See https://www.obitalk.com/obinet/pg/services/spoptions. Don't know what this means: Did Obihai make an agreement with Google or did they find a way to use the Hangout way of calling.
I notice that the other day. I have not heard anything from the folks at OBI. Hopefully they will have announcement soon.
I think it means something, but Obihai does not communicate with us much. When I noticed this a couple weeks ago when I updated to the latest firmware, the response I got from Obiahi is that GV is working with an OBi for now. I still think it's interesting GV is no longer just a footnote at the bottom of the page.
Not only does it appear to be approved, but they have announced an entirely new product OBi1032 that handles Google Voice.
This after sending everyone scurrying to find another (paid) service provider, which none of us wanted to do.
It was a major pain in the ass.
They were fast and furious with the emails warning us off of Google Voice, but not a word about the re-reinstatement of Google Voice. OBI has removed any mention of the demise of Google Voice from their website.
"Alright now, watch the pendulum now...back and forth...back and forth...you are getting really sleepy....yes, you are very tired now.........Google Voice was never going to go away.....yes, Google Voice was never going to go away......Ok, on the count of three, you will wake up and not remember anything about Google Voice going away....1,2...3" ;D
Quote from: screenio on August 18, 2014, 11:44:16 AM
Not only does it appear to be approved, but they have announced an entirely new product OBi1032 that handles Google Voice.
This after sending everyone scurrying to find another (paid) service provider, which none of us wanted to do.
It was a major pain in the ass.
They were fast and furious with the emails warning us off of Google Voice, but not a word about the re-reinstatement of Google Voice. OBI has removed any mention of the demise of Google Voice from their website.
You think that's something, the aliens are the other thing. ...they did tell you about the aliens, right?
Quote from: screenio on June 18, 1974, 06:52:25 PM
OBI has removed any mention of the demise of Google Voice from their website.
This is what is truly scary about an all electronic I.e no paper digital world. If the stuff is erased it only exists in your mind and even your memory can get a little fuzzy with time and age. While its good for the owner of the content, its bad for those who refer to it or later need access to it.
The Wayback Machine has 148 snapshots of the site.
https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.obihai.com/
Hello y'all...
I abandoned the forum months ago, after it generally descended into endless speculation, conspiracy theories, and mis-information, and above all, obnoxious behavior by a few people in posts about Google Voice. I resisted returning here, but given that a new frenzy of speculation has been whipped up, let me try to offer you the most current, accurate information you will get, other than from an employee of Obihai or Google.
I realize that Obihai and Google are largely responsible for fueling this behavior. I have only read a couple of posts here lately that even come close to being accurate, and so I have returned to provide some credible information.
Why should you believe me? I am the leading "Top Contributor" on the Google Voice Forum, with over 17 thousand posts. I am part of a Google-sponsored program that helps volunteers like me help the Google user community. We have access to certain engineering and technical staff at Google, and we have signed non-disclosure agreements that limit what we can say. Google employees, in general, are forbidden to discuss future plans. There are valid reasons for this, not only for competitive business reasons, but due to certain restrictions placed on public corporations by the SEC and other Federal regulators. This is why you will never get a direct answer from anyone at Google about anything that hasn't already been announced.
Now, that said, I am willing to stretch my NDA to the limit, in the interest of clearing this up.
Google Voice, by itself, has no VoIP client capability. It never had it, and it still doesn't have it, as of today. From the user (client) perspective, GV is only a PSTN telephone call forwarding and message management system. GV used its companion service, Google Chat, as the VoIP client, using XMPP as the signaling protocol. As you all have discovered by now, Google told various third-party software and hardware vendors that direct access to Google Chat and its XMPP protocol was going to be shut down, and it would not be available for use after May 15th. Around April 15th, I personally confirmed, directly with Google employees, that the shut-down was on track for May 15th. At some point between those two dates, Google postponed the shut-down, for undisclosed reasons. I can't discuss the "why" reason behind that decision. It is completely pointless to speculate on why it was postponed; there is nothing nefarious to read into it, and let me make it very clear that there was no lying, sneaky, malicious intent by either Google or by Obihai in making that announcement, nor in Obihai doing the responsible thing by encouraging its customers to move onto a SIP ITSP instead of GV. There were several issues: in particular, one was the security exposure discussed in (intentionally) vague terms by Google, and the other was the impending demise of Chat, to be superseded by Hangouts.
So, since then, users have continued to use GV, emulating a Google Chat client over XMPP, and Obihai published the most forthright statement they could, acknowledging that the date came and went, for some reason, unknown to Obihai, but the recommendation still stood, to select an alternative provider. Why did Obihai say this? Because a) they didn't know why the date came and went, and b) they rightly believed that this was a temporary situation, and c) they didn't want to hitch their future solely on GV support.
Meanwhile, Obihai continued to explore and develop alternative ways to make use of Google services. Again, I am under a confidentiality agreement with Obihai, and I can't disclose further details. However, in parallel with the development of the new OBi 1032 IP phone, Obihai updated the firmware on the phone, and on the 1xx and 2xx ATA products, to change the method used to authenticate to a user's Google account. This was the "security concern" described by Google. The old method, as you will recall, actually required the user to enter their Google user name and password on the OBiTALK portal, or on their device, to log into Google Chat. The new method recently pushed out by Obihai uses a more secure, published and approved protocol known as OAUTH 2.0. This is the same method used when you go to some third-party website, that offers to "sign in using your Google account", and it is similar to the method used by Facebook and by Microsoft, to give controlled access, with a user's permission, to defined information. OAUTH never gives the third party your Google user ID or password. Instead, you log into your own Google account directly, and then the third party requests permission to access defined information on your Google account. You give permission to Google directly, which then exchanges "access tokens" with the third party. This is the pop-up window you will now see when you add GV as a service provider. Look for "OAUTH" in the URL string. You can confirm that your device has been updated, by listening for a female, vs. male, "auto attendant" voice.
Here is the official announcement by Google, that support for direct client login to a Google user's account is deprecated: https://developers.google.com/accounts/docs/AuthForInstalledApps
The replacement for direct client login is OAUTH 2.0 authentication, which Obihai has now implemented in its devices.
Note that there is absolutely no such thing as a Google-administered "Approved Service Provider" program for GV. Google has merely published certain APIs for authentication (OAUTH 2.0) and communication (XMPP), and Obihai is making use of them. Google has no objection to Obihai using their service, as long as the current authentication method is used, and, in fact, several Googlers have posted their positive comments on Google+. Just make your own informed decision to use, or don't use, the service.
Google is working hard to combine the user interfaces and functions of the Google Voice and Google Hangouts services. Google Voice is not going away. Google has recently made a significant financial investment in adding more DID numbers to the service, and in improving its ability to port in other numbers, and it is actively fixing bugs and improving the reliability of the service. I have been personally involved with Google staff in identifying and squashing bugs and rapidly solving user issues that used to go on for months or even years, and this has convinced me that Google remains committed to Voice. Google is also working hard to remove confusion and redundancy in the two services, Voice and Hangouts. Recent improvements to GV have begun to better-integrate Hangouts into the GV user interface. One example is adding Hangouts as a selection when making calls from GV. Another is the recent implementation of WebRTC Hangouts calling on Chrome Browser, eliminating the need for the XMPP plugin. Over time, you will see more integration of the two services.
It is also important to understand that Obihai is not the one-trick pony you may have seen when you bought a magic Google Voice OBi 1xx box for hobbyist or DIY use. It is now wisely investing in products and services for the SIP ITSP and business PBX market. The OBi IP phone is a perfect example of this. It is not intended to be a consumer-level GV Phone. It is not some DIY hacker project device. You, the typical Obi forum inhabitant, are not the target market for this product, and most of the opinions I've read about it on this forum, so far, have been off-the-mark. It's a business-class product, mainly targeted at system integrators, resellers, and large office deployments. Its feature set and price align closely with comparable (not entry-level) products from Cisco and Avaya, and it is not comparable to the simpler, less-sophisticated SOHO products from the Chinese vendors. I have been beta testing the phone for weeks now, and I believe it is a strong competitor and a very well-engineered product. It combines the full feature set of a OBi 202 with all the capabilities of a high-end business IP PBX-connected phone.
Finally, here is my personal prediction, based on what I know, and limited by what I can disclose: Obihai knows that GV interoperability is a powerful selling point. They are working (using the proper API framework, not as hackers) on adapting to the changes with GV and Hangouts that I just described. Eventually, I am optimistic that you will see a clearer answer, and a fuller, more future-proof set of Google-related services from Obihai.
I hope this helps. I am not interested in troll-battles, and I will vanish again if the discussion degenerates. As always, if you have GV-specific problems or questions, we're happy to help over on the Google Voice Forum, however, none of us will comment on whether or not a product, service or specific feature will or will not change.
Thanks for the update.
Quote from: SteveInWANote that there is absolutely no such thing as "Approved Service Provider" status for GV. Any implication that Google has explicitly "approved" of Google Chat or Hangouts client use on OBi devices is unfounded and meaningless.
That may be true but I seriously doubt Obihai would have added Google Voice back as an "Approved Service Provider" and included/supported it in their brand new IP phone without some kind of assurance from Google that convinced Obihai that Google Voice would continue to function with their ATAs/IP Phones as is (or with firmware updates) for the foreseeable future.
Thanks, but you're missing the points I made. I can't disclose any further details, but calling Google Voice an "approved service provider" is a meaningless marketing buzzword. Obihai was using that term to describe its business arrangements (joint marketing and automated provisioning) for a few SIP ITSPs like Anveo and Phone Power. They're being sloppy (intentionally or unintentionally) by lumping GV into that bucket. Google Voice is not a service provider, in the same sense as the ITSPs in Obihai's program. I really don't see the point in all this endless speculation on what Obihai and Google may or may not mean by their ambiguous statements or lack of statements. At least, when people hung on every word that Alan Greenspan spoke, there were big bucks involved.
It's like the word "natural" in food marketing. Imagine if Snoop Dawg Lion said that Chivas Regal is his approved beverage of choice after smoking a blunt, and Lil' Wayne chimed in to say that he prefers Robitussin. So what? Chivas and Robitussin don't "approve" of them saying that, and it doesn't mean anything. It's misleading. Here is how I believe it should be interpreted: "As of today, you can use Google Voice via Chat on your OBi device, as one of your configured service providers, and we "Approve" of you doing that. It might not work tomorrow, but we'll keep working on it."
As I mentioned, the new OBi IP phone is a high-end, business-targeted product. Yes, you can use GV on it if you wish. Most mid-to-large size business customers won't be that foolish. Google Voice is a very bad choice for business use, and business use is specifically discouraged by Google. There is no direct customer support for GV, no service level guarantees, as there is for Gmail and the other Google Apps, and there is a major business risk to customer satisfaction or business reputation, when the phones don't work and nobody can reach the business. Again, Altria "approves" of you buying its beer, wine and cigarette brands, but it isn't necessarily a wise thing for the purchaser.
Here is the most important point: just use it or don't use it, as you wish, and don't try to read anything into the changed GV language on the website. Nobody is going to get in trouble with Google for using the service on their OBi devices, and Obihai has correctly addressed the prior security exposure. Perhaps Obihai and Google had some confidential discussion on how to resolve the security issue, or perhaps not. You will never know, and you can't imply anything about any future availability.
Neither company will be liable if it stops working. There is no guarantee expressed, nor implied. Remember, if lawyers got involved, vs. salespeople, they'd point out the concept of "no implied warranty of merchantability or fitness of purpose."
So, enjoy it while it's here, if it meets your needs.
I appreciate the info SteveInWA! BTW, welcome back.
Most of the senseless area 51 type talk has been posted by people with 1-10 posts.
I'm glad I got a paid provider. GV was never going to be good enough for my wife. I ported my home # to a VOIP provider. I still enjoy GV for 2nd lines, and #'s in other states. I will enjoy GV for as long as it lasts. Hard to believe people get so stirred up by a free service. And even though Obihai is not the best at communicating (I know, an understatement), the product is so good, and so inexpensive, that I can overlook "not knowing" all the details; however this doesn't mean I don't wish they would communicate better i.e., changelogs, etc. (but I'm not holding my breath for that to happen)
Quote from: dircom on August 19, 2014, 07:31:04 AM
Most of the senseless area 51 type talk has been posted by people with 1-10 posts.
I'm glad I got a paid provider. GV was never going to be good enough for my wife. I ported my home # to a VOIP provider. I still enjoy GV for 2nd lines, and #'s in other states. I will enjoy GV for as long as it lasts. Hard to believe people get so stirred up by a free service. And even though Obihai is not the best at communicating (I know, an understatement), the product is so good, and so inexpensive, that I can overlook "not knowing" all the details; however this doesn't mean I don't wish they would communicate better i.e., changelogs, etc. (but I'm not holding my breath for that to happen)
Ditto! I'm doing the same as you but have also added Ring.to to the mix. Always, always have backups.
SteveInWA / Bluescat: thank you. This is clarifying information that a lot of folks, for various reasons, really wanted to understand. Why it needs to be relayed to us by a third-party volunteer and not from the "official" channels is really beyond me, but you've done what you could to explain that also. Would you kindly post this information in the Google Voice product forum as well? Every post in there with the term "XMPP" has been shunted off to a null message or a simple explanation that is not answering anyone's questions. The post you have written above answers everything.
Thanks for the feedback!
Bill, I understand your concern with regard to the GV forum. I've documented this privately for my fellow Top Contributors and the Google staff, however, since this is a Obihai-specific issue, and Google has not, and will not comment in public about the status or future plans for XMPP support, we need to continue to direct those questions over here.
"Executive summary" or "Reader's Digest" version of my very wordy post:
- OBi device emulation of a Google Chat XMPP client has never been "approved" nor officially supported by Google, and it still isn't.
- Google did plan to shut down XMPP access, and thus notified third parties. For undisclosed reasons, this shutdown was postponed. You cannot infer or deduce anything significant from this postponement.
- One of Google's stated concerns with third party use was the insecure method of authenticating a user to the service.
- Obihai has now updated their device firmware to use Google's more secure OAUTH 2.0 access token method.
- This eliminates the previous security concern, but as of today, it is separate from, and has not changed Obihai's use of XMPP as the actual Chat client protocol.
- You are welcome to continue using GV on your OBi device, as long as it still works.
- There is no guarantee, nor expectation that XMPP will continue to be supported in the future, and any recent change to the Obihai website, or the implementation of OAUTH authentication, is no indication of continued support.
- There was no sneaky trickery behind any of this; Obihai wants to sell devices, not to manipulate its customers onto or off of GV.
- There is no further information available, and nobody at Google will answer any questions about this. Anything you may read from third party blogs, etc. will be unreliable speculation.
- Hang on for the ride, and enjoy your Obi products!
It is good to know that Google is working on the reliability issues- they were real, whether I used GV as intended ( PSTN call treatment/switch) or as a phone service.
BTW in my experience a lot of businesses used extensively GV for outgoing calls.
For my part, I am done with GV and can hardly understand all that excitement.
Ultimately moving GV to a backup role and signing up with a ITSP has given me better call quality and the things I had not gotten from GV, CNAM for one. Now that MWI is also gone from GV I have another reason to use a SP for my primary line.
Yes, despite my extensive involvement with Google Voice, I don't use it at all as a service provider on my OBi devices, other than for testing and support purposes. If users are only interested in free calling, then it's there to use.
Personally, I forward inbound calls from GV to a Callcentric DID, and make outbound calls via Callcentric or Localphone, and I've found that to be the best combination of features, performance and cost for me.
Quote from: SteveInWA on August 20, 2014, 05:23:06 PM
Personally, forward calls from GV to a Callcentric DID, and make outbound calls via Callcentric or Localphone, and I've found that to be the best combination of features, performance and cost for me.
I think you have alota company with this setup as it has you well covered no matter what happens with XMPP and GV.
Steve,
Thank you for the great update and all the details and information that you have been able to share. I read the conspiracy type comments and laugh at how absurd people can be. In business there are reasons for everything and most of the time lay people couldn't and shouldn't be expected to know all the regulations, trade practices, etc that go into making decisions.
I have an acquaintance who, when he heard the two doctors in Atlanta that were being treated for Ebola were released from the hospital, went off on how this is how Obama is going to maintain power and get around the constitutional amendment limiting him to 2 terms. I'm sure he heard it on Fox or some similar network. But my point is that people have the need to see a conspiracy, despite the cold hard facts, because it gives them excitement and something to bitch & moan & complain about.
You're professional style prose should allay those that fear the great OBi/Google VOIP take over of 2014/2015.
With Hangouts, Google added real 3rd party support to Google Voice / Hangouts.
I detailed it in this thread: http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=8092.msg54177
So Obi still uses XMPP just a more secure version?
Quote from: Crow550 on August 30, 2014, 02:59:11 PM
With Hangouts, Google added real 3rd party support to Google Voice / Hangouts.
I detailed it in this thread: http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=8092.msg54177
So Obi still uses XMPP just a more secure version?
No. This has nothing to do with the Hangouts API, and the Hangouts API has nothing to do with "real 3rd party support to Google Voice."
No. There is no "more secure version of XMPP." Obihai changed the authentication method. They are no longer using your Google (Gmail/Google Chat) user ID and password to directly sign into your Google account as a Chat client (a security exposure). They are now using an entirely different method, which involves OAUTH 2.0 authentication and exchange of access tokens. Obihai now has no knowledge of your Google user name and password. This has nothing to do with XMPP signaling protocol, and it has no relevance as to whether XMPP (which was the Google Chat signaling protocol) will continue to be supported, and it is completely irrelevant to the WebRTC APIs.
This is just uninformed speculation, and it's incorrect. I've explained it in extensive detail in my previous post:
http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=8443.msg55493#msg55493
Quote from: Marc on August 21, 2014, 04:10:07 PM
Steve,
Thank you for the great update and all the details and information that you have been able to share.
Agreed. Steve's post was great.
Quote from: Marc on August 21, 2014, 04:10:07 PM
I have an acquaintance who, when he heard the two doctors in Atlanta that were being treated for Ebola were released from the hospital, went off on how this is how Obama is going to maintain power and get around the constitutional amendment limiting him to 2 terms. I'm sure he heard it on Fox or some similar network. But my point is that people have the need to see a conspiracy, despite the cold hard facts, because it gives them excitement and something to bitch & moan & complain about.
Then there are moronic portions of posts as quoted above.
Is the new authentication method the reason outbound calls display a caller ID of 760-705-8888 and don't show up in my call history at https://www.google.com/voice#history ? ???
UPDATE: I found the answer here -- http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=8512.0
Here is the official announcement. http://bit.ly/1qJTUCl
@
SteveInWA,
Regarding the new setup to make GV your SP...
I have been using GV nonstop on SP2 throughout this whole adventure. I setup SP1 with a Callcentric DID and forward GV to CC and then to the Obi100. As long as XMPP was still working, I figured I would "ride it out" for as long as possible on the 2nd SP, so I made no changes to that side of my system. BTW, I got a special "application password" from Google to input into Obitalk bc I didn't want to disclose my gmail credentials.
So, since I have been using GV/Obi all along, and it already has my login stored, and it still works as normal as of today, do I need to do anything? Did the Obi update change anything in my system automatically? I believe I had auto updates turned off anyway. How can I check if any changes were made and if they have altered my config such that I may need to take action to continue to make calls thru my handset with GV ?
Thanks, SteveInWA, for all of the information you provided.
Quote from: SteveInWA on August 20, 2014, 05:23:06 PM
....
Personally, I forward inbound calls from GV to a Callcentric DID, and make outbound calls via Callcentric or Localphone, and I've found that to be the best combination of features, performance and cost for me.
After 15 May, I switched to exactly this system, and it's worked well for the most part. I think I miss though, with this setup, is Google Voice information about my outgoing calls, since they're no longer handled through GVoice. (I find it a nice feature of Google Voice that I can easily look through missed, received calls etc.)
Quote from: Kotdiawo on September 11, 2014, 10:00:11 AM
Here is the official announcement. http://bit.ly/1qJTUCl
Awesome so now it's Officially Supported by Google......
So one has to wonder if it's still using XMPP or has merged with Hangouts yet? Since it's now "Officially Supported" then I assume it will be moving from XMPP....
Unless the new secure method of connecting to XMPP has made them decide to keep it. Which is cool too. As I believe XMPP was going to be shutdown because it wasn't consider secure......
Either way Google Voice is now Officially Supported. So groovy.
Quote from: SteveInWA on August 18, 2014, 09:48:19 PM
Hello y'all...
I abandoned the forum months ago, after it generally descended into endless speculation, conspiracy theories, and mis-information, and above all, obnoxious behavior by a few people in posts about Google Voice. I resisted returning here, but given that a new frenzy of speculation has been whipped up, let me try to offer you the most current, accurate information you will get, other than from an employee of Obihai or Google.
. . . . .. . . . . .. .. . . .
. . . . . OAUTH never gives the third party your Google user ID or password. Instead, you log into your own Google account directly, and then the third party requests permission to access defined information on your Google account. You give permission to Google directly, which then exchanges "access tokens" with the third party. This is the pop-up window you will now see when you add GV as a service provider. Look for "OAUTH" in the URL string. You can confirm that your device has been updated, by listening for a female, vs. male, "auto attendant" voice.
Oh wow, this is by far the MOST clear and well written take on the GV subject I have read on this forum.
Just like you, I frankly gave up on all the pointless speculation I was reading on the forum and left and haven't returned until today when I finally got the email from Obihai that GV is now again supported. The speculation was too rampant.
I figured that it had to be security related. Heck when I first signed up for Obi, when it asked for my gmail password, I refused and set up another gmail account just for that, and even still was not comfortable with the hand over your credentials process. I kept asking why it didn't just request authorization to access the account like every good service does now. So I'm glad that they have been forced to use industry standard authorization tokens which I can hopefully revoke from my account whenever I want. The other option was to use an application password.
Most users here don't know the power of the google account API, with everything being lumped into under one google login: gmail, drive, keep, calendar, search history, docs, play, maps etc. A breach can do a lot of damage very quickly, I think any service that doesn't use the request access protocol where you can revoke when you want will slowly get blocked by Big-G eventually. I'm a big proponent for the way Big-G has implemented 2 factor authentication on their services and I use that regularly with a little bit more confidence.
As for the other VOIP services, IMHO all the other VOIP services I tried were simply not up to scratch. Period! Yes I signed up for them all, be it the sorcery, name changing voip, the centric, the anvil, the powerful phone you name it. They were all not good to work with the Obi for me. Simple things like 2nd line ringing etc were almost impossible to get to work seamlessly. They can rejoice that the little confusion made them some nice $$$.
For me after May 15th came and went and the sky didn't fall like was speculated. After another one of the other VOIP services went down again, I went back and switched my Obi back to GV. With the simple logic that I'll run it till the wheels come off and until then I'll take my chances. And you know what, I never had any issues again it has been smooth and that was 5 months ago.
It wasn't just Obihai.
GrooveIP & Talkatone patched out the Google Voice calling and went with other services because they had gotten the same info at the time.
I signed up for a GV number last year. Actually, I ported my landline to GV using instructions I found in these forums. I thought I might use an OBi device with it until I found out about Google's plans to abandon the protocol OBi was using to connect to GV. Oh, well, no harm, no foul. At least I heard about it before I bought a device. But today I got an e-mail telling me that GV is officially supported on OBi devices. My question now is, does this announcement change anything that Steve said earlier to the effect of "use at your own risk" or the future viability of XMPP?
Before it was not supported by Google. It was a hack and deemed insecure.
Now it's officially supported and approved by Google.
Guys, I'm not nearly as smart (or informed) as Steve, but I did a text search through Obi's announcement and did NOT find the words "supported by Google" or any variant thereof in the same sentence. I might go back and reread Steve's (fantastic) post with a fine-toothed comb, but my original read was that Google is *tolerating* the use of older protocol by Obi (now permitted given the security fix).
As I see it, there is no indication that *anything* was formally approved or supported by Google. Like Steve said, the "approved" word seems to be Obi's clever way of assuring its customers that GV calling works on their device. This shouldn't be read as Google green-lighting/approving/condoning/shaking-hands-with/etc. Obi in any meaningful sense. In other words, it works as long as it works. Correct, Steve?
-Matt
PS On a personal note, I *am* somewhat peeved at all the SKY-IS-FALLING language on various forums late last year. None of this is Steve's fault (who I first met on the GV boards, where he does the work of ten men), but his efforts to step in and remind people about the looming "deadline" had rational people like me assuming that Google's date was for real. He was just doing the best he could with the information available at the time. Still, A LOT OF PEOPLE "needlessly" fretted and in many cases, end up purchasing a VOIP plan they *may not* have needed (this is, BTW, called "counterfactual reasoning", AKA "hindsight is always 20/20" or if you prefer, Monday-morning-quarterbacking). In fact, a year from now we may discover that we ALL could have just kept the GV status quo and it all would have worked out. Again, not pointing my finger at anyone in particular -- just bemoaning the fact that on September 11, 2014 the "OBi is losing GV" story is a lot less compelling than it was last year at this time. Sometimes the confusion and uncertainty is a reasonable byproduct of the circumstances, and sometimes it's just...totally avoidable.
Try searching for: "Google Voice is now Officially Supported on OBi VoIP devices"
Also from someone at Google: https://plus.google.com/+CheeChew/posts/DRi3GxJ5hWK
Now listen closely....
It was not only Obihai that had gotten an E-mail from Google. It was also GrooveIP and Talkatone which are two companies that were providing VOIP calling with Google Voice on Android and iOS.
GrooveIP and Talkatone had patched out the Google Voice calling as requested and went with other providers. As Obi offered a list of services that worked with Google Voice too.
For all intents and purposes it seemed that XMPP support was going away as Google was saying it was insecure and Google Talk was merging with Hangouts.
Now Google has a more secure way and is officially supporting 3rd parties.
Do not get on to others claiming they were over dramatic. The message was clear.
However those who are still using Google Voice with the old login method should remove and re-add Google Voice to use the more secure login. ;)
Quote from: Crow550 on September 11, 2014, 05:45:20 PM
Try searching for: "Google Voice is now Officially Supported on OBi VoIP devices"
Also: https://plus.google.com/+CheeChew/posts/DRi3GxJ5hWK
Super, thanks!
Quote from: Crow550 on September 11, 2014, 05:45:20 PM
For all intents and purposes it seemed that XMPP support was going away as Google was saying it was insecure and Google Talk was merging with Hangouts.
Now Google has a more secure way and has officially supported 3rd parties.
Do not get on to others claiming they were over dramatic. The message was clear.
I agree 110%. Assuming that latter comment was directed to me: I did my darndest to NOT sound like I was pointing fingers, but apparently didn't do good enough. Note the term "rants" in my screen name. ;) That was just venting a bit. I went back and reread the beginning of this thread and noticed that I'm not the only one with 20-20 vision!
-Matt
I was directing it at all the people criticizing those who were going with other services because of the message.
Yes it seemed Google Voice was still working on Obi but all other methods were patched to not use Google Voice anymore so it seemed that any day the G-Voice calling with G-Talk would end.
Kinda rude to refer to these people as claiming the sky is falling....
Again for all intents and purposes it seemed like it was going away and those few who were still using it would have a rude awaking at any time.
I always assumed that Google would eventually add real 3rd party support or there own ATA device or something.
I myself don't own an Obi yet. As I use my Cell Phone at Home. However I get like 1-2 bars in parts of the House. I was using Wifi calling with GrooveIP but it was patched out and I was S.O.L.
So for important calls I was tethered to my PC lol! Unless I was out and about of course.
Now I did help someone setup an Obi box and since they are not experts when it comes to this kinda stuff I had to help them setup Phone Power as it appeared that G-Voice calling with G-Talk was going away at anytime.
Keep in mind this was always a hack too. So once more they said they were closing off this hack that 3rd parties were using. Yes Obi was still working but there just wasn't a guarantee it would keep working.
Many like myself assumed that once Android calling was added that would be the end of XMPP.
However it appears what I also assumed did come true for Google offering real support for 3rd Parties. ;)
Now to see if Phone Power can be canceled without any fees or whatever. As you can't even check your voicemail on the phone through Phone Power from what I heard without using *67 but if you block unknown numbers in Google Voice you're well S.O.L.... Unless you check on a PC or a Tablet....
On my Obi-110, since early May, I've been using PhonePower ( one year unlimited ) on SP1, with incoming calls routed from GV, and with my GV number spoofed in PP. Would it be possible to keep this as is on SP1 and set up SP2 with GV for outgoing calls using the new authorization for SP2? PhonePower works great most of the time, but on rare occasions, to specific area codes, I have some trouble with PP outgoing calls, and the option to use GV directly on SP2 would be a nice alternative. I don't want to give up PP, as I've paid for a year unlimited. Thanks
Quote from: gadgetrants on September 11, 2014, 05:24:22 PM
Guys, I'm not nearly as smart (or informed) as Steve, but I did a text search through Obi's announcement and did NOT find the words "supported by Google" or any variant thereof in the same sentence. I might go back and reread Steve's (fantastic) post with a fine-toothed comb, but my original read was that Google is *tolerating* the use of older protocol by Obi (now permitted given the security fix).
As I see it, there is no indication that *anything* was formally approved or supported by Google. Like Steve said, the "approved" word seems to be Obi's clever way of assuring its customers that GV calling works on their device. This shouldn't be read as Google green-lighting/approving/condoning/shaking-hands-with/etc. Obi in any meaningful sense. In other words, it works as long as it works. Correct, Steve?
-Matt
PS On a personal note, I *am* somewhat peeved at all the SKY-IS-FALLING language on various forums late last year. None of this is Steve's fault (who I first met on the GV boards, where he does the work of ten men), but his efforts to step in and remind people about the looming "deadline" had rational people like me assuming that Google's date was for real. He was just doing the best he could with the information available at the time. Still, A LOT OF PEOPLE "needlessly" fretted and in many cases, end up purchasing a VOIP plan they *may not* have needed (this is, BTW, called "counterfactual reasoning", AKA "hindsight is always 20/20" or if you prefer, Monday-morning-quarterbacking). In fact, a year from now we may discover that we ALL could have just kept the GV status quo and it all would have worked out. Again, not pointing my finger at anyone in particular -- just bemoaning the fact that on September 11, 2014 the "OBi is losing GV" story is a lot less compelling than it was last year at this time. Sometimes the confusion and uncertainty is a reasonable byproduct of the circumstances, and sometimes it's just...totally avoidable.
Matt, thanks so much for the words of support; it means a lot.
I've posted more comments elsewhere on this forum (the unfortunate side effect of this being such a big part of the whole OBi experience). But, to respond to your points about my recent remarks, I was (and still am) under NDA with Google and also had been discussing this in private with Obihai, so I simply couldn't comment in more detail. I described the new OAUTH 2.0 authentication solution right after Obihai released it into their production firmware, but, until Chee Chew at Google publicly acknowledged the agreement today, that's all anyone knew as far as how long it would last. So, yes, I was giving Sherman and the Obihai guys some grief over the use of the term "approved", and they couldn't talk about what that really meant until yesterday. Google's remarkable announcement today (remarkable given their usual secrecy), is icing on the proverbial cake.
So yes: "Official" and "Approved" means this: Google told the third parties to get the heck off of their users' accounts via direct user name/password means. Obihai did the software and firmware engineering to use Google's approved OAUTH 2.0 API, and Google said "That's a good thing, thanks, and good for you. We officially approve of you using this method to access our service." As for the anticipated question: no, I have no idea if the service itself will continue to use XMPP, or be migrated to WebRTC, but really, who cares. Just use it with Google's blessing, and enjoy.
For your own security, and to ensure uninterrupted operation of GV on your OBi, if you haven't already done so, delete the old GV SP configuration(s), log into the associated GV account on your computer's web browser, open another tab, go to the OBiTALK portal, and re-configure GV using OAUTH authentication. It will download the necessary firmware as needed. There is no benefit to maintaining the old setup.
This needs to be put in it's own pinned thread.
Plus E-mailed to all Obi users. ;)
Quote from: SteveInWA on September 11, 2014, 06:40:38 PM
For your own security, and to ensure uninterrupted operation of GV on your OBi, if you haven't already done so, delete the old GV SP configuration(s), log into the associated GV account on your computer's web browser, open another tab, go to the OBiTALK portal, and re-configure GV using OAUTH authentication. It will download the necessary firmware as needed. There is no benefit to maintaining the old setup.
Actually Obihai's made the process even smoother than that.
Quote from: SteveInWA on September 11, 2014, 06:40:38 PM
For your own security, and to ensure uninterrupted operation of GV on your OBi, if you haven't already done so, delete the old GV SP configuration(s), log into the associated GV account on your computer's web browser, open another tab, go to the OBiTALK portal, and re-configure GV using OAUTH authentication. It will download the necessary firmware as needed. There is no benefit to maintaining the old setup.
Steve-
Please see my post #26 on P. 2 of this thread.
And thanks for all your help and insight going back to the beginning of the XMPP cutoff announcement, up to and including right now...
RE: http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=8443.msg56361#msg56361
Yes, the "application password" you are using is still just the same old "give Obihai my user name and password" method that Google told everyone to stop doing. You should follow the instructions to delete and re-add your GV service provider slot, which will upgrade it to the new access token exchange technology.
I am having trouble getting Google Voice working on SP2. I have Vestalink setup and working fine on SP1. My Google Voice on SP2 keeps saying configuring after going through the setup as directed. I do have 2-step verification turned on for the Google account I am using for this. Would that cause it not to work?
Obihai's old instructions for this scenario say to do the following:
If you have enabled Google 2-step verification for Gmail, please follow the following instructions so that you will be able to use your OBi and Google Voice.
Sign in to your Google account settings.
Select the, Authorizing applications & sites link.
Create an application specific password for Google Voice.
Use this password when you configure Google Voice as a service on your OBi device.
However, Obi has now changed the process and I have no way to use an application specific password once I generate one in my Google account.
Any ideas?
Disable 2 step verification at Google and try again.
I am not disabling 2-step. That's what keeps my Google account secure. Have you confirmed that Obi will no longer work with Google Voice for people using 2-step security? If so, I won't be using it. They previously supported it so I am hoping there is way now also.
I have two Google Voice accounts each with it's own phone number. Both of the accounts are setup to use 2-Step security. I did not have to make any changes in how I use 2-Step security on my gmail accounts associated with my Google Voice phone numbers.
After the changes in the way OBi devices configure, we no longer have to use a password during the procedure when adding or reconfiguring a Google Voice account onto a Service Provider port {sp1, sp2, sp3 or sp4}. If you have more than one Google (email) account, logout of your google account, then log back in with the Google account associated with the Google Voice phone number that you want to add or update. Then access OBiTalk, select or add your OBi device. Select the "SP" port that you want to configure. Select the options you want, then "Save" the configuration and you will be prompted to select your Google account.
SteveInWA has posted some of the best information on how to configure (or recondigure) Google Voice on OBi devices after the recent changes on OBiTalk to improve security.
See: SteveInWA - OBi Phone Beta Tester
***** Re: Google Voice Manual Config
« Reply #9 on: August 20, 2014, 05:15:02 pm »
http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=8456.0
am I the only one whose device shows offline
it works with my Voip.ms but I cannot reconfigure now
I have an OBi100 that was configured for use with Google Voice back in January, and continued to work even after May 15th.
After reading the announcement regarding Google Voice, I found this very informative thread regarding the change in authentication protocols.
I decided to take the advice of those who suggested deleting the "old" GV setup, and then adding it back again to use the new, more secure GV authentication method.
I logged into GV, then opened another browser tab and logged into OBiTalk. From the dashboard for my device, I deleted GV from SP1, then clicked the button "Google Voice Setup". That brought up a dialog box saying that "This device needs to be upgraded to continue. Click OK to upgrade device, or CANCEL to go back". I clicked OK, which brought me to another page "Update in progress...". After about 90 seconds, I was returned to the dashboard with an error message at the top, "Failed to update device 123456789. Please try again later.", and no GV in SP1.
I've checked the OBi100 directly through it's web admin page, and it shows the software version as 1.3.0, Build 2824, which is the most current version I see listed on the website.
Dose anyone know what's going on, and how I can get GV back? Thanks.
Quote from: Mark937 on September 12, 2014, 09:58:27 AM
Dose anyone know what's going on, and how I can get GV back? Thanks.
It sounds like the automatic firmware upgrade did not complete on your OBi. Seems to be happening for a lot of people with 1xx series OBi devices.
Here is one thing you could try although you do so at your own risk.
Download the update to your computer from here:
http://fw.obihai.com/OBi110-1-3-0-2872.fw (http://fw.obihai.com/OBi110-1-3-0-2872.fw)
Install the firmware manually from the web interface directly on your OBi under System Management>Device Update
If that is successful, log into the Google account associated with the GV number you wish to use
In another browser tab, login to Obitalk and try adding Google Voice back to SP1
Note: I just downloaded version 2872 and upgraded my OBi110 manually without any issues. However, I don't have Google Voice configured on that device and have no plans to so I can't say if that part would be successful but it was a breeze on my OBi200.
Thank you, Taoman, that did the trick.
After repeatedly removing and re-adding the device, doing factory resets, reconfiguring for GV, etc., it was manually updating the firmware that finally got it working.
Thanks!
Quote from: Mark937 on September 12, 2014, 11:21:14 AM
After repeatedly removing and re-adding the device, doing factory resets, reconfiguring for GV, etc., it was manually updating the firmware that finally got it working.
Let's just call it all a great "learning experience," shall we? Courtesy of your friend and mine, Obihai. ;)
I can't update my Obi 110 beyond 2868. I have deleted GV on SP1 and factory reset several times. It will not take the 2872 update. It is working so I guess I'll just leave it be.
Do you still need the Google Talk option under Phones in the Google Voice settings or can you remove it now?
Anyone test this?
Quote from: BigJim_McD on September 12, 2014, 09:35:57 AM
I have two Google Voice accounts each with it's own phone number. Both of the accounts are setup to use 2-Step security. I did not have to make any changes in how I use 2-Step security on my gmail accounts associated with my Google Voice phone numbers.
After the changes in the way OBi devices configure, we no longer have to use a password during the procedure when adding or reconfiguring a Google Voice account onto a Service Provider port {sp1, sp2, sp3 or sp4}. If you have more than one Google (email) account, logout of your google account, then log back in with the Google account associated with the Google Voice phone number that you want to add or update. Then access OBiTalk, select or add your OBi device. Select the "SP" port that you want to configure. Select the options you want, then "Save" the configuration and you will be prompted to select your Google account.
SteveInWA has posted some of the best information on how to configure (or recondigure) Google Voice on OBi devices after the recent changes on OBiTalk to improve security.
See: SteveInWA - OBi Phone Beta Tester
***** Re: Google Voice Manual Config
« Reply #9 on: August 20, 2014, 05:15:02 pm »
http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=8456.0
I've written several reply posts that are unfortunately peanut-buttered around the forum, and I'm too lazy to keep track of them ::)
So, here is a link to what I'd consider the most thorough set of instructions. If anyone has a question or finds an error, please let me know.
http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=8560.msg56460#msg56460
Quote from: lezleeann on September 12, 2014, 08:06:52 AM
I am having trouble getting Google Voice working on SP2. I have Vestalink setup and working fine on SP1. My Google Voice on SP2 keeps saying configuring after going through the setup as directed. I do have 2-step verification turned on for the Google account I am using for this. Would that cause it not to work?
Obihai's old instructions for this scenario say to do the following:
If you have enabled Google 2-step verification for Gmail, please follow the following instructions so that you will be able to use your OBi and Google Voice.
Sign in to your Google account settings.
Select the, Authorizing applications & sites link.
Create an application specific password for Google Voice.
Use this password when you configure Google Voice as a service on your OBi device.
However, Obi has now changed the process and I have no way to use an application specific password once I generate one in my Google account.
Any ideas?
This is the one scenario that nobody has yet gone through in detail. I believe that the "approved service provider" method of setting up Vestalink (or Anveo or PhonePower) locks down some aspects of the OBi's configuration. I suggest opening a ticket with Obihai to get the "official" answer and help from them in understanding their recommended way of "peacefully coexisting" with a managed configuration of Vestalink. The alternative is to configure Vestalink manually, but I suggest starting with Obihai support.
RE: two-step verification, you do NOT need to disable it, and whether or not you are using it is unrelated to any issue with the OBi GV setup. Under the new GV setup process, you independently log onto your GV account by yourself, in one open tab on your web browser, using your GV user name, password, and if applicable, your two-step verification method. You then log into the OBiTALK portal in another browser tab of the same browser, and configure your OBi for GV. The configuration process will "see" your logged on Google session, and ask it permission to access your Google account in the future. You'll see a pop-up window on your Google account asking for you to permit this. Once you do so, Obihai and Google exchange secure "access tokens", and there will be no future need for the OBi to know your password at all.
@SteveinWA, thanks for all of the information and an honest 3rd party prospective on GoogleVoice, XMPP and Obihai. I had boxed up my Obihai-202 some time ago until I received an e-mail this week from Obihai indicating that GoogleVoice was supported again in Obihai products. So I fired up the device and configured it for my GV account. It's working great! For now anyway! :)
Quote from: Crow550 on September 12, 2014, 03:09:21 PM
Do you still need the Google Talk option under Phones in the Google Voice settings or can you remove it now?
Anyone test this?
Appears this is still needed:
So now that Google has officially supported the Obi Devices and Voice is slowly merging to Hangouts....
In order to use G-Voice with an Obi you need to have Google Chat under your Forwarding Phones. (If you removed it you have to go into Gmail and select old chat if you're using Hangouts and click the Phone icon and it will re-appear in your Forwarding Phones. No plugins needed, just open the Google Chat Dialer to have it re-added.)
So I think they should rename it Google Hangouts and not Google Talk under Forwarding Phones and remove the option to remove it. Or name it Hangouts for Calling Devices....
Also on a another yet similar topic using the Google Voice Chrome extension when clicking a number to dial there is no Hangouts option (even though you can pick a number at the Google Voice site and select it to dial through Hangouts) and Google Talk does nothing.... (Well it will ring your Obi Device.)
I assume the Google Voice Chrome Extension will be phased out and that functionally be added to Hangouts too. Needs an option to select one of the Forwarding Numbers or VOIP line (Hangouts/ Obi Device).
Course instead of merging and removing the Google Voice extension and site. I hope they keep them and just copy the functionally to Hangouts and have the Google Voice and Hangouts site and extensions sync with each other.
So those who enjoy Google Voice and not Hangouts can still enjoy it and those who love Hangouts can use all the Google Voice stuff within it. ;)
Like some businesses that are using Google Voice may not need what Hangouts offers.
Just some kinks that need to be worked out....
Quote from: SteveInWA on September 12, 2014, 07:00:41 PM
Quote from: lezleeann on September 12, 2014, 08:06:52 AM
I am having trouble getting Google Voice working on SP2. I have Vestalink setup and working fine on SP1. My Google Voice on SP2 keeps saying configuring after going through the setup as directed. I do have 2-step verification turned on for the Google account I am using for this. Would that cause it not to work?
Obihai's old instructions for this scenario say to do the following:
If you have enabled Google 2-step verification for Gmail, please follow the following instructions so that you will be able to use your OBi and Google Voice.
Sign in to your Google account settings.
Select the, Authorizing applications & sites link.
Create an application specific password for Google Voice.
Use this password when you configure Google Voice as a service on your OBi device.
However, Obi has now changed the process and I have no way to use an application specific password once I generate one in my Google account.
Any ideas?
This is the one scenario that nobody has yet gone through in detail. I believe that the "approved service provider" method of setting up Vestalink (or Anveo or PhonePower) locks down some aspects of the OBi's configuration. I suggest opening a ticket with Obihai to get the "official" answer and help from them in understanding their recommended way of "peacefully coexisting" with a managed configuration of Vestalink. The alternative is to configure Vestalink manually, but I suggest starting with Obihai support.
RE: two-step verification, you do NOT need to disable it, and whether or not you are using it is unrelated to any issue with the OBi GV setup. Under the new GV setup process, you independently log onto your GV account by yourself, in one open tab on your web browser, using your GV user name, password, and if applicable, your two-step verification method. You then log into the OBiTALK portal in another browser tab of the same browser, and configure your OBi for GV. The configuration process will "see" your logged on Google session, and ask it permission to access your Google account in the future. You'll see a pop-up window on your Google account asking for you to permit this. Once you do so, Obihai and Google exchange secure "access tokens", and there will be no future need for the OBi to know your user name or password at all.
I got it working by deleting my Obi100 from my dashboard, doing a reset on the Obi, then re-adding it to my dashboard and then going through Obi's process of adding Google Voice to SP1. Then for Vestalink, I added it to SP2 manually. Even though Vestalink doesn't recommend this method, I won't be renewing with them anyway now that Google Voice is officially back. Thanks for all the help detailing how to get it working! These forums are a fantastic.
I updated to the new Google Voice authorization and setup, failed to update over wifi on my 202 several times but finally went through. Setup was way easier and smooth.
HOWEVER! Since about March or April, any direct Google Voice incoming call to my Obi202 rings about three short double rings and the rings sound weak and interrupted each time. Goes to voicemail too fast.
The very best way to stop this was to forward GV to free IPComms DID which rings iIMMEDIATELY and strong long ring 4 or 5 times before voicemail.
I thought the update and new "approved GV" would let me eliminate the IPComms but it is the same. I also have free DID's from Callcentric, ipKall and Anveo but IPComms gives quickest and longest rings and time to get to phone before voicemail.
I have Anveo setup for 911.
OH!!! I have GV at this time on sp2. It did same feeble rings and quick voicemail on sp1. The IpComms DID is Detroit and I am in Oklahoma City
Google Voice was perfect the whole year or so of the original setup on its own. It is a good setup now but I have heard IPComms free DID comes and goes so I was a litte concerned to get GV standalone wih my 202 again?????!!!!
Quote from: SteveInWA on September 12, 2014, 07:00:41 PM
The configuration process will "see" your logged on Google session, and ask it permission to access your Google account in the future. You'll see a pop-up window on your Google account asking for you to permit this. Once you do so, Obihai and Google exchange secure "access tokens", and there will be no future need for the OBi to know your user name or password at all.
This seems to be a little misleading, from what I can tell. I have gone through the prompt to auto-update the firmware, and then I was asked to reauthorize the GV login with the new method. I got all the familiar permission screens, and then my dashboard said I was connected. So I assume I am now registered with the new Oauth system. But in my Obi settings under device configuration/sp and also in expert config/sp settings, it still shows my google user name. In expert the name field is filled but the password is blank. Therefore, it appears that the Obi still "knows" the Google user address, but not the password or any login info. This is OK with me, but still the Obi technically has a record of the user name at least. Is this correct?
Yes, you are correct about the user ID. I've fixed my post; thanks -- I am getting punch drunk from working on thousands of posts over on the GV and Hangouts forums.
Exactly how is this working now with Obi website? I've read on other forums that with the latest firmware update one can no longer configure Google Voice locally and that disabling Obi Talk provisioning is not possible.
Why must we go through the obi site to make a GV call and more importantly are they able to keep track of how many calls you make, to whom, and who your providers are? Can't the new OAuth 2.0 protocol exchange be done locally?
Knowing these answers are important since they involve privacy issues. I have always kept Obi Talk provisioning disabled and prefer it that way. As of yet I haven't updated the firmware with my obi100.
Quote from: Kage on September 16, 2014, 01:45:47 PM
Exactly how is this working now with Obi website? I've read on other forums that with the latest firmware update one can no longer configure Google Voice locally and that disabling Obi Talk provisioning is not possible.
Why must we go through the obi site to make a GV call and more importantly are they able to keep track of how many calls you make, to whom, and who your providers are? Can't the new OAuth 2.0 protocol exchange be done locally?
Knowing these answers are important since they involve privacy issues. I have always kept Obi Talk provisioning disabled and prefer it that way. As of yet I haven't updated the firmware with my obi100.
This has already been explained at great length elsewhere in the forum. Do some reading and put your tin foil hat in the drawer where it belongs.
Quote from: SteveInWA on September 16, 2014, 02:11:10 PM
This has already been explained at great length elsewhere in the forum. Do some reading and put your tin foil hat in the drawer where it belongs.
After perusing hundreds and hundreds of posts I could not find it, but maybe instead of being snotty you might be helpful and post it for us. Or better yet provide a quick answer. We're all adults. For me it is a serious issue and if it's nothing I'll be more than happy to acknowledge it.
Can anyone tell me if Google Voice will maintain all my incoming, outgoing, and missed call logs while using an OBi device?
I would like to purchase an OBi device but this, along with accessing other Google Voice features such as call routing dependent upon the incoming caller, are important to me.
Quote from: aragno on September 17, 2014, 07:06:11 AM
Can anyone tell me if Google Voice will maintain all my incoming, outgoing, and missed call logs while using an OBi device?
I would like to purchase an OBi device but this, along with accessing other Google Voice features such as call routing dependent upon the incoming caller, are important to me.
You can go to the Google Voice account and delete your history but my guess is Google still keeps a record of your calls somewhere else but I haven't seen any policy of theirs if that's the case or for how long the data is kept. Skype maintains calls for at least six months. There may be laws or regulations that requires this for potential criminal investigations and of course Google has their own self interest for wanting it.
Just so you know, the obi device also stores your calls locally but you can easily delete them.
Quote from: aragno on September 17, 2014, 07:06:11 AM
Can anyone tell me if Google Voice will maintain all my incoming, outgoing, and missed call logs while using an OBi device?
I would like to purchase an OBi device but this, along with accessing other Google Voice features such as call routing dependent upon the incoming caller, are important to me.
When you use an OBi device with Google Voice, the OBi device is simply emulating a human user logged into their Google Voice account. So yes, the usual GV website features are available, such as managing your inbox, history, and spam folders, which contain your logs of calls, voicemail messages and text messages. You can save or delete them as you wish. You can also use a program called Google Takeout to export the data to save it elsewhere. For more information, check out the help documentation for GV.
1. BIG THANKS ;D to the folks at Google Voice and Obihai who brought this back. I was using dirt-cheap localphone.com for outbound, but free is even better than cheap! Plus of course google voice now has a log (history) of my outbound calls, which is sometimes handy.
2. I hadn't looked in a while, but seems Google now offers dirt cheap calling rates to Brazil landlines and the cheapest I've seen to mobile.
3. Just one little thing missing. AFAIK, Google voice inbound to Obi, does not support Caller-ID-with-Name. Now I know the drill about CNAM lookup - but I'd be fine if somehow Google/Obi would just figure out how to just pull names from my Google Contacts. I'll populate that with my friends, family, and usual suspects. No need to go to an external CNAM database - but if you'd like to do that as a second, fine.
Which is just the way the CallCentric does it - First look in my personal directory and then if that fails, use a CNAM directory.
Which is why I'm still using Google==>CallCentric path for inbound calls. After all inbound calls are "free" with CallCentric, so why not? The only downsides are:t I have to separately populate my Callcentric "Name/Number" phonebook. And I think sometimes the extra hop(?) creates a funky connection with extra delay/noise/echo/dropouts.
I use a panasonic phone system that pronounces and announces each incoming call, Caller-ID-Name makes this very very helpful. (Scenario: should I bother running to "catch the call" from Sally? no. - The boss? Yeah probably. That callback I've been waiting for? yes. The wife? Definitely ;)
Put in an LDAP client perhaps.
We we seem to be back to normal. I had to manually update my firmware. The obi said there was no update required but the Obiha portal said I could not configure GV without the update. After the manual update it was still not connected. Don't get me wrong, the unit still worked as it was intended. I forced a factory reset ***8. Then I had to re-register it but then the GV configurer worked. I just had to do some adjustments like the # key to force a barge in. Trust me, it took less time to re-learn this time.
Do all new obihai devices use the new OATH method?
If not, which use the old?
Does firmware update of my OBI100 load the new OATH?
(that seems implied by posts, but i cant find obitalk.com coming out and saying so.)
BTW I used the lazy persons approach to moving providers, just waited for it to stop working, which never happened.
My home phones are my second phone, so if they stop working i dont care much. I dont see a need to pay for 2 phone services since my cell is primary.
OT- i could never get a good fax over obi100. Is this changed in newer OBI models? Firmware update?
Does GV or hangouts have any (public) plans to support fax?
(SteveinWA, thanks for the valuable and helpful posts.)
My understanding is that all the OBi devices which support GV use the new OATH method. Possibly a device which was configured using the old method and has never been 'disturbed' will continue to work unless/until GV is reconfigured on it. Maybe someone else can confirm or refute that.
Quote from: MrBi11 on March 30, 2015, 09:44:57 AM
Do all new obihai devices use the new OATH method?
If not, which use the old?
All OBi 100, 110, 200 and 202 ATAs running current firmware, and all OBi IP phones, use OAUTH 2.0 authentication to access users' Google Voice accounts. You can refer to the firmware section of this forum to check version and build levels and, if necessary, upgrade to the latest version.
Quote
Does firmware update of my OBI100 load the new OATH?
(that seems implied by posts, but i cant find obitalk.com coming out and saying so.)
The OAUTH 2.0 support was added via a firmware update for OBi 100, 110, 200 and 202 models.
Quote
OT- i could never get a good fax over obi100. Is this changed in newer OBI models? Firmware update?
Does GV or hangouts have any (public) plans to support fax?
(SteveinWA, thanks for the valuable and helpful posts.)
OBi 200 and 202 models added support the T.38 fax over IP protocol, which is also supported over the Google Voice IP carrier network, and which provides improved reliability for faxing over VoIP service providers that support it. Google has not announced any plans to provide a fax mailbox service, nor would I expect them to expend any resources doing so.
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