OBI200 w/ GV - want to setup whitelist

[globewalker]

I'm new to this. Finally got it setup and working with GV phone number.
I bought new OBI200 off of Amazon recently but had to update firmware before it would actually show up under GV. Update firmware prompt (yellow triangle warning) did not appear until I created an ID on this forum FYI..
Anyhow I now want to setup approved whitelist so no spam calls get through.
I have read that is done in GV Contacts and there is reference to creating Groups and using Call Forwarding feature.
The GV interface has been updated it seems and Legacy page will be going away so seems some of the options may have changed?

- Under google Contacts, I created a couple of contacts but see no Group Option. there is a Label option if that is now it?
- In GV/settings I see OBI under DEVICES but it is not a choice under Call Forwarding (only my cell number is that I used to create the account)
so when I try to create Custom call Forwarding rule OBI is not an option.
- Not sure how to eliminate other callers if I get the above working

Thanks for any advice

[Taoman]

- Under google Contacts, I created a couple of contacts but see no Group Option. there is a Label option if that is now it?
- In GV/settings I see OBI under DEVICES but it is not a choice under Call Forwarding (only my cell number is that I used to create the account)
so when I try to create Custom call Forwarding rule OBI is not an option.
- Not sure how to eliminate other callers if I get the above working

Yes, Label and Group are the same. Easier to just use the All Contacts group under Custom Call Forwarding in GV setup.

In GV settings, disable all devices and Call forwarding numbers.
In Custom Call Forwarding, create rule using label/groups (or All Contacts) to forward to your cell phone number (if desired).

Even though you disabled the OBi device in GV settings, unknown callers will be routed directly to GV voicemail and your GV Contacts will still be routed directly to your OBi. OBi devices are treated differently than either Android or iOS devices.

[globewalker]

EXCELLENT! Thanks Taoman!
Not exactly inuitive, but That worked!

[MSRobi]

In GV settings, disable all devices and Call forwarding numbers.
In Custom Call Forwarding, create rule using label/groups (or All Contacts) to forward to your cell phone number (if desired).

Even though you disabled the OBi device in GV settings, unknown callers will be routed directly to GV voicemail and your GV Contacts will still be routed directly to your OBi. OBi devices are treated differently than either Android or iOS devices.

My use case is a little different, because I have no linked phone numbers. But with a little tweaking based on your observation that OBi devices are treated differently, I found the proper recipe for my use case. I have a GV for my office line that I only want callers in my contact list to ring on my OBi device, everybody else go to voicemail.  I only have the OBi device linked with the account, I do not have any linked phone numbers for this GV account.  Here is what I did to get it to work:

- I turned off forwarding calls to the OBi device

- I created a custom call forwarding rule, selected "All contacts", then "Forward calls" (even though it says "Ring these devices turned on under "My devices", I still left my OBi device turned off).  "Forward to these numbers: No linked numbers" is displayed, but that is no problem either.  I saved the rule.  This is not optional, you must create a custom rule for all of this to work.

- I tested this by using 2 different phone numbers available to me, with one phone number in my contact list, the other not in my contact list.  Calls from the phone number in my contact list rang through the OBi device, the other phone number went to voicemail immediately.  Success!

Note that the forwarding setting for the built in "Web" device did not affect the above behavior.  Except if I'm in GV on the web, and a caller not in my contact list calls, they will hear ringing while I decide to answer/not answer the call via the web interface.

[Taoman]

- I created a custom call forwarding rule, selected "All contacts", then "Forward calls" (even though it says "Ring these devices turned on under "My devices", I still left my OBi device turned off).  "Forward to these numbers: No linked numbers" is displayed, but that is no problem either.  I saved the rule.  This is not optional, you must create a custom rule for all of this to work.

I wondered if that might be the case. I've always forwarded to a cell number besides my OBi so I've never tried not creating a Custom Call Forwarding rule.

Note that the forwarding setting for the built in "Web" device did not affect the above behavior.  Except if I'm in GV on the web, and a caller not in my contact list calls, they will hear ringing while I decide to answer/not answer the call via the web interface.

You may have misunderstood my advice to turn off all devices. The OP's intent was to have a whitelist using GV Contacts. That only works with an OBi device and/or forwarding to a cell number as you apparently found out when using the "Web" device.

The only device that must be disabled is the OBi device. Having your other devices enabled will not have any effect on the OBi device. But, depending on how those devices are configured, they might ring for unknown callers which will probably be undesirable for most users.

The only reason to have an iOS or Android device enabled is if you have the GV app on it configured to "Prefer Wi-Fi and mobile data" and won't be using a forwarding telephone number. Whitelisting won't work with that configuration. All incoming calls will ring the device just like with the Web device.