CRITICAL ISSUE with Google Voice Incoming Phone numbers????

[mo832]

So starting today only, a call to my regular GV  DID numbers will not reach the forwarding numbers assigned to it. I have one SP set to answer Google chat on my Obi100, and another SP set to call GV> forward to a callentric DID > ring on Obi. When calling either DID number (registered to GV), the calls ring about 5 times and go to GV voice mail. If I call the Obi direct using Obi number, the Obi rings. If I call the direct CC 845-xxx-xxxx number, the Obi also rings.

I am not at home, so I can tell by the answering machine which is hooked up on the Obi line. It appears that the only thing not happening is the the GV service is not properly forwarding the incoming calls. Initially, I suspected that perhaps my home internet service was down and/or my router, and/or the answering machine. But all have checked out by the actions noted above.

Is this happening to anyone else and is this a widespread known issue today? And what do I do and how do I troubleshoot/ solve it?

Thanks in advance for any ideas or similar comments.

[mo832]

Here some additional info. I tried to place on Do Not Disturb, and the calls immediately are answered by the GV voice mail greeting. Taking it off DND once again lets it ring about 5 times and then GV Voice mail comes on.

I attempted to create a new forwarding number and checked off everything else and checked on the new number. *THIS* latest number is correctly forwarded (ie calling the GV number makes the newly added forwarding phone ring). But the newly added phone is an AT&T landline which I don't own and don't have normal access to, so it was only for testing. The Obi-located forwarding numbers are both IP lines. One is simply a Google chat connection on the Obi channel, and the other is a traditional DID telephone number that answers on the IP of the other Obi channel. I don't know if that makes a difference, but both "old" GV accounts are not reaching the Obi. I have a family member with a recent GV account and a recent Obi (6 mos or so), and currently that setup is working fine with the GV number on the IP setup.

What gives? The two GV numbers I have refused to ring calls, but will still receive/recognize the call, log the call and go to voice mail. A new forwarding phone works, but the old forwarding phones won't. I'm assuming I can place an outgoing call, but cannot test it until I get home and have physical access to the connected phone set.

[SteveInWA]

No, there is no "critical" nor "widespread" outage.  There's probably something wrong with your home network that needs to be diagnosed when you return home.  If the inbound calls appear in your Google Voice history page, and your GV Settings page, Phones tab, shows the forwarding numbers properly active, and there is no message about you needing to re-validate your forwarding phone number, then it's not a GV issue.

Note that you shouldn't be forwarding to both Google Chat and to a CC DID, when you have both destinations active on the same OBi device.  Use one and disable the other.

[mo832]

OK, let me add some comments. (Thanks Steve for you reply)

1. What should I test or try when I get back home?

2. Re: the 2 numbers forwarded. They are on separate SP channels and I don't have both Gchat and CC enabled at the same time on either one . It is two separate GV accounts, with two separate numbers. One rings on SP1 with a single ring and SIP, and the other on SP2 with a double ring and gchat. They are never comingled. This way I keep 2 distinct incoming "lines" with only one box. This has never been a problem in more than 2 years. Why is this wrong? I was under the impression that the whole point of the Obi having multiple ports individually configurable was so you could mix and match like this and use a traditional SIP service with one and GV with another... I assume you may be thinking that the box is getting a single incoming call forwarded double to the same box at the same time? That is not the case.

3. I don't understand how it could be not a GV issue if GV is the one that's supposed to send the call to a phone number or a client location and it doesn't. If I call the Obi directly, the box and the network correctly handle it. If I call the CC DID directly, bypassing GV, also the network handles it. I've told GV the phone number to send the call to, and if it did, the same thing should happen as when I call that number directly, no? The only constant that appears in every problem case is GV. Yes, I know GV is doing all the other usual things right, but does that mean it can't do one element wrong?

[SteveInWA]

OK, let me add some comments. (Thanks Steve for you reply)

1. What should I test or try when I get back home?

Power-cycle everything and confirm that you can receive inbound calls made directly to your Callcentric number. 

Log into each of your two Google Voice accounts, go to the phone settings page, and confirm that the forwarding destinations are properly configured, with check-marks to the left of them.

Try calling each of the two GV accounts' GV numbers, and see what happens.

2. Re: the 2 numbers forwarded. They are on separate SP channels and I don't have both Gchat and CC enabled at the same time on either one . It is two separate GV accounts, with two separate numbers. One rings on SP1 with a single ring and SIP, and the other on SP2 with a double ring and gchat. They are never comingled. This way I keep 2 distinct incoming "lines" with only one box. This has never been a problem in more than 2 years. Why is this wrong? I was under the impression that the whole point of the Obi having multiple ports individually configurable was so you could mix and match like this and use a traditional SIP service with one and GV with another... I assume you may be thinking that the box is getting a single incoming call forwarded double to the same box at the same time? That is not the case.

You didn't make that clear.  If you indeed have two different Google Voice accounts, then yes, you can configure them independently on two separate SP slots (eg. GV account #1 --> SP1 and GV #2 -->SP2).  If neither of these ports are ringing, then that's another piece of evidence that it isn't GV related, as there is no system-wide issue at this time.

[mo832]

I have a status report. I still need to do some longer-term testing and observation, but I'm making progress. I'm home now, and upon returning, I first noticed several calls show up on my old-style caller-id boxes. These were calls which were going straight to voice mail, but evidently, they must have rung in the house at least one full ring cycle to register. Then a couple of answering machine messages were just a beep, as if a hangup.

This is starting to appear like the GV voice mail is in a time race with the ans. machine to see who can answer the fastest. It could be a very close race. But this has not been an issue before and the answering machine has not been changed to wait more rings. Sometimes they might grab it at the same instant or within a fraction of a second. Remember, the ans. machine ALWAYS picked up when calling the CC number directly or calling the Obi number. Neither of these have a voice mail or other call interception that I'm aware of... but GV does.

Then I had a friend call in twice. It rang both times. The first time, I picked up and we talked. The second time, I waited for the machine or GV VM to pick up. It was the machine. So now I can't even watch it malfunction while I'm present . Ironically, the ans. machine is supposed to work primarily when I'm NOT here...

One thought which may or may not mean anything- Today is Aug. 1. Could there be a feature change or any kind of system update which might cause unusual behaviors?

I have not yet done a power cycle since I'm still trying to notice what happens, and the phone appears to be ringing when it's supposed to, so no critical malfunctions that I can detect.

[SteveInWA]

You ought to troubleshoot this in a more rigorous, step-by-step manner, instead of jumping all over the place.

• Power-cycle your home network stuff, just to eliminate any issues that would otherwise cause you to waste more time troubleshooting it.
• Turn OFF the answering machine.
• Using some telephone number that is not already assigned as a forwarding phone on either of your GV accounts, place calls to your two different Google Voice numbers.  Confirm (several times) that the calls make it to your OBi, and that you can answer the calls.  IF this works, great, continue.  If it fails, report back what happens.
• If inbound calls reliably reach your OBi, then there is nothing wrong with your GV accounts, nor your OBi, and the answering machine is the culprit.  Continue...

Google Voice has a fixed ring-interval of approximately 25 seconds.  The time interval isn't precise, and some variable, few seconds of delay may occur, depending on network conditions.  In order to use an answering machine, it must answer calls well before the 25+ second interval expires.

Since one of the primary functions of GV is its voicemail, it really makes no sense to use an answering machine; you can simply use GV VM instead.  For the Callcentric forwarding DID, use Callcentric Call Treatments, and set the ring time to 30 seconds.  This will ensure that GV takes the VM if unanswered.

[mo832]

Just thought I would update again on this...

I did the power cycle and had several outside calls dial in and everything appears to be "normal", or at least as it was before.

I think some calls, but not the majority, actually did get improperly diverted by GV and didn't reach the Obi. Whatever it was, it seems to have been a passing thing. Also, perhaps the "expectation" that the ans. mach. was doing its job correctly, led me to believe that a bunch of calls were being missed, when in fact, GV was answering with VM after the standard delay.

As for the merits of having an answering machine or not, it probably does no good to start a philosophical debate, but let's just say that there *are* good reasons for it in some cases, and some of those reasons apply to me. YMMV