a DID, unlimited calling, voicemail, even FAX from the portal.

If you use the fax feature please let us know how well it works or what limitations you find.

So, I decided to go ahead and try the free trial and I connected my OBi.  I added my new number to GV and spoofed my outbound caller ID to show my GV number.  It was all very simple to enter the proxy numbers and so on from my OBi configuration to my obivoice account. One downside I see right away is that the free month is a month or 60 minutes and of course 60 minutes won't last very long. That seems kind of cheesy. I did make one test to call my new number and the caller ID only showed "unknown caller." I have little doubt that will work itself out. I'm feeling good about the service in the first few hours, the limited trial aside, and as I stated setting it up was pretty simple. I may decide to port my GV number eventually.  I'm told Google charges 3.00 to port out a number, but obivoice is waiving their normal 10.00 fee for us GV clients.

Did you make your test call to your GV number which is forwarded to your obivoice number, or did you call your obivoice number?

I ported one of my GV numbers to a cell phone provider last year and Google charged me $3 through my Google Wallet. Porting into Google Voice would cost more, I think it's $20 or so.

Quote from: gderf on January 21, 2014, 07:14:29 AM
Did you make your test call to your GV number which is forwarded to your obivoice number, or did you call your obivoice number?

My test call was from my cell phone to the obivoice number which, as you suspect, could be affected by GV.  My GV number also rings my cell number.

I just got someone to call me and the ID worked perfectly with name and number. I've really missed that with GV for the past two years. My info was also displayed when I called that person, so it looks like CNAM is working. On the other hand, the first call in was dialed to my GV number and CNAM displayed and then changed to data error and the call was dropped. ;D I had the caller call me back on the obivoice number and everything seemed OK.  I guess I'm going to have to go ahead and sign up for at least a month to fully test out the service, since the trial period is only an hour.

I have to think eventually porting my GV number or using the obivoice number and doing away with that GV link can only help.

I guess I should contact ObiVoice with this question, but I thought I would ask it here first.

Did anyone hear if ObiVoice was going to be adding other area codes in the near future?

My area code is not available, and I am not able to transfer my GV number either.

I really want to keep this number so if they don't soon add other area codes in my state, I will have to look elsewhere.  Also, you guys that received a new number from ObiVoice, were you able to see the entire number before agreeing to it, or did you just see the area code?

I'm hoping that Obihai announces that their new service is soon available, and hopefully it will have numbers in my area code.

Thanks...

Quote from: Johnny on January 21, 2014, 09:33:29 AM

My area code is not available, and I am not able to transfer my GV number either.

I really want to keep this number so if they don't soon add other area codes in my state, I will have to look elsewhere. 

Is there some reason that forwarding calls to your GV number to an obivoice number is a problem?

Quote from: LeoKing on January 21, 2014, 08:25:58 AM
I ported one of my GV numbers to a cell phone provider last year and Google charged me $3 through my Google Wallet. Porting into Google Voice would cost more, I think it's $20 or so.

In my eventually ending up with Obivoice, one step along the way a long time ago was to port my home phone number (from a cable internet provider) to GV.  I had to do the "port number to tracfone then to GV".  Evidently, because I did that, GV did not charge to port the number away (https://support.google.com/voice/answer/1316844?hl=en)  That page says "There is a one time $3 fee to port your number away from Google Voice. For users who ported their mobile numbers into Google Voice, the fee is waived."

So, if you ported your number to GV from a mobile phone, there is no $3 fee to port away.  That was true in my case.

Jeff.

Quote from: TheoGeek on January 21, 2014, 09:59:56 AM

Quote from: LeoKing on January 21, 2014, 08:25:58 AM
I ported one of my GV numbers to a cell phone provider last year and Google charged me $3 through my Google Wallet. Porting into Google Voice would cost more, I think it's $20 or so.

In my eventually ending up with Obivoice, one step along the way a long time ago was to port my home phone number (from a cable internet provider) to GV.  I had to do the "port number to tracfone then to GV".  Evidently, because I did that, GV did not charge to port the number away (https://support.google.com/voice/answer/1316844?hl=en)  That page says "There is a one time $3 fee to port your number away from Google Voice. For users who ported their mobile numbers into Google Voice, the fee is waived."

So, if you ported your number to GV from a mobile phone, there is no $3 fee to port away.  That was true in my case.

Jeff.

Thanks for the info! I never ported into GV so it's good to know.

Quote from: gderf on January 21, 2014, 09:45:26 AM

Quote from: Johnny on January 21, 2014, 09:33:29 AM

My area code is not available, and I am not able to transfer my GV number either.

I really want to keep this number so if they don't soon add other area codes in my state, I will have to look elsewhere. 

Is there some reason that forwarding calls to your GV number to an obivoice number is a problem?

It looks like as of now, that's my only option if I want to use a GV number.

Problem doing it that way?  Not really, as long as the service is reliable.

Might be worth testing.

Thanks.....

I wonder if they charge to issue new phone numbers.  I intend to keep my GV number so I can give out one phone number for everything.  I need to keep an eye on this.  I think there will be more deals coming down the pike the closer we get to May 15.

Just signed up for the free 60 minutes to test out Obivoice.  Set up was easy and my forwarded GV  number rings my ObV within 1 ring or less.  Currently was using a free DID from CC, and the forwarded GV number would ring my Obihai after at least 2 rings. Some calls wouldn't even ring the Obihai and those calls would end up in GV voice mail. Seems like about 20%-40% of my incoming calls would not get sent to the free CC DID. So it seems for now, ObV is more reliable.  Spoofing my GV number, and it shows up fine as the number in caller ID. 

GV forwarding problems to the free CC DIDs are long known and ongoing.

You may want to try a free IPKall DID as there have been fewer reported GV forwarding problems with them.

Quote from: gderf on January 24, 2014, 08:35:08 AM
GV forwarding problems to the free CC DIDs are long known and ongoing.

Yup.  I had issues with that.  Delayed rings, walkie talkie effect, etc.  I even had those issues with a paid CC DID.  Not sure why though.  When I ported my GV number to CC though, the issues went away, same with Obivoice.

GV must not have liked me very well.  :)

I finished the trial and signed up for obivoice on a month to month basis to begin with.  If I'm happy at the end of the first month I'll extended my subscription at least by the 6 month unlimited plan. It's definitely cheaper to sign up for a year at a time, by a lot.  7.99 a month or 39.99 a year.  I'm now waiting for my number to port from GV. I decided that I can go back to using my cell carrier's voice mail, though I'm not really sure what to expect from GV after my number ports out.  It might be that GV will still handle my cell voice mail, even with no actual GV number.  I decided that my phone service might work better with GV out of the loop entirely, rather than continuing to spoof my outgoing caller ID.

Google Voice can be used for voicemail only with your cellphone.  If Obivoice would add a forward after XX seconds option then Google Voice could be used for instead of Obivoice Voicemail as well.  They seem very open to suggestions right now.  Have you noticed the Obivoice price increases?

Quote from: giqcass on January 25, 2014, 07:59:36 PM
Google Voice can be used for voicemail only with your cellphone.  If Obivoice would add a forward after XX seconds option then Google Voice could be used for instead of Obivoice Voicemail as well.  They seem very open to suggestions right now.  Have you noticed the Obivoice price increases?

Yep, I'm on that thread. I was at first disappointed about the increase, but at least in my own case my rate will grandfathered. So far response to email and chat have been very good.

Quote from: jazzy on January 24, 2014, 08:30:33 AM
Just signed up for the free 60 minutes to test out Obivoice.  Set up was easy and my forwarded GV  number rings my ObV within 1 ring or less.  Currently was using a free DID from CC, and the forwarded GV number would ring my Obihai after at least 2 rings. Some calls wouldn't even ring the Obihai and those calls would end up in GV voice mail. Seems like about 20%-40% of my incoming calls would not get sent to the free CC DID. So it seems for now, ObV is more reliable.  Spoofing my GV number, and it shows up fine as the number in caller ID. 

Same experience here.  Everything seems to work fine on Obivoice with one exception - GV voicemail messages no longer create a stutter tone and message on my cordless phone as they did with CC even though the online GV logs show all the calls and messages.  Is there a setting for Obivoice I am missing?

Quote from: riptcity00 on January 26, 2014, 01:44:22 PM
Same experience here.  Everything seems to work fine on Obivoice with one exception - GV voicemail messages no longer create a stutter tone and message on my cordless phone as they did with CC even though the online GV logs show all the calls and messages.  Is there a setting for Obivoice I am missing?

I imagine that you have changed your primary SP from Google Voice to ObiVoice. You may be able to make the stutter tone work temporarily but if you are using GV for Voicemail the stutter tones won't work after the XMPP cutoff.  To make it work you will need to change your primary SP for your phone port back to Google Voice.  You can change your outgoing dial plan so it uses Obivoice to place calls even though Google Voice is the primary SP.

Everything seems to work fine on Obivoice with one exception - GV voicemail messages no longer create a stutter tone and message on my cordless phone as they did with CC even though the online GV logs show all the calls and messages.  Is there a setting for Obivoice I am missing?


Go to http://support.obivoice.com/ and search for "MWI on OBi" and you will find the setup for the message waiting and stutter tone.  

There are definitely pros and cons to either keeping your number with GV and simply forwarding it to the number that we provide you with your account or transferring it over to our service.

If you simply forward it to your Obivoice number you can avoid that $3 fee that Google will charge you to unlock your number, but you will still experience slightly lower call quality with GV as your calls are still going through their service. With the Caller ID spoofing feature we offer your outbound calls can look as if they're coming from that GV number. Also, GV is programmed to take over all Voicemail if calls are passing through it's service.

If you transfer your number to us you can use our Voicemail service which includes SMS and email notifications, voicemail transcription (speech to text, gives you a general idea of what the voicemail is about), and the stuttered dial tone and light blinking hints. Transferring your number to us also allows calls to be sent directly through our service which will result in higher call quality.

I tried Obivoice after latency problems with localphone.

Obivoice is not viable for me because the "Free US" calling plan does not include some US area codes.  For me the deal breaker was Alaska 907, but I would guess that Hawaii falls in here as well.

There is NO disclosure of this on their site anywhere.

So this is either false advertising or amateur hour, and either way, I'm moving on to the next candidate: anveo or call centric, whichever has the cheaper 911 fee.... honestly, don't give a hoot about 911, wish it was not included in so many consumer options.

Quote from: ceg3 on January 27, 2014, 08:28:25 AM
Everything seems to work fine on Obivoice with one exception - GV voicemail messages no longer create a stutter tone and message on my cordless phone as they did with CC even though the online GV logs show all the calls and messages.  Is there a setting for Obivoice I am missing?


Go to http://support.obivoice.com/ and search for "MWI on OBi" and you will find the setup for the message waiting and stutter tone.  

The article to which you refer applies only when you use ObiVoice voicemail.  riptcity00 is using Google Voice voicemail so the solution in that article will not solve the issue.  The solution I posted is a temporary measure. Unfortunately in order to use Obivoice Voicemail while forwarding from Google Voice you must set ObiVoice voicemail to pick up after 20 seconds to beat Google Voices time limit of 25 seconds.

Has anyone noticed that Obivoice plan prices are promotional?
On their home page under each plan (Lite, Basic and Plus) you will find the following: "Limited Time Promotion"
I assume this means you will be getting a price increase when your plan expires.

I'm also probably going to be moving on after my 60 day trial period is over.

The reasons:  No local area code for me to choose from.  No way to port my GV number, and the forwarding feature concerns me.  I would like to be able to bypass this forwarding option, but as of now I can't.

The big reason would be their price hikes.  The first hike went into effect almost immediately and it's possible to see hikes at any time apparently, unless your grandfathered in.  I know this is how some businesses operate but for a relatively new start up, this is a little worrisome.

So, hopefully after the trial period, Obihai will have introduced their plan and hopefully it will include numbers in my area code or perhaps some way to port my GV number.

Quote from: azrobert on January 27, 2014, 09:00:46 PM
Has anyone noticed that Obivoice plan prices are promotional?
On their home page under each plan (Lite, Basic and Plus) you will find the following: "Limited Time Promotion"
I assume this means you will be getting a price increase when your plan expires.

They probably added that wording after they saw the other post where I said

Quote from: giqcass on January 25, 2014, 01:38:01 AM
There have been some price changes to Obivoice.  It would not have bothered me if the original prices were labeled as introductory and they upped them. The fact that the prices were not "introductory prices" and they upped them so soon into the game makes me question the stability of the company.

If they are doing anything it's paying attention to the forums.  They already Fixed a bug I told them about and added Paypay after I asked for it.  I love how responsive they are.

Seems as if they need a marketing consultant.  :D

Seems like this forum is their marketing consultant...

We review what's available, give pricing, etc. and all
they have to do is read in the forum.

It's like B King being able to look into McD's planning
sessions without having to pay for it.

QuoteIf they are doing anything it's paying attention to the forums.  They already Fixed a bug I told them about and added Paypay after I asked for it.  I love how responsive they are.

I have also been impressed by their responsiveness. I posted a suggestion on the obivoice feedback forum, suggesting that it would be nice if obivoice could forward messages to google voicemail. Ryan responded the same day, and pointed out that I could achieve that simply by disabling the obivoice voicemail.

I just found obivoice a couple of days ago.  Signed for a 30day trial and did lots of testing.  I would say I really like it and will sign for the two years contract.
There's no quality problem except some delay but not too bad.  One feature I like is number spoofing because I would like call out use different method but incoming call come to the same place.  This is one thing I don't like GV in the past.  Auto configure of obi devices works fine, except for one small glitch, which has been fixed.  I tried different devices and programs, e.g., Linksys ATAs, asterisk, csipsimple and etc.  Obivoice just behave as a standard SIP Voip service, which is not the case for MagicJack, Ooma and nettalk duo.  I can even receive calls on my Android phone using csipsimple but haven't tested much yet.
In any case, I feel it is an ideal replacement for GV, at least for me.

Has anyone tried to fax over the line?  No the web portal.  I want to just hook up a fax machine to the line and use it solely as a fax line.

Just wanted to correct something I wrote in my previous post in this thread.

I posted that I had a 60 day trial period, it is in fact a 30 day trial  period.

I must have been looking at my minutes when I posted that.  It's 30 days or 60 minutes, whichever comes first, I believe.

Sorry......

Let me toss out this bit of info for new Obivoice subscribers.  In order to have your name display on your outgoing caller ID log into your Obivoice portal and go to numbers and then manage numbers and click on edit.  The blank to enter your name will become active.

Quote from: ceg3 on January 29, 2014, 01:18:54 PM
Let me toss out this bit of info for new Obivoice subscribers.  In order to have your name display on your outgoing caller ID log into your Obivoice portal and go to numbers and then manage numbers and click on edit.  The blank to enter your name will become active.

Thanks for the tip.  Previously I did the spoofing option which worked to show just my number.  I tried this change but can't get the name to show.  I have Obivoice showing as the primary line for outbound calls in Google Voice assuming it would bypass Google Voice if it limited caller id to number only.  Are you using this option for outbound Obivoice calls without google voice involved? i.e. what I'm trying to do won't work.

(on a completely different topic, since I don't see a forum help conversation thread - is there a way to change/correct the name associated with my posts?)

I'm actually in the process of porting over my GV number.  It was delayed, and I wanted to experience a "true" Obivoice experience, so I deleted my forwarding to my Obivoice number from my GV account, leaving only my cell number to get calls to my GV number. I started out the way you did by spoofing the outgoing caller ID with my GV number. I understand it can take a couple of days for the caller ID info entered to propagate across all carriers.

Quote from: riptcity00 on January 29, 2014, 03:39:23 PM
Thanks for the tip.  Previously I did the spoofing option which worked to show just my number.  I tried this change but can't get the name to show.  I have Obivoice showing as the primary line for outbound calls in Google Voice assuming it would bypass Google Voice if it limited caller id to number only.  Are you using this option for outbound Obivoice calls without google voice involved? i.e. what I'm trying to do won't work.

In my testing Obivoice will not add your name to outgoing calls that spoof your Google Voice number.  That feature is for numbers that are actually
1)Bought from Obivoice (this includes your free number)
2)Ported to Obivoice

You can have multiple numbers on ObiVoice but Obivoice does not give you a way to switch between the two from the phone when it comes to outbound caller ID.  That can only be done through the control panel.  Of course with the speed at which they add features it may be possible next week.

Small side note:  I spelled my own name wrong on the CNAM. lol

Quote from: KAura on January 28, 2014, 10:03:32 AM
Seems like this forum is their marketing consultant...

We review what's available, give pricing, etc. and all
they have to do is read in the forum.

It's like B King being able to look into McD's planning
sessions without having to pay for it.

That's essentially it, Kaura. Tailoring our services to what experienced VoIP users want to see and use and the word of mouth referrals of customers who are genuinely pleased with what we have to offer are a lot better than the shotgun-approach of marketing in a traditional fashion. (Don't forget you can also earn a bit of $$$ from these referrals  (https://obivoice.leaddyno.com/) ;))

All of the changes to our website, features, and services have been either out of necessity in improving reliability/functionality or have been inspired by community input. Unfortunately it gives a false impression that we have trouble making up our mind on things. I can say we have decided on being flexible enough to suit the needs of the VoIP community.

Quote from: ceg3 on January 29, 2014, 01:18:54 PM
Let me toss out this bit of info for new Obivoice subscribers.  In order to have your name display on your outgoing caller ID log into your Obivoice portal and go to numbers and then manage numbers and click on edit.  The blank to enter your name will become active.

Thanks for passing that on! A detailed support article was just put up today about this. You can check it out here. (https://intelafone.desk.com/customer/portal/articles/1433269-configuring-your-caller-id-cnam-)

Could it be that all the changes you are making is why my OBi is rebooting multiple times a day? It was really rare for me to notice the rebooting before moving over to Obivoice.

Changes to a web site can't reboot your OBi.

Quote from: intelafone on January 30, 2014, 12:02:35 PM

Quote from: KAura on January 28, 2014, 10:03:32 AM
Seems like this forum is their marketing consultant...

We review what's available, give pricing, etc. and all
they have to do is read in the forum.

It's like B King being able to look into McD's planning
sessions without having to pay for it.

That's essentially it, Kaura. Tailoring our services to what experienced VoIP users want to see and use and the word of mouth referrals of customers who are genuinely pleased with what we have to offer are a lot better than the shotgun-approach of marketing in a traditional fashion. (Don't forget you can also earn a bit of $$$ from these referrals  (https://obivoice.leaddyno.com/) ;))

All of the changes to our website, features, and services have been either out of necessity in improving reliability/functionality or have been inspired by community input. Unfortunately it gives a false impression that we have trouble making up our mind on things. I can say we have decided on being flexible enough to suit the needs of the VoIP community.

Quote from: ceg3 on January 29, 2014, 01:18:54 PM
Let me toss out this bit of info for new Obivoice subscribers.  In order to have your name display on your outgoing caller ID log into your Obivoice portal and go to numbers and then manage numbers and click on edit.  The blank to enter your name will become active.

Thanks for passing that on! A detailed support article was just put up today about this. You can check it out here. (https://intelafone.desk.com/customer/portal/articles/1433269-configuring-your-caller-id-cnam-)

Thanks for documenting and clarifying for future reference!

In order to possibly fix my rebooting issue I ran the Obi easy setup tool in my Obivoice web portal and it may now be more stable, but dang it my message waiting indicator and stutter tone stopped working.  I have the correct setting in OBi and they worked before the auto config.

You may want to avoid that beta easy config. I am trying to once again manually enter the SIP credentials from my Obivoice portal to my SP1 in my OBi and it is not connecting.  When I first set up my account manually is was very simple to enter the info, submit, and I was up and running.  Now, I'm not connecting unless I do run the auto config from the Obivoice portal. ???

I had to give up trying to manually configure my SP1. Everything entered corrected but it would not connect. Logged into the Obivoice portal and ran the tool and no problem connecting my Obi. Still have lost my MWI. I think the tool may have somehow modified my OBi device setup.

Quote from: ceg3 on January 30, 2014, 05:24:36 PM
In order to possibly fix my rebooting issue I ran the Obi easy setup tool in my Obivoice web portal and it may now be more stable, but dang it my message waiting indicator and stutter tone stopped working.  I have the correct setting in OBi and they worked before the auto config.

You may want to avoid that beta easy config. I am trying to once again manually enter the SIP credentials from my Obivoice portal to my SP1 in my OBi and it is not connecting.  When I first set up my account manually is was very simple to enter the info, submit, and I was up and running.  Now, I'm not connecting unless I do run the auto config from the Obivoice portal. ???

When I started testing Obivoice I would switch back to CC and/or GV and the message wait indicator and stutter tone stopped working for them as well.  (Used to be a problem to get the indicator to go off, but now I can't get it to go back on.)

My bigger concern is now that I have completed the Obivoice trial period, I can't get my regular google voice outgoing calls working again until I decide on an option.  Outgoing calls give me a message on my handest that Obivoice has a billing issue.  I've deleted Obivoice from Obitalk and Google Voice settings and rebooted the obi200 etc.  I figured I couldn't use Obivoice until I decided and make a payment, but I didn't expect it to lock up my calling altogether. Any ideas?

You have to make Google Voice Primary Line for Outgoing Calls, or if Google Voice is on SP1, then dial **1 then the number.

Tonight I noticed that Obivoice added a couple of new features. They added a "My Phonebook" under the calls sections. Also that added a feature to download a spreadsheet with your calls! Good job and thanks for listening to the customers!

Quote from: gderf on January 30, 2014, 06:59:35 PM
You have to make Google Voice Primary Line for Outgoing Calls, or if Google Voice is on SP1, then dial **1 then the number.

Google Voice is the primary line for outgoing calls and on sp1.  Tried the **1 also and neither works.  The handset gives the bad connection sound and then an ObiVoice message says there is a billing issue. I didn't set up billing info as part of the trial, and the obivoice account shows the obi device as connected even through I deleted it from obitalk and google voice settings. 

Have you rebooted your OBi?

I have been very impressed so far with Obivoice - both in call quality and responsiveness to users.  A number of improvements have been imlpemented, including a couple I suggested.  They monitor the forums and respond to their own "request a feature" page.

Granted, they aren't as "matured" as other offerings, but it's kind of fun when your suggestions are implemented, and you get an e-mail saying so.

$60 for 2 years well spent, and I've only had their service for a couple of weeks.  :)  Time will tell if they can keep this pace up (and keep the price down), but they are off to a great start!

Quote from: gderf on January 30, 2014, 08:54:11 PM
Have you rebooted your OBi?

Yes. Ryan suggested re-adding ov back to obitalk which I will do, but the billing error message started before I deleted the ov setting. Originally I just checked GV forwarding on as the primary and unchecked ov. How have others handled settings when the trial was done?  Thx.

When my trial was over I attempted to make a call and it was refused. I forget what the voice told me though. Incoming calls to my Obivoice number now go straight to voicemail which I am still able to read and hear from the CP. On another note, my trial didn't just evaporate the instant I reached 60 minutes of calls. My last call was 56 minutes, 31 seconds. But prior to that I had accumulated over 30 minutes on other calls. Once I hung up on that last call the trial was then over.


All I did after the trial ended was to delete SP4 from within OBiTALK which was the one I had configured for Obivoice. There are now no connected devices when checking on my Obivoice CP.

Running the Obivoice auto setup tool seems to have stopped the rebooting problem I was having (at least for now), but I still can't get my MWI back.

Quote from: gderf on January 31, 2014, 05:27:43 AM
When my trial was over I attempted to make a call and it was refused. I forget what the voice told me though. Incoming calls to my Obivoice number now go straight to voicemail which I am still able to read and hear from the CP. On another note, my trial didn't just evaporate the instant I reached 60 minutes of calls. My last call was 56 minutes, 31 seconds. But prior to that I had accumulated over 30 minutes on other calls. Once I hung up on that last call the trial was then over.


All I did after the trial ended was to delete SP4 from within OBiTALK which was the one I had configured for Obivoice. There are now no connected devices when checking on my Obivoice CP.

I used a similar sequence to what you described only difference is the ObiVoice device screen still show up as connnected with a green status indicator.  There were two devices showing - one for the Obihai and one for the softphone setting I was testing for ios device calling.  Today the softphone setting is gone, but the Obihai setting is still acive.  Maybe some kind of timing issue?

I just deleted the ObiVoice setting from Obitalk again.  Will reboot obi200 and try again later when I am home, so hopefully with some time it will clear up.  Just strange that it locked up my ability to switch back to Google Voice only calls.

On another note, I am very happy with the service so far and Ryan's responsiveness.  The Obivoice site has many good/quick changes in response to feedback as others have described.  It's now very close to some of the features I used regularly with CC.

Quote from: ceg3 on January 31, 2014, 05:57:51 AM
Running the Obivoice auto setup tool seems to have stopped the rebooting problem I was having (at least for now), but I still can't get my MWI back.

Update:  Ryan is aware of this bug now and is working on it. His update re-enabled the stutter tone, but so far the visual, flashing alert is not back working.  Now, that's working too!

Thanks to Ryan for getting this done.  Now I stutter and flash green. ;D

I'm all in with Obivoice now.  I signed up for annual, unlimited billing and ported my GV number.  Ryan and Andrew are both great and very helpful and accommodating.  The chat sessions are excellent and immediate.  If there is one thing GV did that I miss is having both my cell phone ring and my home/GV number ring when my GV number was called.  The available work around that I'm using is being able have a text sent to my cell when I have a voice mail, which is really OK for me.

Try this for simultaneous ring.

http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=6795.0

I just signed up... so far so good.  They don't have SMS yet.  I think that is in the plan.  Seem to have many of the features that Google Voice (GV) had.  Have not looked through their international rates yet.  They seem to be responsive to user suggestions and implement changes fast.  I took the plunge for 2 years unlimited.  I have my GV number forwarded and they provide spoofing for outgoing caller ID.  So nothing changes for friends, coworkers, and family.  They will accepts GV ports, but don't wish to do this for a while longer... at least until they support SMS.  Oh, and if you want to use their voicemail instead of GV, easiest way is to set up the Obivoice number in GV as a mobile number and not activate GV voicemail.  By tricking GV into thinking it is a mobile, GVmail will not try to grab the call after 25 seconds.  I can explain more if you want.

E911 is included but you must manually keep the address up to date if you move your ATA around.  I have a second home so am used to this from when I had Vonage years ago.

Outgoing faxing is free but incoming requires a dedicated line which they will provide for an additional $2/month.  You can port in your GV (or another) number for this or they will give you a new one, but the charge is still $2/month.

As I say.. so far so good.

  - Drew

Quote from: DrewMan on February 04, 2014, 09:38:40 PM
By tricking GV into thinking it is a mobile, GVmail will not try to grab the call after 25 seconds.  I can explain more if you want.

Please elaborate because simply setting it to mobile will not increase ring time.

The only hack I can think of is if you said it was a mobile.
In Google turned on Google Voice Voicemail for that phone.
Set it to ring all phones.
This is where the logic dead ends because I think this would require a forward back to GV for this to work.  If you have another phone with Google Voice set as Voicemail and activated Google Voice voicemail on that phone you may get the extended ring time. 

Quote from: gderf on February 04, 2014, 05:16:02 PM
Try this for simultaneous ring.

http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=6795.0

I'm trying their mobile app, Cloud Softphone that the developer says does not cause battery drain and when it's running you get a notice on your phone of voice mails left for your Obivoice number.  You can then key the designated button and immediately reach your voice mail.  The app is installed at the Play Store, for Android, and then use your phone to scan the QR code in the Obivoice portal, which completes the setup.  This way there no sms fees for voice mail notifications and apparently using the app does not use cell minutes.

Well, this is cool, but I forgot to consider that this will only work with a network connection, obviously, so it is WiFi or data usage.

Setting up Obivoice as a Mobile does not affect the time to pick up.  It does allow you not to set up GV voicemail on that "device".  This eliminates GV voicemail altogether and defaults to the Obivoice vmail.... the way a mobile phone would default to the service provider's vmail.  Hope I am being clear.

Quote from: DrewMan on February 05, 2014, 10:11:17 AM
Setting up Obivoice as a Mobile does not affect the time to pick up.  It does allow you not to set up GV voicemail on that "device".  This eliminates GV voicemail altogether and defaults to the Obivoice vmail.... the way a mobile phone would default to the service provider's vmail.  Hope I am being clear.

You are being clear now but that is not how Google Voice works.  No one anywhere has ever reported this behavior. If Google did turn a switch to make Voicemail work that way there would be hundreds or thousands of posts complaining about how Google Voice Voicemail had stopped working.

I have not "Activated Voicemail" on any of my Cell Phones but Google Voicemail still works.  That feature is only meant for calls made directly to a cell phone that were not forwarded by GV first.

Is Obivoice one of the "ITSP" companies I read about on the OBI blog site? Or is there supposed to be some other provider that has the same kind of pricing of $40 per year soon to be revealed by OBI themselves?

Does Obivoice support incoming cnam?  Will cnam still work if somebody calls my Google Voice number that is being forwarded to a Obivoice number?

Obivoice does support incoming CNAM, and I'm pretty sure it would work like my old setup:

outside world -> GV number -> CallCentric Number -> Obi.

That gave me incoming CNAM, and I don't see why it wouldn't work the same way with Obivoice.  If they are still offering a free trial, you could always get a temporary number from them to have your GV number forwarded to and try it out.

They also let you spoof outgoing Caller ID if you own the number (they do a call check and have you enter a code).  So you could get a temp number for the duration of the trial and set it up such that nobody would be any wiser.

Thanks TheoGeek. I suppose I can signup for their trial and see how it goes.

I was just waiting to see what Obi themselves have up their sleeves, but Obivoice sounds like it will be good enough for my purposes.

Quote from: TheoGeek on February 06, 2014, 09:31:36 AM
Obivoice does support incoming CNAM, and I'm pretty sure it would work like my old setup:

outside world -> GV number -> CallCentric Number -> Obi.

That gave me incoming CNAM, and I don't see why it wouldn't work the same way with Obivoice.  If they are still offering a free trial, you could always get a temporary number from them to have your GV number forwarded to and try it out.

They also let you spoof outgoing Caller ID if you own the number (they do a call check and have you enter a code).  So you could get a temp number for the duration of the trial and set it up such that nobody would be any wiser.

Quote from: et_phone_home on February 06, 2014, 09:58:29 AM

Thanks TheoGeek. I suppose I can signup for their trial and see how it goes.

I was just waiting to see what Obi themselves have up their sleeves, but Obivoice sounds like it will be good enough for my purposes.

Quote from: TheoGeek on February 06, 2014, 09:31:36 AM
Obivoice does support incoming CNAM, and I'm pretty sure it would work like my old setup:

outside world -> GV number -> CallCentric Number -> Obi.

That gave me incoming CNAM, and I don't see why it wouldn't work the same way with Obivoice.  If they are still offering a free trial, you could always get a temporary number from them to have your GV number forwarded to and try it out.

They also let you spoof outgoing Caller ID if you own the number (they do a call check and have you enter a code).  So you could get a temp number for the duration of the trial and set it up such that nobody would be any wiser.

I have subscribed with Obivoice and they are great to work with. One thing I noticed before signing up is that in the OBi blog they referred to a set number of minutes for 40.00, not unlimited.  That doesn't mean Obihai won't link to some unlimited plans, but Obivioce is already offering the option for BYOD OBi users at a great rate.

Quote from: ceg3 on February 06, 2014, 10:17:58 AM
I have subscribed with Obivoice and they are great to work with. One thing I noticed before signing up is that in the OBi blog they referred to a set number of minutes for 40.00, not unlimited.  That doesn't mean Obihai won't link to some unlimited plans, but Obivioce is already offering the option for BYOD OBi users at a great rate.

I'm all in with them too.  I subscribed with the 2 year unlimited plan for $59.99 after only a few days with their trial - ported my number and everything.  I'm really impressed so far, both with the service and the way they take feedback and do something about it.

So an update:
I signed up for a trial which is a 60 minute/1 month...whatever is shorter.  Pretty painless process...i manually set up my obihai device, deleted the google voice account from the device and set the obivoice forwarding number in the google voice account page.

I also set up outgoing spoofing, this was also a painless process.

Cnam works fine even with number forwarding.


Now I have to figure out how to get that 2 year deal for $60.

Edit: I see it in the billings section of your obivoice account page...but I guess they stopped the unlimited thing. Still $60 for two years with 2000 min/month is a great deal.

Quote from: giqcass on February 06, 2014, 05:24:45 AM

Quote from: DrewMan on February 05, 2014, 10:11:17 AM
Setting up Obivoice as a Mobile does not affect the time to pick up.  It does allow you not to set up GV voicemail on that "device".  This eliminates GV voicemail altogether and defaults to the Obivoice vmail.... the way a mobile phone would default to the service provider's vmail.  Hope I am being clear.

You are being clear now but that is not how Google Voice works.  No one anywhere has ever reported this behavior. If Google did turn a switch to make Voicemail work that way there would be hundreds or thousands of posts complaining about how Google Voice Voicemail had stopped working.

I have not "Activated Voicemail" on any of my Cell Phones but Google Voicemail still works.  That feature is only meant for calls made directly to a cell phone that were not forwarded by GV first.

Thanks for the tip DrewMan.  I've been testing Obivoice voicemail this morning with this option and it is performing exactly as I was hoping.  GV is still capturing calls etc, but I am essentially just ignoring GV and using Obivoice voicemail for all the functionality.  Now my call indicator on my wireless handset is working properly again, messages are working between phones, text messages and email noticications etc and I get entire cnam name and number rather than just number in Google Voice. 

Are there any downsides to identifying the number as a mobile vs other as far as other functionality?

Quote from: et_phone_home on February 06, 2014, 09:08:00 AM
Is Obivoice one of the "ITSP" companies I read about on the OBI blog site? Or is there supposed to be some other provider that has the same kind of pricing of $40 per year soon to be revealed by OBI themselves?

Does Obivoice support incoming cnam?  Will cnam still work if somebody calls my Google Voice number that is being forwarded to a Obivoice number?

I sent an email to Obihai support asking when they might announce new partner(s) etc related to their blog post.  The response was the configuration would be available next week, so we should see an update soon.

I've been testing CNAM with GoogleVoice forwarding to my Obivoice number and it is working fine so far.  With the addition of new phonebook update features, I've also been able to supplement CNAM with my own list of names and numbers similar to Callcentric phonebook.  Unlike the free DID that was inconsistent with Callcentric, this is working every time.

Quote from: et_phone_home on February 06, 2014, 11:06:01 AM
Now I have to figure out how to get that 2 year deal for $60.

Edit: I see it in the billings section of your obivoice account page...but I guess they stopped the unlimited thing. Still $60 for two years with 2000 min/month is a great deal.

http://www.obivoice.com/pricing/plus.html

They still have the unlimited plans, but the $60/2 year plan is gone (evidently, that was an introductory rate).  It's now $75/2 years which is $3.13/month (e911, unlimited incoming and outgoing)...still a heck of a deal.

riptcity00,

Don't think there are any other implications to posing as a mobile to Obivoice.  I am new to this, so could run into something in the future.

I am holding off on porting my GV number in. I like the free SMS Google gives you.  Obivoice says they are working on SMS.

Having issue with call waiting. I'm testing out the auto-configuration of Obitalk via Obivoice account page. I originally thought that there might be some settings missing by manually configuring Obi, but even after doing the automagic thing, I still don't get call waiting.  Do you guys have all the features working?
Edit: found it in Account>Settings on the Obivoice account page. Had to manually enable it.

All is good thus far.


I'm keeping Google voice as a forwarding number because I think their spam filter is pretty amazing.  I have so many junk / telemarketer calls that get directly blocked by Google so I don't have to hear them at all.

My only problem so far is with the MWI. No stuttertone or blinking light. I have checked everything I know and per the instructions on the Obivoice site.   ???

Quote from: cluckercreek on February 06, 2014, 07:04:48 PM
My only problem so far is with the MWI. No stuttertone or blinking light. I have checked everything I know and per the instructions on the Obivoice site.   ???

When I set up the service I self-configured SP1 in OBiTALK and had trouble with my OBi rebooting a lot and like you MWI. I suspected running the Obivoice auto-setup tool might help.  It did and stopped my rebooting. I contacted Ryan about the MWI and he fixed the error in their setup so that I then had stutter tone and flashing indicators. You are advised not to set up SP1 after running the tool, which resets your OBi and installs their configs. In order for the auto-setup to enable proper message waiting I had to first go into Obi expert and click on service providers and then on ITSP Profile A SIP and reset everything to OBitalk settings, which reset the changes I had made manually to enable MWI.  Then I went into Obivoice and ran the setup tool.  After that every thing worked the way it was supposed to. After running the auto-config I think the trick is to leave SP1 in your OBiTALK settings alone.

You can also make sure the X_MWISubscribe box is checked (in the SIP settings of whatever profile you have Obivoice set to)  That's what I had to do...

Quote from: TheoGeek on February 06, 2014, 08:43:49 PM
You can also make sure the X_MWISubscribe box is checked (in the SIP settings of whatever profile you have Obivoice set to)  That's what I had to do...

Thanks for the suggestion. It was checked. Obivoice support told me that they did not provide support for the phone itself ??? That wasn't what I had asked as it was their MWI issue. Oh well.

Quote from: cluckercreek on February 07, 2014, 06:35:06 AM

Quote from: TheoGeek on February 06, 2014, 08:43:49 PM
You can also make sure the X_MWISubscribe box is checked (in the SIP settings of whatever profile you have Obivoice set to)  That's what I had to do...

Thanks for the suggestion. It was checked. Obivoice support told me that they did not provide support for the phone itself ??? That wasn't what I had asked as it was their MWI issue. Oh well.

If you choose not to run the auto-setup tool and manually configure the SP be sure the value for MWISubscribeExpires, below the check box for MWISubscribe, is set to 3600, not 360. Reboot and maybe MWI will work properly. I think Obivoice states they cannot support to a great extent manually configured setups.

Well, I used the auto configuration tool to the letter. No my phone doesn't work after reboot. I guess I'll delete and start fresh.

Quote from: cluckercreek on February 07, 2014, 12:32:33 PM
Well, I used the auto configuration tool to the letter. No my phone doesn't work after reboot. I guess I'll delete and start fresh.

Sorry that didn't work for you. In my case, once I reset all my OBiTALK settings for SP1 and then ran the auto-setup tool I had no issues. I only have an OBi100, so only two SP's, so SP2 is mine and SP1 belongs to Obivoice and I don't touch it. I do think you can create conflicts if you manually make changes to the SP Obivoice is on.

So, I am in an office a couple of hours each evening and I am used to GV ringing my mobile phone if someone called my GV number. Now that I am ported to Obivoice I was looking for a solution. I installed their mobile app and enabled Wi-Fi when arriving at the office. I then called my Obivoice number from an office phone and bam, my mobile phone rang instantly, displaying the Obivoice mobile app with the opportunity to take the call or ignore it. Very cool. It's really a kind of fun solution. I don't know about battery drain yet, but I only plan to enable the app when I am in similar situations. 

Quote from: ceg3 on February 07, 2014, 03:44:38 PM

Quote from: cluckercreek on February 07, 2014, 12:32:33 PM
Well, I used the auto configuration tool to the letter. No my phone doesn't work after reboot. I guess I'll delete and start fresh.

Sorry that didn't work for you. In my case, once I reset all my OBiTALK settings for SP1 and then ran the auto-setup tool I had no issues. I only have an OBi100, so only two SP's, so SP2 is mine and SP1 belongs to Obivoice and I don't touch it. I do think you can create conflicts if you manually make changes to the SP Obivoice is on.

No problem!  ;D  I appreciate any and all help. I'm new to this stuff and need to learn. I take it just that way. I have it back up like before but no MWI. When I dial *123 I get my voicemail but I wish I could get the stuttertone. The light indicator would be nice but not necessary. I guess I'll play with it more as I go along.

I recently signed up with obivoice. I setup GV to forward to my obivoice number. The problem I am having is the obi line doesn't ring through all the time. Three calls today showed up in GV but never rang through. Any idea what is causing this? I was hoping to keep my number on GV rather than porting.

First issue encountered today. I tried to dial a local phone number and it said "service provider rejected you rnumber...error 404."
I'm wondering if it's related to Obitalk services...so I've now manually disabled Obitalk services in the "Voice services"section of the Obi GUI.

Do I really need this enabled if I'm only using a voip service like Obivoice?

Obivoice experienced intermittent call connection latency issues this morning on the east-side of the US. 
The problem was brought to our attention and was resolved quickly.  Please contact support@obivoice.com if you are still having trouble making or receiving calls. 

Quote from: ceg3 on February 07, 2014, 03:52:29 PM
So, I am in an office a couple of hours each evening and I am used to GV ringing my mobile phone if someone called my GV number. Now that I am ported to Obivoice I was looking for a solution. I installed their mobile app and enabled Wi-Fi when arriving at the office. I then called my Obivoice number from an office phone and bam, my mobile phone rang instantly, displaying the Obivoice mobile app with the opportunity to take the call or ignore it. Very cool. It's really a kind of fun solution. I don't know about battery drain yet, but I only plan to enable the app when I am in similar situations. 

They don't have call hunting but you can enable call forwarding if you need it.

Wouldn't the suggestion in this thread accomplish the same thing as call hunting?

http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=6795.0

Quote from: cluckercreek on February 07, 2014, 03:55:26 PM

Quote from: ceg3 on February 07, 2014, 03:44:38 PM

Quote from: cluckercreek on February 07, 2014, 12:32:33 PM
Well, I used the auto configuration tool to the letter. No my phone doesn't work after reboot. I guess I'll delete and start fresh.

Sorry that didn't work for you. In my case, once I reset all my OBiTALK settings for SP1 and then ran the auto-setup tool I had no issues. I only have an OBi100, so only two SP's, so SP2 is mine and SP1 belongs to Obivoice and I don't touch it. I do think you can create conflicts if you manually make changes to the SP Obivoice is on.

No problem!  ;D  I appreciate any and all help. I'm new to this stuff and need to learn. I take it just that way. I have it back up like before but no MWI. When I dial *123 I get my voicemail but I wish I could get the stuttertone. The light indicator would be nice but necessary. I guess I'll play with it more as I go along.

Don't give up on message waiting. They still need to work on this. It is easy to lose it. They have revamped the setup tool.  Be sure to run ***81 to reset the OBi before running the tool. I ran the tool and soon after I lost MWI, though a message was unread. MWI is definitely buggy. The tool used to include the ***81 complete reset as part of the process. Now, they only advise to run the complete reset if after running the tool you can't make calls. I don't think you can enabled MWI, without it dropping out, unless you first run ***81. I'm a little frustrated with this myself at the moment.

Quote from: gderf on February 08, 2014, 05:26:37 PM
Wouldn't the suggestion in this thread accomplish the same thing as call hunting?

http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=6795.0

That's a good thought.  It would probably work fine for most people.  If you used that trick to ring your Google Voice number you could even ring multiple numbers.  

Here is a snippet from that thread. It would be put in your inbound call route.  You of course would modify the phone number and SP3 to match your setup

Quote from: ianobi on February 06, 2014, 03:11:35 AM
The whole string is:

{ph,SP3(1234567890)}

Curly braces and plain parentheses are both needed.

For all of those people that like to take calls on their computer a SIP client would work for that.

It is possible to make this imitation call hunting a little more sophisticated. Consider an InboundCallRoute such as:

Voice Services > SP1 Service > X_InboundCallRoute:
{ph,sp2(12222222222;d=5),sp2(13333333333;d=15)}

A call coming in to sp1 will ring the phone connected to the OBi. Five seconds later the call will be forked to 12222222222. Fifteen seconds later the call will be forked to 13333333333. All three endpoints will now be ringing, the first to answer takes the call. If a second call comes in while the first call is in progress, then the two free endpoints will receive ringing (after any applicable delays) and either may take the second call.

To use the Oleg Method with this example:

Voice Services > SP1 Service > X_InboundCallRoute:
{>1234567:ph,sp2(12222222222;d=5),sp2(13333333333;d=15)}

Where 1234567 = Voice Services > SP1 Service > SIP Credentials > AuthUserName

Quote from: ianobi on February 09, 2014, 03:39:12 AM
It is possible to make this imitation call hunting a little more sophisticated. Consider an InboundCallRoute such as:

Voice Services > SP1 Service > X_InboundCallRoute:
{ph,sp2(12222222222;d=5),sp2(13333333333;d=15)}

A call coming in to sp1 will ring the phone connected to the OBi. Five seconds later the call will be forked to 12222222222. Fifteen seconds later the call will be forked to 13333333333. All three endpoints will now be ringing, the first to answer takes the call. If a second call comes in while the first call is in progress, then the two free endpoints will receive ringing (after any applicable delays) and either may take the second call.

To use the Oleg Method with this example:

Voice Services > SP1 Service > X_InboundCallRoute:
{>1234567:ph,sp2(12222222222;d=5),sp2(13333333333;d=15)}

Where 1234567 = Voice Services > SP1 Service > SIP Credentials > AuthUserName

I'm curious as to why you forked to SP2 in the first method.

Quote from: ceg3 on February 09, 2014, 06:30:29 AM
I'm curious as to why you forked to SP2 in the first method.

SP2 is making an outbound call so it can ring the other phone.  I don't believe it can use the same Service provider slot for the outbound leg.  It could use the same service provider on a different slot or voice gateway.

Quote from: giqcass on February 09, 2014, 06:34:43 AM

Quote from: ceg3 on February 09, 2014, 06:30:29 AM
I'm curious as to why you forked to SP2 in the first method.

SP2 is making an outbound call so it can ring the other phone.  I don't believe it can use the same Service provider slot for the outbound leg.  It could use the same service provider on a different slot or voice gateway.

SP2 will make the outbound call without any provisioning?

QuoteI'm curious as to why you forked to SP2 in the first method.

The example assumes that two calls may come in on sp1 (most voip providers allow two sessions / calls). Therefore, I have used a different spX to fork outbound to other numbers.

QuoteSP2 will make the outbound call without any provisioning?

I have assumed a second voip service provider on sp2 that allows two sessions /calls.

If you were forking on to sip uri locations - myphone@123.45.67.89:9876 - then you could set up an spX as a "fake" SIP provider and fork outbound to the sip uri address. In fact I do this to fork to a sip phone on my local pc.

Quote from: giqcass on February 09, 2014, 06:34:43 AM

Quote from: ceg3 on February 09, 2014, 06:30:29 AM
I'm curious as to why you forked to SP2 in the first method.

SP2 is making an outbound call so it can ring the other phone.  I don't believe it can use the same Service provider slot for the outbound leg.  It could use the same service provider on a different slot or voice gateway.

I didn't think this would work but it does work.  The call can come in SP1 and be dialed out SP1 on my Obi202.  I originally thought I needed to create a Voice Gateway or use a second SP.
Voice Services > SP1 Service > X_InboundCallRoute:
{ph,sp1(12222222222)}

Learning:  I have learned that if you run the Obivoice auto-setup you will need to reinstall your OBi device in order to change over to manual configuration.  As a matter of fact, once you have run the tool you can just delete your OBi from OBiTALK altogether. Even if your device is still showing in OBiTALK you will need to delete it and reinstall it. The auto-config tool removes the setup from OBiTALK. I have for now deleted my device, but being OBi user it will be too tempting to at least play with manual settings, though I suspect the easiest thing is to run the auto-config and leave it alone for basic functioning.

Quote from: gderf on February 08, 2014, 05:26:37 PM
Wouldn't the suggestion in this thread accomplish the same thing as call hunting?

http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=6795.0

I'll be darn. I think this does work. I had to rebuild my OBi install, so I could again make manual adjustments, but a quick test to a ringback service had my mobile phone ringing and displaying my Obivoice number as an incoming call. Well done.

Update:  Had a chance to run a real-world test by calling my Obivoice number from an office phone earlier tonight.  After a couple of rings my mobile rang and I was able to answer my call using my mobile.  Then I called myself again and let it go to voice mail.  As I hoped, Obivoice handled the voice mail and my mobile just stopped ringing when it did.  Almost instantly I get my email alert on my mobile letting me know I have a voice mail. Got to love it!

Are you getting your stuttertone and light indicator for voicemail after doing this?

Quote from: cluckercreek on February 10, 2014, 08:34:43 AM
Are you getting your stuttertone and light indicator for voicemail after doing this?

I do. I was worried that manually configuring my OBi again would start up the rebooting problems I had when I first setup with Obivoice and that the MWI would fail, but everything seems to be working well. Ryan at Obivoice assured me over the weekend that the MWI problems had been resolved, but would take another look.

I can not get my MWI to work at all. Very frustrating. Andrew told  me by email that they didn't support this and that I needed to come here or other forums. Kind of ironic since I learned of Obivoice here in the first place.

MWI works great with the service.  We initially had some bugs with the MWI lights and stuttering dial tone but those problems have been resolved.  If you use the easy setup utility the MWI is installed correctly by default.  If you are using the Obihai Obitalk.com portal you will need to follow the instructions here

https://intelafone.desk.com/customer/portal/articles/1413429-mwi-on-obi-stuttering-dial-tone-message-waiting-notification

Let me know if you need any further assistance setting up MWI.

Quote from: intelafone on February 10, 2014, 06:14:22 PM
MWI works great with the service.  We initially had some bugs with the MWI lights and stuttering dial tone but those problems have been resolved.  If you use the easy setup utility the MWI is installed correctly by default.  If you are using the Obihai Obitalk.com portal you will need to follow the instructions here

https://intelafone.desk.com/customer/portal/articles/1413429-mwi-on-obi-stuttering-dial-tone-message-waiting-notification

Let me know if you need any further assistance setting up MWI.

There is an issue with the link.  I pointed out to Ryan a week or so ago that the MWISubscribeExpires should have a value of 3600, not 360. He was then able to correct the error and get MWI working great. You might want to look at correcting the example. I can testify that MWI worked for me when I used the easy setup tool. It is also working well for me now that I have again configured my setup manually.

Another "so far so good" post ... the only thing I'm missing is E911 - the Obihai portal shows my SP1 as still being Google Voice and that it can't support 911 service. But inbound and outbound calls, spoofing the previous GV # are all working perfectly. Any ideas?

Quote from: MarcJ on February 11, 2014, 10:57:37 AM
Another "so far so good" post ... the only thing I'm missing is E911 - the Obihai portal shows my SP1 as still being Google Voice and that it can't support 911 service. But inbound and outbound calls, spoofing the previous GV # are all working perfectly. Any ideas?

If you have an account with Obivoice; you can configure one of your SP lines with your Obivoice number (https://intelafone.desk.com/customer/portal/articles/1382461-advanced-obi-configuration), then just have Google Voice forward your calls to your Obivoice Number (https://intelafone.desk.com/customer/portal/articles/1428874-forward-google-voice-calls-to-obivoice), and finally spoof your Outbound Caller ID as your GV number  (https://intelafone.desk.com/customer/portal/articles/1421630-spoofing-outbound-caller-id)so all of your calls will appear as if they're coming from your GV number.

Since your device is still using your Obivoice number to make outbound calls, you will have full E911 capability when calling 911. When you dial 911, your true Caller ID (and E911 info) will display, not your spoofed number.

Quote from: intelafone on February 11, 2014, 11:35:41 AM
When you dial 911, your true Caller ID (and E911 info) will display, not your spoofed number.

Thanks for that info.  I had wondered whether the true CID or Spoofed CID showed for 911.  Do you provide a 911 test number?  Many Voip services provide something like 933 for tests.

Yes, 933 is our 911 testing number as well.  Please dial 933 to test your E911 services. 

I have to give a big thumbs up to Ryan @ Obivoice. He has been working with me, patiently I may add, to get my Stuttertone issue straightened out. I now have stuttertone!!!!!! ;D  Kudos to Obivoice!!!

Quote from: cluckercreek on February 11, 2014, 05:34:58 PM
I have to give a big thumbs up to Ryan @ Obivoice. He has been working with me, patiently I may add, to get my Stutterton issue straightened out. I now have stuttertone!!!!!! ;D  Kudos to Obivoice!!!

Congratulations! I knew you (with Ryan's help) could do it.

Quote from: DrewMan on February 05, 2014, 10:11:17 AM
Setting up Obivoice as a Mobile does not affect the time to pick up.  It does allow you not to set up GV voicemail on that "device".  This eliminates GV voicemail altogether and defaults to the Obivoice vmail.... the way a mobile phone would default to the service provider's vmail.  Hope I am being clear.

Thanks DrewMan. I wanted to bypass GV voice mail and use my answering machine instead, and your suggestion worked.  Previously, GV would pick up at the same exact time as my answering machine. To get around that, I had to set my answering machine to pick up after only 2 rings, which I did not like.  Changing my forwarding # to mobile allowed me to set my answering machine back on 4 rings.

You don't need to setup 911 on the Obi with Obivoice. 911 is handled through OV. So if OV is setup and working on the Obi, 911 should work. Check your 911 info at https://www.obivoice.com/e911.php

Here's a strange one. Did a full reset on my Obi202 and ran the config tool at Obivoice. Forwarded my GV # to the Obivoice #. Set up Obivoice CID spoofing to use the GV number. Everything works for incoming and outgoing.

But, every few hours I now get a call with caller ID of 100. Answer the call, nothing but silence. The Obivoice call log does not show the call at all, neither does the GV call log. Any ideas why we get these calls?

Quote from: kallsop on February 15, 2014, 08:55:23 PM
Here's a strange one. Did a full reset on my Obi202 and ran the config tool at Obivoice. Forwarded my GV # to the Obivoice #. Set up Obivoice CID spoofing to use the GV number. Everything works for incoming and outgoing.

But, every few hours I now get a call with caller ID of 100. Answer the call, nothing but silence. The Obivoice call log does not show the call at all, neither does the GV call log. Any ideas why we get these calls?

Look up the "oleg method" in this forum for a fix.  It sounds like sip scanners.

http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=5467.0

Quote from: Dixon on February 15, 2014, 07:01:17 PM
You don't need to setup 911 on the Obi with Obivoice. 911 is handled through OV. So if OV is setup and working on the Obi, 911 should work. Check your 911 info at https://www.obivoice.com/e911.php

I was quite miffed yesterday about  a pay for service that had such limited support but I've calmed down for the time being.
At any rate, I had already Fully set up obivoice thru their web portal including the E911 page. My phone is working great except for the 911 service.
I filled out the page for 911, updated and saved it.
I thought maybe I did something out of order possibly so I even started over and fully reset the box from the obivoice site. Then I went back and re-saved my E911 info.
I still get the device not configured when I dial 911.
I know I'll get it going sooner or later, it's just frustrating. I've built and repaired computers for over 30yrs now and know windows machines inside and out but this stuff is real new to me and I'm getting too lazy to learn all this stuff.

If anyone has an idea on why my 911 is not provisioning or whatever the hell the term is I'd appreciate it. In the meantime I'll tell the wife to have her cell phone ready if she has an emergency. :)

Ok, I started from scratch. I deleted both SP1 and 2 from my dashboard at obitalk then unplugged the obi110 to reset it.
I went to the obivoice web portal and re-sent the automatic configuration and updated the E911 info.
No change at all. Phone service fully working with my GV number showing on caller ID BUT when trying to dial 911...
I still get the device not configured error.
At this point I give up and if intelaphone can't get my 911 service working by early this week i'll probably dump it and look elsewhere.

Quote from: eclas on February 16, 2014, 04:47:27 AM
Ok, I started from scratch. I deleted both SP1 and 2 from my dashboard at obitalk then unplugged the obi110 to reset it.
I went to the obivoice web portal and re-sent the automatic configuration and updated the E911 info.
No change at all. Phone service fully working with my GV number showing on caller ID BUT when trying to dial 911...
I still get the device not configured error.
At this point I give up and if intelaphone can't get my 911 service working by early this week i'll probably dump it and look elsewhere.

If you want to start over and run the Obivoice easy setup tool just ignore the OBiTALK management page. In fact, you could just delete your OBi if you wanted.  I think you have already deleted SP1 and 2. Before running the easy setup tool do a complete reset of the device by entering ***81, wait 30 seconds, and then run the setup tool. That reset is more complete than just power cycling by unplugging and replugging in your OBi. That would give you true new start.

Thanks ceg3, I tried your suggestion (***81), then auto config and updated my E911 info but I still get the 'no service configured error, please logon to obitalk.com blah blah when dialing 911.
Do u think it would help to fully delete the device from obitalk totally?
I'll give that a try cause I can always add it back on if need be.

Quote from: ceg3 on February 16, 2014, 06:08:19 AM

Quote from: eclas on February 16, 2014, 04:47:27 AM
Ok, I started from scratch. I deleted both SP1 and 2 from my dashboard at obitalk then unplugged the obi110 to reset it.
I went to the obivoice web portal and re-sent the automatic configuration and updated the E911 info.
No change at all. Phone service fully working with my GV number showing on caller ID BUT when trying to dial 911...
I still get the device not configured error.
At this point I give up and if intelaphone can't get my 911 service working by early this week i'll probably dump it and look elsewhere.

If you want to start over and run the Obivoice easy setup tool just ignore the OBiTALK management page. In fact, you could just delete your OBi if you wanted.  I think you have already deleted SP1 and 2. Before running the easy setup tool do a complete reset of the device by entering ***81, wait 30 seconds, and then run the setup tool. That reset is more complete than just power cycling by unplugging and replugging in your OBi. That would give you true new start.

FINALLY! I should have just done the nuclear option to start.
When I deleted the device from obitalk dashboard and then added it back with the settings from intelaphone then bingo my 911 call got answered with my correct address.

Thanks for the suggestions

@eclas,

All the settings get populated down to the unit. You might want to diagnose it but reviewing all the settings one by one and see what changed. Something might come to your attention.

Quote from: QBZappy on February 16, 2014, 09:01:49 AM
@eclas,

All the settings get populated down to the unit. You might want to diagnose it but reviewing all the settings one by one and see what changed. Something might come to your attention.

Thanks for the input QBZappy. I finally got it going right. I just deleted everything at obitalk and started from scratch.

Quote from: giqcass on February 15, 2014, 11:53:42 PMLook up the "oleg method" in this forum for a fix.  It sounds like sip scanners.

Looks like that did it. I changed the X_InboundCallRoute from ph to {>xxxx:ph} where xxxx is the 4 digit value that was stored in AuthUserName. I was also sending emails to support at Obivoice and Ryan there is on top of it now too. Before the fix, I was getting about 1 call per hour with CID "100". After the fix, it's been 6 hours, no calls.

Quote from: kallsop on February 16, 2014, 03:03:07 PM

Quote from: giqcass on February 15, 2014, 11:53:42 PMLook up the "oleg method" in this forum for a fix.  It sounds like sip scanners.

Looks like that did it. I changed the X_InboundCallRoute from ph to {>xxxx:ph} where xxxx is the 4 digit value that was stored in AuthUserName. I was also sending emails to support at Obivoice and Ryan there is on top of it now too. Before the fix, I was getting about 1 call per hour with CID "100". After the fix, it's been 6 hours, no calls.

I only had this problem on Friday night and Saturday morning. I knew from researching the Oleg Method described that someone would solve. I sent emails to Ryan @ Obivoice and he was very responsive as always. Great job guys!!

I signed up for the 30 day/1 hour trial. So far no problems.

Seems like it might be an option to forward GV to. As far as porting a number it seems risky. My userid is 35xx. If they are in numerical order that's low.   Let's assume at max half the customers have signed up at $25/yr. that about 45,000 /yr. I could handle if they went under and I lost a few dollars. I'd hate to lose my phone number though.

Just to wake up this thread. ;D After several weeks using Obivoice I'm cruising and happy with the service.  I have had the occasional error message, but to be honest I never expect any VoIP service to be 100% perfect all the time.  It has only happened a few times, so not worth a trouble ticket. I discovered failover forward, which would have been just in time if I had gotten a call a couple days ago when two cars collided outside my house and knocked out the power. That made me realize the failover is worth setting up, though I already have my OBi configured to ring my cell and my home phone when I get an Obivoice call.

Timely tip.  I've had no issues with Obivoice so far and have good call quality, features etc.  I did have one call that showed as received last night on GV and OV, but no call rang at home or was recorded on the handset.  Not sure why this happened, but it's the only question I've had so far.  Will monitor closely, but it's good to have failover as well.

Quote from: ceg3 on February 19, 2014, 01:13:05 PM
I discovered failover forward...That made me realize the failover is worth setting up, though I already have my OBi configured to ring my cell and my home phone when I get an Obivoice call.

How do I setup failover forward? Is it done through obivoice (or VOIP provider), on the Obi device, or elsewhere?

Quote from: WM94 on February 20, 2014, 06:41:10 AMHow do I setup failover forward? Is it done through obivoice (or VOIP provider), on the Obi device, or elsewhere?

There are a couple of ways you can pull that off. We have included a Failover Forward feature with the service, though. Just go into the Settings tab of your web portal (https://www.obivoice.com/login.php), under Account. Type in the number you want it to forward first where it says and then select Failover Forward for the strategy and it will save the number you just typed in.

Quote from: intelafone on February 20, 2014, 11:43:34 AM
There are a couple of ways you can pull that off. We have included a Failover Forward feature with the service, though. Just go into the Settings tab of your web portal (https://www.obivoice.com/login.php), under Account. Type in the number you want it to forward first where it says and then select Failover Forward for the strategy and it will save the number you just typed in.

Thanks. That was what I was looking for.

One question I have is why Obivoice (Intelafone) isn't yet listed under the the supported venders when I go to my SP1 or SP2 configuration.  Is this something Obivoice is working to get going with Obihai?  It would make things that much simpler for folks who don't want to manually configure using the Obihai portal or using the Obivoice Beta app.

Smee

Great forum, everyone.  I wish I'd seen this when I signed up for Obivoice a few weeks ago.  I'm still on the fence with it.  It took me a few tries to get my Obi 202 set up correctly for this, and finally got everything working by doing a complete reset, and then starting over on obitalk.  I've got my voicemail indicators set up, and everything is working most of the time.  I'm willing to blame the occasional call that doesn't ring on Google Voice, but I've got two issues that are causing me to hesitate before porting my number to them:
1. What is the cause of the occasional call rejection message I get on my outbound calls "service provider rejected by provider..."?
2.  Why is there sometimes a very long wait from when I dial my outbound number and I start hearing the phone ringing on the other end?  Sometimes this can take 20 seconds.  I haven't seen anyone mention this here.

Thanks forum.

Quote from: Smee on February 20, 2014, 07:20:27 PM
One question I have is why Obivoice (Intelafone) isn't yet listed under the the supported venders when I go to my SP1 or SP2 configuration.  Is this something Obivoice is working to get going with Obihai?  It would make things that much simpler for folks who don't want to manually configure using the Obihai portal or using the Obivoice Beta app.

Smee

I don't believe ObiVoice has addressed this.  The fact that they created their own setup makes me think it's not going to happen in the near future.  Any of the following are possible.  They were rejected as a partner by Obi, they are in the process, or they never applied in the first place.  What I can say is they will let us know if they do become a partner.  They are very good when it comes to communication.

Quote from: giqcass on February 21, 2014, 01:14:43 AM

Quote from: Smee on February 20, 2014, 07:20:27 PM
One question I have is why Obivoice (Intelafone) isn't yet listed under the the supported venders when I go to my SP1 or SP2 configuration.  Is this something Obivoice is working to get going with Obihai?  It would make things that much simpler for folks who don't want to manually configure using the Obihai portal or using the Obivoice Beta app.

Smee

I don't believe ObiVoice has addressed this.  The fact that they created their own setup makes me think it's not going to happen in the near future.  Any of the following are possible.  They were rejected as a partner by Obi, they are in the process, or they never applied in the first place.  What I can say is they will let us know if they do become a partner.  They are very good when it comes to communication.

My take on this is that in order to be listed as a supported partner you need to do some form of revenue sharing with obihai. Since Obivoice is offering a very competitive price they may have decided to cut out a middle man in order to pass the cost savings to their clients. Either the math doesn't work or obihai is setting conditions which can not be sustained. Both of these companies independently on their own web sites have made overtures to associate with  each other, specifically in obivoice's case and generally in obihai's case. Eventually obihai and obivoice could agree on something since obivoice has a plan which pays for referrals. Other factors in play may be the cultures and future prospects of each company. At the moment an association with an established voip provider such as Anveo is more prestigious.  

The current commercial structure is a result of decisions made by both companies with all the self interest that it implies. Obivoice since appearing on the voip radar has been proactive and would most likely be happy to announce being on that list. Something is preventing it. As the paying consumers we are the silent third leg of this partnership. If the choice is to increase the price in order to be listed as a supported provider or keep the lowest price possible without affecting the service, the latter choice is clearly in the consumers interest. I see this choice as another good reason to keep your eye on obivoice. 2014 will be an interesting year for everyone involved with voip (manufacturers/service providers including GV/consumers) for different reasons.

Quote from: Lefko on February 20, 2014, 11:22:36 PM

1. What is the cause of the occasional call rejection message I get on my outbound calls "service provider rejected by provider..."?
2.  Why is there sometimes a very long wait from when I dial my outbound number and I start hearing the phone ringing on the other end?  Sometimes this can take 20 seconds.  I haven't seen anyone mention this here.

Thanks forum.

I'm glad I ported my number from GV, at not cost by Obivoice, to them. I couldn't be happier.  As to your concerns:

1.  Most likely you are calling a number that is a high priced destination. Contact Obivoice and they will tell you if that is the case.

2: Sounds like a setting in your Obi. I remember reading that if you use "#" after the number dialed this will help eliminate some of the issue.

Quote from: cluckercreek on February 21, 2014, 09:16:35 AM

Quote from: Lefko on February 20, 2014, 11:22:36 PM

1. What is the cause of the occasional call rejection message I get on my outbound calls "service provider rejected by provider..."?
2.  Why is there sometimes a very long wait from when I dial my outbound number and I start hearing the phone ringing on the other end?  Sometimes this can take 20 seconds.  I haven't seen anyone mention this here.

Thanks forum.

I'm glad I ported my number from GV, at not cost by Obivoice, to them. I couldn't be happier.  As to your concerns:

1.  Most likely you are calling a number that is a high priced destination. Contact Obivoice and they will tell you if that is the case.

2: Sounds like a setting in your Obi. I remember reading that if you use "#" after the number dialed this will help eliminate some of the issue.

1.  I don't think it's due to a priced destination.  Usually it is a local number. Whenever we get this error, if we repeat the attempt, the call goes through.
2.  I did a complete factory reset of the Obi.  The only thing that I've overrode is the voicemail indicators.

I think this is the one for me.

http://www.obivoice.com/#_l_4l (http://www.obivoice.com/#_l_4l)


Thanks!

I have a couple of questions about Obvoice pricing and options that I am sure someone here can answer.

Is there a way with obvoice to have two separate inward numbers that ring differently?  My wife and I have separate GV accounts with different ring tones on the obi device.  I believe GV does not let you use the same DID number in two accounts.  Does obivoice support two DID numbers on one account, or would I have to pay for two lines?

Also, not clear about pricing.  Do both incoming and outgoing calls use minutes?  if you sign up for a plan and decide that the minutes are not enough, can you upgrade for the difference in price between the two plans?

Thanks.

Quote from: classpro on February 24, 2014, 08:05:45 AM
I have a couple of questions about Obvoice pricing and options that I am sure someone here can answer.

Have you asked Obivoice support directly? They are very responsive.

I just checked with Obivoice support and they are still working on SMS. It sounded as if this feature is going to happen and they are meeting with their carriers on implementation tomorrow.

Quote from: AlanB on February 16, 2014, 05:04:46 PM
Seems like it might be an option to forward GV to. As far as porting a number it seems risky. My userid is 35xx. If they are in numerical order that's low.   Let's assume at max half the customers have signed up at $25/yr. that about 45,000 /yr. I could handle if they went under and I lost a few dollars. I'd hate to lose my phone number though.

I decided to as Obivoice directly about what would happen to my number in the event they went out of business.  This is what I heard back:

Worst case scenario, because we are re-seller (like google voice) and partnered with a larger publicly traded upstream carrier. In the event that we were to go out of business you would have at minimum 30 days to port your number out to another carrier without loosing it.

Ok, so I am in the same boat as the rest of you obi users who still have GV as a service provider and after doing some homework and reading the posts in this form, I think that obivoice may be the best choice for our home phone service. We have only one line with a set of cordless phones and get DSL internet through Centurylink. We have had an obi100 for a year or so now but have not been too happy with GV lately due to dropped calls and people getting cut off when the phone only rings two times.
I went to the obivoice sign up page but when I checked to see if our current number will transfer, it said it would not. I understand about signing up with obivoice and getting a new number which our existing number can be forwarded to so people can use our old number and still reach us, but what happens when GV service will no longer work through obi devices? Will the forwarding setup no longer work then and if so, is there any way I can keep our old number and use obivoice?
Like so many other people, I am looking for a good cheap alternative that will let me keep our number, give us 911 service, and be reliable. We don't use the home phones that much but need a way for family members to reach us. I do not understand about DID's, SIP's, or MMXP.

Toto,

If you can't port your number you can always keep your number with GV.  You will be able to forward your number to OBIVoice.   Your incoming calls will come through GV and ObiVoice.  Your Obi will be connected to Obivoice.

For outgoing calls, you will be using ObiVoice.  You can "spoof" your caller ID so that it displays as your current GV phone number.

Quote from: Toto on February 27, 2014, 09:26:52 AMI went to the obivoice sign up page but when I checked to see if our current number will transfer, it said it would not. I understand about signing up with obivoice and getting a new number which our existing number can be forwarded to so people can use our old number and still reach us, but what happens when GV service will no longer work through obi devices? Will the forwarding setup no longer work then and if so, is there any way I can keep our old number and use obivoice?

Forwarding will continue to work after May 15th. 

Quote from: AlanB on February 27, 2014, 09:33:55 AM
Toto,

If you can't port your number you can always keep your number with GV.  You will be able to forward your number to OBIVoice.   Your incoming calls will come through GV and ObiVoice.  Your Obi will be connected to Obivoice.

For outgoing calls, you will be using ObiVoice.  You can "spoof" your caller ID so that it displays as your current GV phone number.

I did this with the idea that I could always port my number out of Google Voice later if needed since my number can be ported.  So far, everything has been working fine.  I haven't had any issues with call quality or other issues with GV and Obivoice combination. 

Signed up today, 2 yr un for $75. Can't sign up with Chrome browser. So far so good, works, port next from Vonage. We'll see...

Okay so I went ahead and signed up for a obivoice account, got a number and did the spoofing along with the verifying that the site required. Our phone rang and I put in the 2 digit code, so that part is all done. Now I want to forward my GV number so that people dialing it will ring through to my new obivoice number. At first I thought this had to be done on the obi site but I saw nothing there about call forwarding, so then I logged onto my Google voice account. I saw where there was a checkbox next to forward calls to Google chat but there was no other place to put in or pick a different number for call forwarding.

I went back to the obivoice site (Vestalink) and tried there but again saw nothing in my account setup page on call forwarding. I decided to ask about it on their support center page. I found what seemed to be the answer nice and clear there except for one thing. It says to go to your Google voice account and use the "add a phone" feature to put in the information showing how to get to the right page by clicking on your phone number (GV number) on the left side of the page. I did this and filled in my new obivoice number as the new number which I was then told also had to be verified. I have tried verifying it several times now and the call will not go through. What am I doing wrong and what should I do next?

Obivoice/Vestalink has instructions under their support section regarding forwarding your GV number.

Quote from: cluckercreek on February 27, 2014, 02:05:15 PM
Obivoice/Vestalink has instructions under their support section regarding forwarding your GV number.

That is exactly the page I went to and followed the directions which were on it as I described in my previous post. I went to my Google voice account like it said and added my obivoice number as a new phone. The problem is that a message box comes up saying the number has to be verified again just as it was on the obivoice site, but the verification does not go through and I have tried many times.
Verification on the obivoice site went right through, so i don't understand the problem.

Quote from: Toto on February 27, 2014, 03:18:05 PM

Quote from: cluckercreek on February 27, 2014, 02:05:15 PM
Obivoice/Vestalink has instructions under their support section regarding forwarding your GV number.

but the verification does not go through and I have tried many times.
Verification on the obivoice site went right through, so i don't understand the problem.

Note, I have had this problem happen with Google Voice before unrelated to my account that uses voip.  This where I get a new number to forward to, it asks me to verify I click the button to have it call, and my phone never rings.  It just sits there.  I think the GV system has problems from time to time.

Quote from: MikeHObi on February 27, 2014, 03:32:40 PM

Quote from: Toto on February 27, 2014, 03:18:05 PM

Quote from: cluckercreek on February 27, 2014, 02:05:15 PM
Obivoice/Vestalink has instructions under their support section regarding forwarding your GV number.

but the verification does not go through and I have tried many times.
Verification on the obivoice site went right through, so i don't understand the problem.

Note, I have had this problem happen with Google Voice before unrelated to my account that uses voip.  This where I get a new number to forward to, it asks me to verify I click the button to have it call, and my phone never rings.  It just sits there.  I think the GV system has problems from time to time.

I had this problem before as well and don't remember exactly what I did.  I think the first time I added a number on GV that needed verification, I had to use a softphone with a pc so that Google Voice would ring my pc to validate the number.  Otherwise the number kept showing in the call logs, but I never actually got a call ring tone.  If you have a smartphone, can you use the obivoice softphone software to do this?

Atually my problem had to do with the SIP ALG option on my router which was blocking incoming sip calls.  Check your router settings to see how it handles sip calls.  I'm trying to look up my support conversations, but I think this is what finally allowed the calls to start ringing.

I was able to solve the verification problem. It turned out to be a problem with the Obivoice setup. When I set up my account and followed their step by step process to sign up for a free 30 day trial, there was no pop up window telling me to power off my obi100 and reboot it during the setup. While the the obivoice site said my phone was now hooked up to their system, it was not, so when the Google voice site tried to verify the number that obivoice had given me, it would not go through and my phone would not ring. I realized this when someone called me using my old Google voice number which showed that the phone was still tied to that number.

I contacted the Obi voice company and got a quick reply in only a couple of hours. In it was a link to a tutorial page about setting up your obi device and it included the step about rebooting the device. Once I went through the process again and included a reboot, my phone number changed and I was able to get Google voice to verify it so I could forward my obivoice number to my old Google voice number.
I only hope that once Google voice no longer works with my obi, that the forwarding process still works and I won't have to change my phone number again.
Thanks everyone for trying to help me.  

I signed up with Vestalink for the free trial.  So far not impressed largely because they HAVE NOT been responsive to email.  It took 2 emails over a couple of days to get a response.  It's hard to get up the courage to sign up when they have poor customer service.