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Google Voice, click call, can't select google chat to ring

Started by KevinObi, March 30, 2016, 07:51:58 PM

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KevinObi

New Obi user, long time GVoice user.

I have mine setup, can get inbound and make outbound calls.  Didn't turn off basictalk until I was sure this was going to work.

Hit my first snag, key use case for me is to click call on a call in the inbox or on a contact typed into the search, from there google voice gives you a pull down of your phone numbers and you choose one for it to ring which then connects you to the number you want to call.

Unfortunately, Google Chat is not in this list.   I see Google Hangouts in the list but this and Google Chat which rings my Obi seem unconnected.

Am I missing something ? how do I get GVoice to ring my phone to make a call from GVoice interface ?

Taoman

Quote from: KevinObi on March 30, 2016, 07:51:58 PM
how do I get GVoice to ring my phone to make a call from GVoice interface ?


Get yourself a free DID from Callcentric or IPComms and configure it on your OBi. Then add it as one of your forwarding numbers in your Google Voice account. That number will appear in your drop down list for click to call.

KevinObi

This is an interesting way around it.  I wasn't aware of free phone numbers.   Can't seem to find the free phone line on IPComms but trying CallCentric at the moment.

Thanks.

KevinObi

Unfortunately, as I suspected, CallCentric free is not free.  If you are in the US you are forced to pay $1.50 fee and $1.50 a month.   The whole goal here with Obitalk is the free part.

Anyone else figure a way around this problem ?


Taoman

Quote from: KevinObi on April 01, 2016, 11:06:02 AM
This is an interesting way around it.  I wasn't aware of free phone numbers.   Can't seem to find the free phone line on IPComms but trying CallCentric at the moment.

Thanks.

Callcentric requires $1.50/month for E911 unless you say you will be using the service outside of US and Canada. Callcentric also provides CNAM for no charge.

http://www.ipcomms.net/freedid

Lavarock7

Quote from: KevinObi on April 01, 2016, 11:23:32 AM
Unfortunately, as I suspected, CallCentric free is not free.  If you are in the US you are forced to pay $1.50 fee and $1.50 a month.   The whole goal here with Obitalk is the free part.

Anyone else figure a way around this problem ?



I live in rural Hawaii and my street address is nowhere near my house. It made sense to say I lived outside the U.S. because 911 would not work for me.
My websites: Kona Coffee: http://itskona.com and Web Hosting: http://planetaloha.info<br />A simplified Voip explanation: http://voip.planet-aloha.com

SteveInWA

Quote from: KevinObi on April 01, 2016, 11:23:32 AM
Unfortunately, as I suspected, CallCentric free is not free.  If you are in the US you are forced to pay $1.50 fee and $1.50 a month.   The whole goal here with Obitalk is the free part.

Anyone else figure a way around this problem ?



Anyone* who is too cheap/stubborn to pay for E911 service on their home phone belongs on the waiting list for the Darwin Award.

*Anyone except Lavarock, or anyone of the .01% of the population who live where calling 911 would be fruitless.

Lavarock7

Quote from: SteveInWA on April 01, 2016, 04:13:51 PM
Quote from: KevinObi on April 01, 2016, 11:23:32 AM
Unfortunately, as I suspected, CallCentric free is not free.  If you are in the US you are forced to pay $1.50 fee and $1.50 a month.   The whole goal here with Obitalk is the free part.

Anyone else figure a way around this problem ?



Anyone who is too cheap/stubborn to pay for E911 service on their home phone belongs on the waiting list for the Darwin Award.

Then I guess I get the award. Not everyone lives in an accessible area with services at their fingertips. Heck we don't have street lights down here.

GPS on a cellphone will have the same issues as I mention, because current location of some houses leaves large gaps in how to get to them. Most of my VOIP lines are in various states far from here. 5 are in the U.K. so depending upon which line is chosen it may appear as though the call is coming from overseas.

My address for cable and water is one street away (perhaps a mile round-about to their address from my house). So those service addresses are nowhere near the house.

The road where I live was renamed. It used to be called Hua Nui Rd and shows up on all maps as Hua Nui, but the county says Hua Nui is a few miles down the road. So we decided to take matters in our own hands and had the street dedicated as Manako Rd. There is no other road by that name in the county.

There is no mail delivery near our houses because th post office can't figure out where the houses are and delivery to many would require 4-wheel drive.

A firetruck could not maneuver to our  house, or if they go to the address on the other street, there is a 500 foot hike through a jungle and rocky area to get fire hoses to the house. This would be by following the electrical and cable lines to the house. Water comes from a property a few houses away and goes through someone else's property; literally jungles.

So we use a TMK (Tax Map Key) to identify each house down here instead of mailing or delivery addresses. Even with the TMK I would have to give them directions. E-911 and even expended E-911 services probably don't allow for complicated directions.

From the highway, go 8/10ths of a mile makai (towards ocean) take a left on the street with the mailboxes (Manako Road), go 2/10's of a mile and look for the farm name on the sign just before the culvert. This is a sharp right turn and a regular-sized fire turck will not be able to turn. When you get to the water tanks, make a sharp left, go to the culvert, make a sharp right, follow that down about 500 feet, make a sharp right, then a sharp left and go down the hill (that is a 4-wheel drive hill) and follow the driveway to the house. If needing a fireplug, it is about 3/4 mile back. If you want to use the closest one it is perhaps 1000 feet through the woods. If you can use a pumper I have 20,000 gallons of water available in a catchment tank, but no approved fire connection, you will have to drop a line into the tank and suck it out.

So even with the TMK they need directions.

Mail? Since the mail box is out on the highway perhaps 1/2 mile away, I just use a PO Box.

If the fire was caused by active lava, the above directions won't help because the driveway will be a river of 2,000 F degree rock. Yes, I know most people don't have rivers of rock, but I live in Paradise.

I am one of the lucky ones that has a firehouse a few miles away, even if they can't easily get to the house.

My neighbors down the road are not so lucky.

The fire was under control within 20 minutes, but it took another 2½ hours to put it out because of a lack of a nearby water. Capt. Kel Kunimoto of the HOVE fire station said a tanker truck had to shuttle water from a community water tank four miles away.

The house was completely destroyed. An estimate of its value was not immediately available.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.


Another

The fire started at about 9:15 a.m. and the structure burned down before firefighters could arrive, said Capt. Robert Perreira of the Hawaii Fire Department's Prevention Bureau. The nearest fire station is in Pahoa, about 15 miles away.

And this report:

http://hawaiitribune-herald.com/sections/news/local-news/lava-claims-final-home.html

Yes, I may be an exception to the rule, but if you are using GoogleVoice you are out of luck with e-911 anyway. Does everyone with an adapter or IP phone call and change their physical address when they travel?

There may be many other reasons people consider E-911 service to be a waste of money and just another government forced issue that does not serve every-ones needs.
My websites: Kona Coffee: http://itskona.com and Web Hosting: http://planetaloha.info<br />A simplified Voip explanation: http://voip.planet-aloha.com

LTN1

Quote from: Lavarock7 on April 02, 2016, 12:34:47 AM

Then I guess I get the award. Not everyone lives in an accessible area with services at their fingertips. Heck we don't have street lights down here.


In spirit, I'm sure Steve is directing his advice to those who live in normal urban and suburban areas. In life, there should always be exceptions to the safety line but I think if possible, a small monthly monetary fee shouldn't be one of them is what was likely intended.

I, for one, wish I could just rely on E911 but on the other end of the spectrum, I still haven't transitioned to trusting it completely if power goes down and there is no more battery backup. It would be much cheaper for me to pay $15 per year. I still pay for a landline even though I have many other VoIP accounts, in addition to GV and the OBi. Every once in awhile I feel the temptation to pull trigger and port my landline number to one of my VoIP services but always back out. Whyyyyyy (in a fit of struggle) I ask? Could it be the prepper in me? Why did I ever watch those prepper tv shows? I'm now haunted with the phrase...if you search deep enough, you may find the prepper in you too!

SteveInWA


Lavarock7

:-)

I know that I am one of the 1% or less. I just have to rub it in at times.

Being an ex-programmer, I know that nothing is ever exact or fits the needs. Thus I tend to say "most" rather than all or "usually".

An example. I wrote an inventory system for a Public TV station and their TV Auction (think a shopping channel). They brought in people from off the street and this is back when computers were not in everyones home. These people would sit at a terminal and enter bidders information like name and address. Knowing these people MAY have used a "IBM Selectric" at one time, I checked all numeric fields for I's and O's and so on. My program did not fail, even when asked for a ZIP CODE, one industrious volunteer entered it in Roman Numerals.

Who else would actually trap Roman Numerals in a zip code field? ME! (Well MOST of the time) :-)
My websites: Kona Coffee: http://itskona.com and Web Hosting: http://planetaloha.info<br />A simplified Voip explanation: http://voip.planet-aloha.com

SteveInWA

Quote from: Lavarock7 on April 02, 2016, 12:36:47 PM
:-)

I know that I am one of the 1% or less. I just have to rub it in at times.

Being an ex-programmer, I know that nothing is ever exact or fits the needs. Thus I tend to say "most" rather than all or "usually".

An example. I wrote an inventory system for a Public TV station and their TV Auction (think a shopping channel). They brought in people from off the street and this is back when computers were not in everyones home. These people would sit at a terminal and enter bidders information like name and address. Knowing these people MAY have used a "IBM Selectric" at one time, I checked all numeric fields for I's and O's and so on. My program did not fail, even when asked for a ZIP CODE, one industrious volunteer entered it in Roman Numerals.

Who else would actually trap Roman Numerals in a zip code field? ME! (Well MOST of the time) :-)

Heh heh!  But, did it understand Pidgin English?

BTW, with regard to your unique situation:  when I was visiting my buddy in Maui a couple weeks ago, he pointed out the (relatively) new Wailea Fire Department station he helped build about 12 - 14 years ago.  Before that station, you would just watch your house burn down before the fire department got there.