News:

On Tuesday September 6th the forum will be down for maintenance from 9:30 PM to 11:59 PM PDT

Main Menu

Question about Obi202

Started by Tanster, April 19, 2018, 09:17:58 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

Tanster

I'm new to VoIP and I have a couple of questions:


  • Does the fact that the Obi202 having the ability to subscribe to 4 VoIP providers/SIP services per phone/FXS port mean that I can have a total of 8 VoIP numbers ring two physical phones attached to those two FXS ports?
  • If the two physical phones are analog cordless phones, how do I know which ringing phone represents which phone line?
  • And that I can only use two VoIP numbers concurrently since there are only two physical phones?
  • And which incoming call will end up ringing a phone and which will go straight to voicemail or fax will depend on how I distribute the VoIP numbers over the two FXS ports?
  • So if I have, say, 3 PSTN numbers that I want to port to a VoIP provider like Anveo as well as 1 GoogleVoice number, I can use the Obi202 and still have 4 "slots" left over without needing an Obi504vs or Obi508vs so long as I won't use more than two numbers simultaneously?
  • If one of those ported numbers is used primarily for fax calls, do I even need a physical phone/fax machine considering Anveo has a "transcription" service which turns an incoming fax into a PDF?

Thanks in advance for any help understanding all this...

azrobert

You can define a TOTAL of 4 service providers (not 4 per phone port) for inbound/outbound calls. You can define another 8 service providers using Voice Gateways for outbound only calls. These providers are shared by the 2 phone ports.

You can define a distinctive ring for each of the 4 service providers.

You can use an SIP phone (softphone or IP phone) to add more lines.

Tanster

QuoteYou can define a TOTAL of 4 service providers (not 4 per phone port) for inbound/outbound calls. You can define another 8 service providers using Voice Gateways for outbound only calls. These providers are shared by the 2 phone ports.

So since I only have 3 PSTN numbers that I want to port from Verizon to Anveo and 1 Google Voice number, would that be considered as 4 "service providers" (1 for each number ported from PSTN to Anveo and 1 GV) or 2 "service providers" (Anveo and GoogleVoice)?  Not being facetious here:  I really don't know and am trying to wrap my head around these concepts.

QuoteYou can define a distinctive ring for each of the 4 service providers.

Good to know.  Thanks.

QuoteYou can use an SIP phone (softphone or IP phone) to add more lines.

More lines or more physical devices?  I understand that the two aren't the same.

azrobert

Each of those would be a service provider, so the OBi202 can define the 3 Anveo and 1 GV lines.

Inbound calls from a provider can be routed to either phone port or both. A primary line is assigned to each phone port for outbound calls. Both phone ports can be assigned the same primary line. The default configuration uses prefixes **1 thru **4 to route outbound calls to the other lines. You can define any prefix you want. You can also route outbound calls without a prefix. Examples are routing by 11 digits, 10 digits, international or specific area codes.

The IP phone or softphone would be a physical device to receive or make calls. The device must be able to call without registration. You can register these devices to the OBi202, but this function requires a service provider slot and then it won't be able to be used to define one of the phone numbers.

Mango

Quote from: Tanster on April 19, 2018, 10:01:53 AMwould that be considered as 4 "service providers" (1 for each number ported from PSTN to Anveo and 1 GV) or 2 "service providers" (Anveo and GoogleVoice)?  Not being facetious here:  I really don't know and am trying to wrap my head around these concepts.

Great question.  I'm sorry to disagree with azrobert.  The answer depends on the service provider.  Google Voice only allows one number per account, so you need to use one service provider slot for each Google Voice number.  Since you only plan to have one Google Voice number, no problem there.

Anveo allows you to have as many numbers as you want* on your account, so the three numbers could be tied to a single service provider.  You may have some reason that you want to split them up, and you can certainly do that if it makes things somehow more convenient, but you don't need to.

*Not sure about Anveo's "OBiTALK Special" package; I use standard Anveo retail.

Tanster

#5
Quote from: Mango on April 19, 2018, 07:22:59 PM
Great question.  I'm sorry to disagree with azrobert.  The answer depends on the service provider.  Google Voice only allows one number per account, so you need to use one service provider slot for each Google Voice number.  Since you only plan to have one Google Voice number, no problem there.

Anveo allows you to have as many numbers as you want* on your account, so the three numbers could be tied to a single service provider.  You may have some reason that you want to split them up, and you can certainly do that if it makes things somehow more convenient, but you don't need to.

*Not sure about Anveo's "OBiTALK Special" package; I use standard Anveo retail.

Thanks for your reply.  I'm not sure about the pros and cons of splitting up the PSTN numbers I want to port over or keeping them under one account or into two accounts (e.g., personal and business so that the CallerID identification shows up appropriately).  Would you be able to elaborate?

I tried querying the Sales team at Anveo and they don't seem very responsive.  It took me over two weeks just to get 2 responses from them (it's like pulling teeth--you'd think sales would be eager to sell!!!) and the last one said this about the "OBiTALK Special" package which I don't quite understand as I have 3 PSTN numbers to port but the Obi202 only has 2 phone jacks on it:

Quote from: anveo.sales@anveo.comOBI special packages are configured per Port on your OBI device. So if you wish to utilize both ports on your OBI202 and have OBITALK special packages then you will need to sign up for the service twice (one per port). If you consider OBI special packages then they have no personal/business restrictions and thus can be used for Business (or personal).

So, does that mean phone jacks = ports and I have to buy another Obi2xx series (or ditch my Obi202 and get a Obi504vs or Obi508vs) while the packages = the PSTN numbers I'm trying to port over to Anveo so I sign up for 3 "OBiTALK Special" packages.  Or do just sign up for 3 "OBiTALK Special" packages and just configure them for my Obi202 where I can only use only 2 simultaneously, shifting to the 3rd by swapping out with a currently active jack as necessary.  Or do I sign up for 2 "ObiTALK Special" packages (one personal and one for business) where I port and assign 1 PSTN number to the personal package and port/jack and assign 2 PSTN numbers to the business package and port/jack.  What confuses me is whether the package is per PSTN number ported over to Anveo or per type of account or per actual physical port on the OBi device.  Do you see what I'm asking?

Mango

Quote from: Tanster on April 20, 2018, 07:37:58 AMI'm not sure about the pros and cons of splitting up the PSTN numbers I want to port over or keeping them under one account or into two accounts (e.g., personal and business so that the CallerID identification shows up appropriately).

The most common reason I can think of to split them up is if you want them to ring on separate phone ports.  For example:

SP1: Google Voice, routed to phone port 1
SP2: Anveo, routed to phone port 1
SP3: Anveo, routed to phone port 2
SP4: Anveo, routed to phone ports 1 & 2

This is just an example; you can configure it any way you want.  Perhaps this could also be done with the $2 variable in the InboundCallRoute, but even if it could, I think having multiple SPs is easier.

Based on your requirements I don't think the Anveo Special package is right for you.  According to https://www.anveo.com/anveoforobitalk.asp you can have only one phone number per package.  If Anveo is your service provider of choice, I suggest signing up for a non-OBiTALK Special account where you can have as many phone numbers as you want (to pay for).  While you could sign up for multiple OBiTALK Specials, I suspect administering them would be more trouble than it is worth.

Quote from: Tanster on April 20, 2018, 07:37:58 AMI tried querying the Sales team at Anveo and they don't seem very responsive.

Anveo is very much a DIY service.  Their support is good, but you pay for it (beyond any free tickets your plan comes with).  As an alternate for your consideration, Callcentric also offers incoming fax-to-pdf (but for outgoing you need a physical fax machine), and also allows you to have multiple numbers.  Their rates are slightly more expensive, but you don't pay for their support.

azrobert

Quote from: Tanster on April 19, 2018, 09:17:58 AM

  • If the two physical phones are analog cordless phones, how do I know which ringing phone represents which phone line?

If more than 1 phone number share a single line, you can't assign a different ring tone to each number unless the provider supports Alert Info.

Mango