Google will be disabling (many/all?) 3rd party Google Voice integration May 15, 2014. According to the first article (below) this includes the OBIHAI product line.
I am currently depending on Google Voice on my OBI202 device. Possible to keep my phone number? Suggestions?
See articles:http://www.androidheadlines.com/2013/11/your-third-party-google-voice-apps-will-stop-working-may-2014.html (http://www.androidheadlines.com/2013/11/your-third-party-google-voice-apps-will-stop-working-may-2014.html)
http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/31/google-hangouts-google-voice-sms (http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/31/google-hangouts-google-voice-sms)
Additionally, Google is transitioning from Google Voice to Google Hangouts.From Google spokes person Nikhyl Singhal: "Hangouts is designed to be the future of Google Voice, and making/receiving phone calls is just the beginning. Future versions of Hangouts will integrate Google Voice more seamlessly."Questions:
- Will(/has) OBIHAI contact Google to attempt to work out an arrangement for their customers until Google Voice transitions to Google Hangouts?
- Will OBIHAI be converting from Google Voice to Google Hangouts voice support?
- Is OBIHAI developing a transition strategy?
This has been discussed in 31 different flavors on the forums
Welcome to the forum.
You must have noticed this is old information. The posts you cited are from last year. It has all been discussed a great length here. Poke around the forums and do some reading. Google voice will not work with the Obi in the same way it used to. Obihai has no control over Googles decisions.
Here is what Obihai is doing.
http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=7264.0
http://blog.obihai.com/2013/12/what-does-40-bucks-and-obi-device-buy.html
https://www.obitalk.com/obinet/pg/services/spoptions
ObiHais official statement about XMPP. http://blog.obihai.com/2013/10/important-message-about-google-voice.html
Sorry forum surfers, I performed a few searches and didn't see a related post. My bad. :-\
I think OBIHAI should send an email to all their users, so those depending on Google Voice aren't blind sided. Not everyone using an OBi device with Google Voice are active on this forum.
Anyone think this is a bad suggestion?
Couldn't agree more! If you do not regularly "Troll" around on this blog, you have no way of knowing.
I found out through word of mouth, OUTSIDE of the internet.
Quote from: MichaelLloyd on March 18, 2014, 03:32:57 PM
I think OBIHAI should send an email to all their users, so those depending on Google Voice aren't blind sided. Not everyone using an OBi device with Google Voice are active on this forum.
Anyone think this is a bad suggestion?
At a minimum, I would hope they would notify those users that have ObiTalk configured with their Obi and have Google Voice as one of the SP slots. They know those people would be affected.
Quote from: glb1945 on March 27, 2014, 01:53:10 PM
As I say, I'm a newbie: plain and simple. Other clients aren't at all in this same boat. Therefore, when OBIHAI publishes a new soon-to-come update with a workable solution to the firecracker issue, they should address the needs of individuals such as myself and the needs of clients with more complex phone systems. Two different departments.
If you go to the admin panel for you obi using ObiTalk there are links all over the place that talk about Google Voice going away.
If you are logged in and go to this link https://www.obitalk.com/obinet/pg/services/spoptions (https://www.obitalk.com/obinet/pg/services/spoptions) which is referenced on the left side of Obitalk under the name Approved Service providers. There are two companies which Obihai is considering as the replacement for Google Voice. One is Anveo, the other Phone Power. Each have various plans which you can pick from.
If you pick one of those plans, ObiHai will automatically configure the product you chose onto your Obi. You won't have to do anything other than fund the account for the choice you made.
Note the update that Obihai made was posted on February 11th in this thread:
http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=7264.0 (http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=7264.0)
Quote from: glb1945 on March 27, 2014, 01:53:10 PM
I agree that this is an "old" topic. But I haven't yet seen any "new" solutions from Obihai -- the official statements are almost as old as the original topic itself.
They Just added Phonepower as a new solution. I don't expect a Google Voice fix from Obi. Based on the subtext of their responses all they plan to offer are alternatives.
Quote from: MichaelLloyd on March 18, 2014, 03:32:57 PM
I think OBIHAI should send an email to all their users, so those depending on Google Voice aren't blind sided. Not everyone using an OBi device with Google Voice are active on this forum.
Anyone think this is a bad suggestion?
I have and will always question Obihai's motive for not notifying it's users of this change.
When the announcement from GV was made, all Obi did was put out some low key useless blog post on their own site. They didn't even send out a notification to their users of the blog post at least.
Given that every Obi user is goaded to register with an email address, their motives for not notifying their users of this HUGE change has to be one of deception instead of oversight.
I know some other forum members might disagree, but by June 15th the price of Obi's will give a better indication to why nothing was said. They don't have any real alternatives. The Anveo deal was hilariously ridiculous in price and quality. The phonepower deal is better but still far off. Vestalink is making some of us nervous with their teething problems. Giving all those, I guess Obi figures it's best to say nothing.
I found out about it, by accident. When I was having issues with an upgrade and stumbled onto this forum looking for answers, only to see there was a train coming down the tracks and here I was worried about small upgrade issues.
Quote from: simpleAnswers on March 30, 2014, 12:31:37 PM
Given that every Obi user is goaded to register with an email address, their motives for not notifying their users of this HUGE change has to be one of deception instead of oversight.
I think it would have been a good idea to send email to their customers but they did post it on the blog, twitter, and Facebook. They didn't exactly hide it.
Saying "every Obi user is goaded to register with an email address" is incorrect. If you don't use Obitalk or the forum they don't have your email address. Neither one is needed. I set up my Obi without the help of either. It was only later that I decided to join the forum and gave them my email address willingly.
Quote from: giqcass on March 30, 2014, 09:56:09 PM
I think it would have been a good idea to send email to their customers but they did post it on the blog, twitter, and Facebook. They didn't exactly hide it.
Saying "every Obi user is goaded to register with an email address" is incorrect. If you don't use Obitalk or the forum they don't have your email address. Neither one is needed. I set up my Obi without the help of either. It was only later that I decided to join the forum and gave them my email address willingly.
Their Blog, facebook, twitter..LOL...Don't think I've ever looked at those since I bought mine.
No offense but you are a more expert user than 99% of the users I've encountered and most of us do use the web to setup the Obi.
Practically all the GV users will tell you that they set up their OBi using the web interface provided, and did provide an email address to do it. i.e their GV credentials also.
I can assure you that come May 15th, there will be more users who already registered their emails, who will wake up to no GV and one of their gripes will be the lack of notification email. I just think that given the number of users who registered with them and subsequently set up GV, they should still simply email those users to let them know it won't work after 15th. Just my 2cents.
Many of us expect this entire forum to crash on May 15. If you need any help that day try the GV forum and http://www.dslreports.com/forum/voip.
about the Google Voice service ending.
The e-mail is pushing the Obi services from Anveo & PhonePower, although I'm glad they note the Obi can be used with many services; if they'd added a link to these forums it would have been even better.
--Tony
Who has learned a lot from these forums
>:( When I purchased my OBi100 it stated on the box FREE CALLING with Google Voice. With the change in the integration, why is OBIHAI not offering us users another free alternative. Why must we now search for other providers that my or my not work effectively in our respective areas.
I believe OBIHAI is responsible in providing another free service or issue a buy back program for an unuseable product.
Quote from: WTF! on April 14, 2014, 05:28:24 PM
>:( When I purchased my OBi100 it stated on the box FREE CALLING with Google Voice. With the change in the integration, why is OBIHAI not offering us users another free alternative. Why must we now search for other providers that my or my not work effectively in our respective areas.
I believe OBIHAI is responsible in providing another free service or issue a buy back program for an unuseable product.
If 10 percent of the Obi owners feel this way, there might be some trouble come May 14th.
However, I don't feel that Google ever offered GV as a permanent service. Google has always been really cagey with Voice, they introduce features (SIP dialing / INUM dialing) then take them away. They have always held the carrot in front of GV users about it remaining free till the end of a given year. Did they ever make an announcement about free calling for 2014? I don't recall ever seeing that.
Just face the facts, Google Voice is an offering that Google pays for by AI algorithms that anonymously listen to conversations and target and tailor ads and search results to GV users based on the informatics Google obtains through their research. It's a free service that you are the product.
I switched over from Google Voice to Vestalink http://www.vestalink.com/#_l_b2 (http://www.vestalink.com/#_l_b2) which has the best price compared to the alternatives. It also provides all the features of Google Voice and more. You can also keep your # with Google Voice and have Google Voice forward the calls to your Vestalink # and Vestalink can Spoof your Google Voice # for the caller id for outgoing calls or just port your # over and they waive the $10 fee for Google Voice # ports.
I may be mistaken, but....:
Quote from: MyTE on May 15, 2014, 09:53:12 AM
I switched over from Google Voice to Vestalink http://www.vestalink.com/#_l_b2 (http://www.vestalink.com/#_l_b2) which has the best price compared to the alternatives. It also provides all the features of Google Voice and more. You can also keep your # with Google Voice and have Google Voice forward the calls to your Vestalink # and Vestalink can Spoof your Google Voice # for the caller id for outgoing calls or just port your # over and they waive the $10 fee for Google Voice # ports.
The text of another posting in another thread by this user seems to be EXACTLY the same as the promo posted above.
The user who posted this and the other promo I found here=>
http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=7155.msg52539#msg52539
Seems to be using affiliate links for Vestalink.
(Other users here also seem to have such links in their sigs...)
I am not in any manner affiliated with any provider, and think this method of promotion is very bad.
Also, in the process of reading the topics here regularly, I notice that several providers have the most threads posted about their troubles - and I may be mistaken here, but my impression from the many specific threads like that is to stay FAR away from Vestalink; that is just my personal impression based upon my own observations.
I agree, MyTe has 3 posts in 3 different forums and they all say the same thing, using his referral link without letting anyone know. I administered forums before and he would have been banned. As for Vestalink, I have been using them for a short time and have been very happy with the service.
Simply use Report to Moderator on the bottom right of the post and ignore them. Type in the words "spammer, affiliate link".
May 16 and my obi still works, anyone else?
May 17 and my 3 obi devices are still working too.
Me too.
What does it mean the obihai still has the GV instructions posted?
http://www.obihai.com/tutorial1
Quote from: PhilSi on May 17, 2014, 04:13:10 PM
Me too.
What does it mean the obihai still has the GV instructions posted?
http://www.obihai.com/tutorial1
I wouldn't read too much into that.
Anybody else get this email from OBihai?
http://sendgrid.com/wf/webmail?rp=ZTI1bGQzTnNaWFIwWlhKZmFXUTZNVEl6TkN4MWMyVnlYMmxrT2pJMU5qVTBmUWV5SnVaWGR6YkdWMGRHVnlYMmxrSWpvaU1qY3hNekUzT1NJc0ltNWxkM05zWlhSMFpYSmZkWE5sY2w5cFpDSTZORFUwT0RZd09UZzVNVGg5
Quote from: gderf on May 17, 2014, 04:43:00 PM
Anybody else get this email from OBihai?
http://sendgrid.com/wf/webmail?rp=ZTI1bGQzTnNaWFIwWlhKZmFXUTZNVEl6TkN4MWMyVnlYMmxrT2pJMU5qVTBmUWV5SnVaWGR6YkdWMGRHVnlYMmxrSWpvaU1qY3hNekUzT1NJc0ltNWxkM05zWlhSMFpYSmZkWE5sY2w5cFpDSTZORFUwT0RZd09UZzVNVGg5
Yes, I received the email late last night.
Quote from: gderf on May 17, 2014, 04:43:00 PM
Anybody else get this email from OBihai?
http://sendgrid.com/wf/webmail?rp=ZTI1bGQzTnNaWFIwWlhKZmFXUTZNVEl6TkN4MWMyVnlYMmxrT2pJMU5qVTBmUWV5SnVaWGR6YkdWMGRHVnlYMmxrSWpvaU1qY3hNekUzT1NJc0ltNWxkM05zWlhSMFpYSmZkWE5sY2w5cFpDSTZORFUwT0RZd09UZzVNVGg5
It is one thing for Google to shut down Google Chat and XMPP and therefore crippling functionality in the OBi device. It is another COMPLETELY different thing for OBi to turn off access to functionality that still works and was sold as such. IMO, this will lead to class action lawsuits against OBi - happens all the time. No need to look any further than Sony and Apple for examples of this.
I just asked if anyone got the email.
Quote from: gderf on May 17, 2014, 06:15:53 PM
I just asked if anyone got the email.
No I didn't. HHmmm.
Quote from: FreeServiceForLife on May 17, 2014, 05:25:45 PM
Quote from: gderf on May 17, 2014, 04:43:00 PM
Anybody else get this email from OBihai?
http://sendgrid.com/wf/webmail?rp=ZTI1bGQzTnNaWFIwWlhKZmFXUTZNVEl6TkN4MWMyVnlYMmxrT2pJMU5qVTBmUWV5SnVaWGR6YkdWMGRHVnlYMmxrSWpvaU1qY3hNekUzT1NJc0ltNWxkM05zWlhSMFpYSmZkWE5sY2w5cFpDSTZORFUwT0RZd09UZzVNVGg5
It is one thing for Google to shut down Google Chat and XMPP and therefore crippling functionality in the OBi device. It is another COMPLETELY different thing for OBi to turn off access to functionality that still works and was sold as such. IMO, this will lead to class action lawsuits against OBi - happens all the time. No need to look any further than Sony and Apple for examples of this.
Sue Obi for abiding by a Googles rules or Google for stopping unauthorized access. And what do you hope to get. A refund on your free service?
QuoteAt about the same time, but separately, Google stated third-party applications should stop supporting XMPP by May 15th 2014. Now that this date has passed, like you, we have observed Google services using XMPP are still connected and working, e.g. you can still place and receive calls using a Gmail account configured on your Obi device. It is important to note, this does not change the previous statements from Obihai that we no longer support direct connections to Google Voice on OBi devices. We strongly recommend all OBi owners using the Google Voice service obtain a new service to ensure continued, uninterrupted calling from the phone connected to the OBi.
Interesting how the email was written in this passive stance. It's probably written in a way to please Google in case XMPP do continue to function (e.g. We don't officially support this functionality, but that doesn't mean we will remove it from our firmware...)
Google has begun offering true 3rd party support for G-Voice:
http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=8092.0
Quote from: Crow550 on May 18, 2014, 11:33:32 PM
Google has begun offering true 3rd party support for G-Voice:
http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=8092.0
Pretty much only a matter of time before someone figures out how to exploit this in an ATA device.
And it won't come soon enough for me. All solutions I've tried have had some trade off.