Best Setup for Small Business GV use (7 x Obi1062's or 7 x Obi202's)

[alkinga]

We are currently using two Obi200. One of the 200's (200-1) has just our primary Google Voice number.  The second Obi200 (200-2) runs a second Google Voice number and our primary GV number.  We don't need much and this works great for us 90% of the time.

We are moving space and I want to see if I can set up and more legitimate setup for the office.

I want to have 7 work stations. We have one primary Google Voice number now that I use as our main business number (that everyone calls).  Separately, I plan to have each person set up thier own Google Voice number (so that we have 7 total GV numbers).  From there I hoped to field calls on the main GV number, then transfer those calls to the GV number associated with the person they want to talk with.  (i.e. someone calls the main number, the front desk picks up, they ask to speak to me, she then transfers the call to my personal Google Voice number which I also have set up on my desk phone).

I have a pretty elementary understanding of Obi and Google Voice, so I was wondering if either of these two options would work.

Option 1:
Buy 7 Obi1062's, for this I would assume I could just put all 7 numbers on each Obi1062.

Option 2:
Buy 1 Obi1062 for the front desk, that has all 7 numbers tied to it (just to make it easiest to transfer calls around). 
Then buy 6 Obi202's, one for all the other workstations.  I would then have each person tie their personal Google Voice to one of the lines, then I would have the primary business line to the second line. I would use normal 2-line POTS phones at each of the 6 work stations that will have the primary business line on one line and the second the individual Google Voice.

Does anyone know any problems with either of these options? 

From reading on this forum I understand that GV has limits to the number of simultaneous calls that can go on (from my understanding it is 2 outbound or 3 inbound). One question would be if I pickup a call that comes in on the main GV number, then transfer it to a different number, will it free the call from the original GV number?  (i.e. can I continue to leave the main line open for incoming calls if I continue to transfer call received on it to other numbers?)

[azrobert]

Your option 1 might not work. There is a bug that prevents transfers between IP Phones. It was still happening as of August 8th, see link below. I can transfer calls from my OBi1032 to an OBi200.

http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=15776.0

You can transfer calls to an OBi20x using extensions defined under Linked Devices. These use the OBiTalk network. You can alternately transfer calls over your local network, but it's a more difficult setup.

When you transfer a call it's really not a transfer, it's a bridge. The original call remains active. I don't know the max number of simultaneous calls on a GV account. I tested 3 active calls on my OBi200. It doesn't matter inbound or outbound. The OBi200 default is 2 active calls on a trunk. If you want more, the MaxSessions setting must be increased.

You can have 2 workstations on a single OBi202 depending on you requirements.

[alkinga]

Thanks so much for your reply.  Good to know about the transfer issue. Hopefully, they get that fixed soon!

[SteveInWA]

We are currently using two Obi200. One of the 200's (200-1) has just our primary Google Voice number.  The second Obi200 (200-2) runs a second Google Voice number and our primary GV number.  We don't need much and this works great for us 90% of the time.

We are moving space and I want to see if I can set up and more legitimate setup for the office.

I want to have 7 work stations. We have one primary Google Voice number now that I use as our main business number (that everyone calls).  Separately, I plan to have each person set up thier own Google Voice number (so that we have 7 total GV numbers).  From there I hoped to field calls on the main GV number, then transfer those calls to the GV number associated with the person they want to talk with.  (i.e. someone calls the main number, the front desk picks up, they ask to speak to me, she then transfers the call to my personal Google Voice number which I also have set up on my desk phone).

I have a pretty elementary understanding of Obi and Google Voice, so I was wondering if either of these two options would work.

Option 1:
Buy 7 Obi1062's, for this I would assume I could just put all 7 numbers on each Obi1062.

Option 2:
Buy 1 Obi1062 for the front desk, that has all 7 numbers tied to it (just to make it easiest to transfer calls around). 
Then buy 6 Obi202's, one for all the other workstations.  I would then have each person tie their personal Google Voice to one of the lines, then I would have the primary business line to the second line. I would use normal 2-line POTS phones at each of the 6 work stations that will have the primary business line on one line and the second the individual Google Voice.

Does anyone know any problems with either of these options? 

From reading on this forum I understand that GV has limits to the number of simultaneous calls that can go on (from my understanding it is 2 outbound or 3 inbound). One question would be if I pickup a call that comes in on the main GV number, then transfer it to a different number, will it free the call from the original GV number?  (i.e. can I continue to leave the main line open for incoming calls if I continue to transfer call received on it to other numbers?)

This isn't a viable solution.  OBi 10x2 IP phones can host a maximum of six different service provider registrations.  The consumer version of Google Voice is not recommended nor supported for business use, and obtaining multiple numbers for business use is a violation of the Acceptable Use Policy.  Certain calling patterns may result in the service being suspended on an account, with little to no recourse to recover the phone number.

If you want to use Google Voice for business, then I suggest that you look into Google's new business-class Google Voice service for G Suite customers.  That service does not support any of the legacy Obihai hardware.  Currently, it only supports the Poly VVX x50 IP phone product line.

For more information:  https://cloud.google.com/voice/ and https://support.google.com/a/answer/9250113?hl=en

[alkinga]

Thanks for the heads up Steve.  I started to look into the GV paid plans (and spoke with a representative about a month ago).  However, it seemed like I couldn't set up a business phone through this program.

What I need is to have my main office number ring to multiple phones (i.e. I want all 7 phones to ring when someone calls the office).  The GV Salesman said each number could only be assigned to 1 phone, thus I would have to have each phone have a different number.

Are you aware if this is true, or if there is any way to work around this?  Ideally, I want to be able to call out from each phone using the main number as well (though this isn't a deal breaker).  Do the paid GV plans have the same restriction on the number of concurrent calls (my understanding is Free GV allows 3 total on one number).

[SteveInWA]

I know that the plan was to partner with Poly to enable the use of their VVX x50 series of IP phones.  A month or so ago, a user reported that Google and Poly weren't yet ready.  You might want to contact G Suite sales again and ask what's new with that.

As for the one number thing, one would think that's a typical use case, but the more common scenario nowadays is to instead use an IVR. I do know that the IVR feature (call one inbound number, then be prompted to enter the party's extension or press 1 for this or press 2 for that, etc.) was promised and delayed.  Again, you could ask for the status of that.

It may be that you'd be happier with a paid cloud-based solution from another service provider, like Callcentric, that can be set up with as many extensions as you need, and will work with most SIP IP phones.

[Lavarock7]

I agree that you should look at Voip providers like CallCentric or Voip.MS.

An IVR might fit your need, but certainly what Voip.MS calls a Ring Group would do what you want, ringing all phones or a Calling Queue.