ring.to will not work with existing OBi devices (purchased prior to 5/1/2014)

Started by mushnut, May 24, 2014, 07:29:27 AM

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YASH

^^ No. The features were still, all same. ( No addition or deletion of 911 service )

The previous was  a trial/beta  version, with life-time free service,
with not even the govt. tax, being charged to you.

Those who bought earlier, were lucky.

Later, they all now charge,
roughly 3.50 to 4.50 dollars per month, for all of them, now,.. and Now this obihai is also a NO exception.

magic jack / magic jack plus
ooma old model / Telo
Nettalk duo
now,.. obi in this list.


They all charge monthly fee now. So, No free lunch !!


YASH

Quote from: giqcass on May 24, 2014, 02:43:10 PM
I suspect they will use the .......................a productive business model.

I read below your post, this line.

Register at e164.org and friends can use Sipbroker to call you from a regular telephone for free from almost any country.

Could you elaborate, please?

I have obi202 in the USA and have relatives in India and UAE.
How they can call me, from there, for free? Or,. I can call them for free using the sipbroker? 

I read that web page, but it's complicated and hard to understand.

Can you pl. explain me step by step, as I am a novice. Thx.

dircom


Gonzo

I have two obis in two locations.  Was happily using GV. Now that is gone. I had one of my GV numbers ported to ring.to thinking it will be supported by Obi. Now learning that my devices were purchased in 2013 they do not qualify. 

Whatever the reason of this, it certainly does not feel Obi cared much of customers that purchased their products so I decided to not buy any other Obi products EVER. I will likely sell the obis on eBay and go to other brands.  At the end, customers are what makes any company and we have the power to take our money were we thing we will be treated best. This behavior by Obi has left me with too much if a bitter taste to continue supporting or using obis products.  I will ensure friends, colleagues, etcetera also know of this so will do as much as possible to ensure they don't buy Obi devices



giqcass

I probably should have posted this in this thread originally but since I didn't I will just quote myself from the other thread.  I consider this positive news for those of us with older Obi devices.  It suggest they are considering expanding support to older devices.


Here is a direct quote (misspelling and all)  from Ring.to. I believe it supports my earlier speculation about the service possibly expanding to more Obi devices.  This does not say it will but it implies they are considering it.  It also implies that this particular limitation was imposed by Ring.to and not Obihai.
Quote
The OBi fanship is huge and for good reason. And though we wish we could, RingTo does not have the ability to support the entire Obihai user base at this time. That's why we're currenting restricting entry to OBi devices purchased after May 1, 2014.

Last Updated 2014-06-12
https://bandwidth.uservoice.com/knowledgebase/articles/379232-can-i-enable-my-older-obihai-device

Obi Ring.to FAQ
https://bandwidth.uservoice.com/knowledgebase/topics/56636-obihai-integration-faqs
Long live our new ObiLords!


Gonzo

I cannot continue to wait for these bozos.  They knew of GV discontinuing their protocol a long time ago and yet, ring.to and Obi seem to point at each other as to the reason their loyal base is left out to hang dry.

I moved one of my Obi to phone power because I absolutely had to but as soon as the year is over I am switching out.  The other I was hoping to use ring.to.  This whole thing has been handled so badly it just left me not wanting to do business with either of these two companies. 


Kage

Quote
The OBi fanship is huge and for good reason. And though we wish we could, RingTo does not have the ability to support the entire Obihai user base at this time. That's why we're currenting restricting entry to OBi devices purchased after May 1, 2014.

That's a bit of exaggeration isn't it? How many have already moved to other services so what makes them think they'd be supporting the entire existing user base?

It's free, at least for now and they have a right to make their own rules but it just seems like obi would do more to show loyalty to their customers. 

InetUser

Quote from: Kage on June 15, 2014, 10:45:37 AM
... but it just seems like obi would do more to show loyalty to their customers. 

When has Obihai ever shown any loyalty to its customers?

Or support?

Or anything?

They don't even have a presence in their own forum.

Talha

Yesterday I emailed OBIHAi to express that frustration over the fact that they will not support Ring.to on old devices. I was shocked when I received their reply, it was extremely and unbelievably rude. I could not believe that any business can treat a customer like that, I receive better service at a convenience store.
For the explanation, they directed me to a link which basically states that Ring.to can not support that many accounts. I believe it's a big fat lie. Groove IP migrated all their customers to Ring.to and it was simple and straight forward.
I was planning to buy several obihai devices but I'm glad that I contacted their customer service before I did that, because I will not buy any now and will probably sell mine on Ebay. I would rather pay a small fee for a company that treats you with a little decency. And there are multiple options available, most of the cell phone companies have unlimited plans. Scratch wireless, for example, is a free service as long as you are in a wifi area, all over the world. Good riddance OBI.

dircom

Cell phone quality is not as good as landline quality, so making that comparison is apples to oranges.
It's speculation on your part that they are lying
I don't believe Obihai is the same company as Ring.to, so I don't see how pointing to another companies website is poor customer service.

 If you buy an Obi @ Amazon, Amazon takes a cut.  Don't see how Obihai is making a killing selling these.  I think OBi's are a great technology.  I ported my landline to a VOIP provider and enjoy caller id, call blocking, phone book, , the ability to take my obi to a vacation house and take my # with me, the ability to make two calls at once from the same number (using a 202 or 200 device) + Obi to Obi calling. (at a cost per month less than the cost of taxes I paid my cable provider)  And I still use GV for "extra"
numbers in other cities.

I do wish all the whiners would go away.

giqcass

Quote from: Talha on June 16, 2014, 06:11:57 PM
Yesterday I emailed OBIHAi to express that frustration over the fact that they will not support Ring.to on old devices. I was shocked when I received their reply, it was extremely and unbelievably rude. I could not believe that any business can treat a customer like that, I receive better service at a convenience store.
For the explanation, they directed me to a link which basically states that Ring.to can not support that many accounts. I believe it's a big fat lie. Groove IP migrated all their customers to Ring.to and it was simple and straight forward.
I was planning to buy several obihai devices but I'm glad that I contacted their customer service before I did that, because I will not buy any now and will probably sell mine on Ebay. I would rather pay a small fee for a company that treats you with a little decency. And there are multiple options available, most of the cell phone companies have unlimited plans. Scratch wireless, for example, is a free service as long as you are in a wifi area, all over the world. Good riddance OBI.
Lets see, you emailed them and they sent you a link to the answer.  That's poor service because the answer was not what you wanted it to be?  Should Obi twist the arm of another company on your behalf? Hey I have an idea. 

  • Go to the Ring.to website.
  • Make a suggestion that they expand to older Obi devices.
  • Come back here.
  • Give us a link to that suggestion.
  • Many of us will vote for the idea.
  • Ring.to will see how much we want it.
  • Ring.to will probably try to implement it.
OR
Do more pointless whining to people that can't help you.
Long live our new ObiLords!

Gonzo

OBI.  YOU SUCK!!!

Not only does this company care zero for its customers that purchased devices when they were nothing but also limiting the alternatives like ring.to only available for newly purchase devices.  And now, adding to the insult, they are actively marketing to people like me with emails trying to get us to go and buy new devices taunting that they work with ring.to and it is free:).  WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP!!

I will not buy Any Obi devices EVER.   There are alternatives to Obi and when a company makes these crappy "for profit" choices and leaves the customer base hanging, we have the perfect right to go and take our business elsewhere. I am hoping others that feel the same, which I know are many, also make their voices sound loud and clear and act with their pocketbook to make Obi understand you don't crap all over your customer base.

My Obi devices are going on eBay or to the trash.....  Here is an excerpt of their marketing email to me today....

"Free Calling with RingTo

We are happy to announce that RingTo is now available as an OBiTALK Approved Service Provider.
RingTo's Internet (VoIP) phone service provides FREE calling to North American numbers. To use RingTo, you must move (or port) any valid mobile, land line or VoIP service phone number to RingTo. RingTo allows you to untether your phone number from a single endpoint phone and use it freely to ring multiple phones – including the one attached to an OBi device.

...

The RingTo offer is for specific OBi devices purchased after May 1st 2014."


FAT CHANCE OBI.  YOU WILL NOT GET ONE MORE PENNY  OUT OF ME......  


Gonzo

And to all of you that think that a consumer valid complaints are whining, I think it is better to speak for what you believe than drinking the coolaid of whatever marketing positioning a company like this one wants to sell you.

If you agree with the way Obi has acted, great, keep buying and using their products and advocate their products.  I will do the opposite because to me it is clear that they made a for profit decision and chose to push their older customers to buy new devices if they want to have a similar level of service as they had when they originally purchased these devices. 

As a product manager in high tech, I will tell you a rule a good product manager has....  You incentivize customers to move to newer products, models by offering new features!.  You don't do it by taking advantage of external limitations (like google discontinuing their protocol) to then limit the choices of customers so they buy a new device.  Get the difference?  Probably not!

giqcass

Quote from: Gonzo on June 29, 2014, 01:43:30 AM
And to all of you that think that a consumer valid complaints are whining, I think it is better to speak for what you believe than drinking the coolaid of whatever marketing positioning a company like this one wants to sell you.

If you agree with the way Obi has acted, great, keep buying and using their products and advocate their products.  I will do the opposite because to me it is clear that they made a for profit decision and chose to push their older customers to buy new devices if they want to have a similar level of service as they had when they originally purchased these devices. 

As a product manager in high tech, I will tell you a rule a good product manager has....  You incentivize customers to move to newer products, models by offering new features!.  You don't do it by taking advantage of external limitations (like google discontinuing their protocol) to then limit the choices of customers so they buy a new device.  Get the difference?  Probably not!
I can see no basis for this argument.  Obi did not make the decision to stop Google Voice or limit Ring.to support. Ring.to implied it might support older Obi devices eventually, and Google Voice still works on the old Obi devices.  As I have said before you need to complain to Ring.to if you want older device support.  Based on new tech roll out tactics of Ring.to sister company Republic Wireless a gradual adoption should have been expected from the beginning.  I had to wait around a month for an OS update while a randomly selected few already had it.  This tactic is employed to help weed out bugs during a trial "in the wild" with real customer use.  It reduces what might otherwise be an overwhelming influx of support requests.  It also gives them a chance to create FAQ pages and train support staff.  A device the service was not designed for is a tricky endeavor. 


All of that said if you would like to complain about ObHai there are plenty of actual problems within their power to fix. Whomever/whatever you complain to/about please consider doing it in a way that is constructive.
Long live our new ObiLords!

Gonzo

How convenient is as a company that marketed the heck of their devices with a service as google voice now blames others for having limitations with the services and partnerships they bring.

Actually the marketing efforts Obi has been doing promoting ring.to AS LONG as you buy new devices are the most irritating part of this whole PR fiasco.

To be clear, my statements are my comments of dissatisfaction on OBI management of these changes which by seeing the backlash of other soon to be old customers of Obi are not unique.

As you well know, Obi had choices and control on what type of partnership they did with ring.to.  We as consumers do not know who limited who, although there are posts out there with ring.to claiming that Obi put that limitation to new devices.

Finally, as to what ring.to implied or not on future opening to older obi devices, that only is coming out from the stream of complaints that have been coming and I, for one, believe the limitation was set up by OBI.  It is yet to be seen if they will support those older devices. 

I for one, express my opinion and will move on to doing what I preach.  TRASH OBI DEVICES and move to other solutions while ensuring I spread the word

Kage

@Gonzo, if OBI management were the ones to put the limitation in effect they wouldn't be the first, companies do such things all of the time. Another example is from several years ago when Creative refused and still does to release official drivers for their Soundblaster sound cards for Windows 7. That was because they wanted people to buy new cards, even though the old ones were still perfectly fine. Finally, a gentleman wrote third party drivers for them and was threatened with a lawsuit, though Creative backed down after the bad pr.

Companies are in business to make money and in most cases previous customers are old news.

cluckercreek

There could also be a legal reason behind this as well. We don't know what Obihai may have agreed to with the Evil "G".  :o

dircom

Quote from: Gonzo on June 29, 2014, 05:21:07 AM
..... blah blah blah, ....... and will move on to doing what I preach.  TRASH OBI DEVICES and move to other solutions while ensuring I spread the word

What other tantrums will you display?  will you hold your breath? stomp your feet?

perhaps you have some  fifty dollar bills that you are mad at, because they used to fill up a gas tank, and now only half a gas tank..    are you going to throw those away too?

Perhaps you will trash your computer, because your old printer doesn't have drivers for Windows 7?

I wish all the whiners would just go away.  Most people spent $30-$50 bucks for an amazing device, got free service for months or years, GV still works, other VOIP still work.



mykmayk

Quote from: Gonzo on June 29, 2014, 01:29:19 AM
My Obi devices are going on eBay or to the trash.....

if no one takes it on ebay, i'll GLADLY take it off your hands.  i'll even take care of shipping it to me -- absolutely no cost to you.  i'll save the earth from electronics going into the trash.

i'm serious.  give it to me instead of trashing it.
əʞɪɯ mɪke