(FIXED) GV CID outbound "UNKNOWN CALLER"

Loughary · February 15, 2011, 04:19:41 PM

Okay...I'm a newbie just received my OBi followed the steps to use GV and I can make and receive calls with no problems. But when I place a call from my GV number throught the OBI from a standard phone attached the person I call gets a "UNKNOWN CALLER" as the CID is that normal?

I'm wondering if there is a setting I missed in GV or OBi setup page?

Thanks
Dennis

RonR · February 15, 2011, 04:29:03 PM

Google Voice CallerID is controlled by Google, not by the Obi110. Log into your Google Voice account and place a call from your browser. I'm betting you'll see the same result with no Obi110 involved.

Loughary · February 15, 2011, 04:45:47 PM

@RonR I tested it from my PC from a browser and you are correct it does display the same "UNKNOWN CALLER" unfortunately that might be the deal breaker for the wife...not sure she' going to let me get read of the land-line if every time we call out with Google voice it's going to display unknown caller.

That sucks because the call quality seems to be great...this device couldn't have been any easier to setup.

I was thinking it would at least display the number for outgoing calls.

Thanks.

RonR · February 15, 2011, 06:06:38 PM

You might try an email to Google to ask them to look into it. Your CallerID should be on there. There's clealy a technical problem with your particular number.

Loughary · February 15, 2011, 08:02:37 PM

Well...I did a little more testing and incoming calls caller ID with GV seems to work okay it basically displaying the number but with a +1 in front of the 11 digit number. But all calls from my GV number shows up as a "Unknown Number" to the person I'm calling.

I sent a email to Google...hopefully that helps....any other feedback would be appreciated...I guess my question is if I use the OBi to place calls with GV should my number show up to the person's caller ID...mine shows up as "UNKNOWN NUMBER"

Thanks.

Loughary · February 16, 2011, 04:39:42 PM

Okay...I just tried something else which is interesting...if I use the google voice app/plugin and dial the number from my PC I'm trying to call and have it ring my google voice and then pick up the phone attached to the OBi when it rings then the outbound caller ID function works...not sure why.

So...it seems to have something to do with the way the call is processed through the OBI...my problem is if I can't figure out how to get outbound call to not show up as "UNKNOWN CALLER" then the OBi isn't going to be a option for me.

I've attached a example of what I'm referencing

Thanks.

voip · February 16, 2011, 06:29:39 PM

I get unknownID when I place the call using phone connected to obi110, however when I place the call through browser I can see the caller ID. What is required to get the callerID show when I dial through the phone connected to obi110?

azrobert · February 16, 2011, 06:34:46 PM

The GV outbound CID worked until a day or two ago.

See this thread at the GV forum:
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/voice/thread?tid=49c21d292e80ff65&hl=en

Hopefully GV will fix this problem soon.

Loughary · February 16, 2011, 06:36:19 PM

Quote from: voip on February 16, 2011, 06:29:39 PM
I get unknownID when I place the call using phone connected to obi110, however when I place the call through browser I can see the caller ID. What is required to get the callerID show when I dial through the phone connected to obi110?

I have no clue....I'm hoping it's a setting in OBi...you would think that it would have to be...because it works through the browser but not from a phone connected to the OBi?

Anyone have any ideas on what to try?

MichiganTelephone · February 16, 2011, 07:07:26 PM

Loughary, you might want to try calling a few different people, preferably served by different providers, and see if anyone gets your caller ID. This could be an issue with the provider Google is using to make outgoing calls in your area, or it could be an issue with a certain company not receiving or processing the Caller ID data.

It might be that sending the call from the browser for some reason causes Google to send the call out via a different provider. Given what you have said, my guess is that the fault here lies solely with one provider, not Obihai nor Google Voice (though it would be up to Google Voice to file a trouble report to get it fixed).

gmercator · February 16, 2011, 07:50:10 PM

I have 2 separate GoogleVoice numbers with different area codes.

Both GV numbers are listed as assigned to 981E BANDWIDTH.COM CLEC, LLC - CA and both are in Southern California, so they aren't across country from each other.

The one with area code 8xx is assigned to sp1
If I manually select sp1 by dialling **1 before the called number, the called party gets UNAVAILABLE in their caller ID

The one with area code 7xx is assigned to sp2
If I manually select sp2 by dialling **2 before the called number, the called party sees the calling number from GoogleVoice as 7xx-xxx-xxxx.

I have also replicated these results by using GoogleTalk through Gmail for each GoogleVoice number and the results are the same. The 8xx GV number shows UNAVAILABLE; The 7xx GV number displays correctly.

If I use the GV web trigger (where it calls you back first to initiate the call), BOTH GV numbers show correctly at the called party's end.

I have tested this by calling 3 different destination/called numbers:

AT&T POTS landline
Verizon Wireless cellphone
T-Mobile cellphone

All three providers gave the same results when those numbers were called.

This seems to be a problem with the GoogleTalk/GoogleChat client software and doesn't affect all users the same.

This problem is noted on 2 separate GoogleVoice forum threads:

http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/voice/thread?tid=49c21d292e80ff65&hl=en

and

http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/voice/thread?tid=305a3852cb635c69&hl=en

I don't think this is a problem with the obi110

If I can think of anything else to try to isolate the problem, I will post those results here.

Hope this helps.

Loughary · February 16, 2011, 08:04:42 PM

Thanks all for replies...I've tried calling multiple numbers with the same results...one is with charter cable and the other are with AT&T mobile...I hope I can figure this out....I was so hoping to cancel my landline and save a few bucks...but If everyone that I call is going to see "UNKNOWN CALLER" as my CID that's not going to fly.

Thanks.

OBi-Guru · February 16, 2011, 09:02:53 PM

There are reports of UNKNOWN callerID being sporadically showing on certain GoogleVoice accounts, and the cases happen even without OBi devices involved.

There is no setting available on GV to enable/disable this. Let's wait and see what GV team have to say.

jimates · February 17, 2011, 01:43:12 AM

I spent several hours on the GV help forum tonight answering all types of questions and there were dozens of reports for caller id problems. The problems seem to have started mostly on Tuesday.

Some did specifically say that when they initiated from their GV page that the caller id was fine, but when initiated from gmail (like a call using the Obi) their GV caller id was not shown.

Mine still works fine.

MichiganTelephone · February 17, 2011, 05:46:29 AM

Just some thoughts on this:

First, it would be helpful if those who are experiencing this problem would post the area code and first three digits of the affected number(s). I'd be interested to know if this involves all numbers in a certain region or from a particular CLEC.

Second, Google is never very quick to fix reported issues. We had a situation last yer where a whole block of Gizmo5 numbers (remember that Google bought Gizmo5) just stopped working. After a while we were able to figure out that it only affected Gozmo5 numbers in a particular number range and that more than likely some Google employee had put in an incorrect rule somewhere. Even then it took them over two weeks to get around to fixing the problem (and i think there were many more complaints about that issue than this one).

Third, people need to remember that they bought a product that worked with a particular service at the time they bought it, and that still works for many people, but the people who make the product cannot control what the people who offer the service do. If you lived in a rural area with only one TV station and you bought a TV to receive it and then the station went off the air, you wouldn't blame the TV manufacturer. The Obihai people cannot control what the Google Voice people do (in fact I wonder if anyone can - Google has become much too large, in my personal opinion).

Fourth, I'm wondering if any Asterisk 1.8 users are having this problem. I haven't personally seen it, but then again, all my Google Voice accounts have Michigan numbers. And I'm not seeing this issue on the account that I use with my OBi device either (also a Michigan number). Therefore it may be not so much a case of "you can't have outgoing caller ID" as "you temporarily (until they fix it) can't have outgoing caller ID IF your Google Voice number falls into one of these affected patterns."

My bet would still be that in the end this will be determined to be the fault of a CLEC that Google Voice uses to complete calls, but right now we have no idea which CLEC it might be.

MichiganTelephone · February 17, 2011, 03:31:23 PM

Okay, it's now official — this is NOT just an OBi device issue:

http://pbxinaflash.com/forum/showthread.php?p=59975

For those that don't know, "PBX in a Flash" is one of several "install it yourself" PBX distributions that include the CentOS (Linux) operating system, the Asterisk PBX software, and the FreePBX web-based GUI and configuration file writer for Asterisk. If those guys are having this issue, then it means it's a Google Voice problem (or a problem with one of the CLEC's they are using to provide service) beyond the shadow of a doubt, and NOT something that Obihai can do anything about.

gmercator · February 18, 2011, 07:49:12 PM

I found 16 separate threads in the GoogleVoice Problem Solving area that are reporting this same issue. I have posted the response below to each and every one of them. I don't know of any other way to bring this to the attention of GoogleVoice techs. Hopefully the squeaky wheel will get greased.

This is not a problem with the OBi110.

If you have one of the affected UNKNOWN CallerID GV numbers and are trying to use it with your OBi110, please go to the GoogleVoice Problem Solving page and respond to at least one of the many threads that are already there.

To help a GoogleVoice tech (if one ever reads these posts), please list your GV number with area code (NPA) and first 4 numbers of the GV number.

GV's primary provider, Bandwidth.com, may only own one or more thousands groups within a prefix and not the entire prefix.

I am copying and pasting the URL for the GoogleVoice Problem Solving page here: (hope it works)

http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/voice/label?lid=7c2a1629dac84e4d&hl=en

My response to those posts is below:

We are now 4 days into this problem and still not fixed. (since 02-15-2011)

Google Voice techs need to open a trouble ticket with Bandwidth.com to investigate, if that has not already happened.

805-628-2xxx here. Shows UNAVAILABLE when used from Gmail on computer.

Let's keep these threads current with updates.

Please list your area code and first 4 digits of your GV number that has the missing Caller ID issue through Gmail. In many cases the prefixes are split down to thousands groups, so Bandwidth.com may not own the entire prefix.

I am posting this same response in other common threads. Hopefully that will help to get the ball rolling.

Many thanks to everyone else who has taken time to report this.

MichiganTelephone · February 19, 2011, 03:27:12 AM

WORKAROUND: If you are affected by this and find you have a need to place a call with outgoing Caller ID, you could possibly do it using a workaround suggested in the PBX in a Flash forum by user "tiggerpaws":

QuoteFor now, I am dialling my own GV number and then using the "press 2 to make a call" and then dialling it that way and it seems to pass your GV caller ID, but in the calling records it does not say the actual # you are dialling just that you dialled your GV number for X amount of minutes. But, it will do for me, for now. I'd also like to hear any news. 316-742-XXXX

I haven't personally tried this because I'm not affected by this issue (so far). Don't forget you can put your Google Voice number in a speed dial slot (which you would probably do anyway to make checking your voicemail easier).

I suppose that if Google doesn't fix this issue in a reasonable timeframe, the above process could be automated in some way, but as I noted previously, the last time they had an issue like this it took them a bit over two weeks to fix it, so it's probably not worth the effort to code around the issue until they've had at least a few more days to fix it. In the meantime, whether the above hint works or not, I still encourage anyone affected by the issue to leave a post in their forum.

azrobert · February 19, 2011, 02:51:42 PM

Looks like this is a Google Voice problem. Got this fix from one of the GV threads. In GV call settings changing the Incoming CallerID to display your GV number fixes the Outgoing CallerID problem. For me this is not an acceptable fix because you lose incoming CallerID.

sfcwtuOBI · February 20, 2011, 07:26:55 PM

Letting incoming CID display GV number does fix the outgoing CID problem for me. I have two GV numbers. Their area codes and the first 4 digits are all the same. It's strange that only one has the outgoing CID problem. So I don't think reporting the first 4 digits along with the area code would help google too much in solving the problem. The only difference I can think of between my two GV numbers is that, the one with unknown outbound cid has the "make call from gmail" function enabled. I tried to disable the function from gmail completely. However, I can only disable outbound calling from gmail. I can't completely remove the module from gmail. Could that be the problem?

News:

(FIXED) GV CID outbound "UNKNOWN CALLER"