Can I Send an Unanswered PSTN Call To GV Voicemail?

[kokosin]

I just set up an Obi110 with both a new GV number on SP1 and a PSTN landline on Li1 that I kept for legacy purposes and 911 service.  I might just port the landline over eventually.  But, in the mean time, does anyone know of a way to set up the Obi to send an unanswered PSTN call to GV Voicemail?  I didn't want to set up a seperate voicemail for the PSTN line.  Both lines are now working as expected..

The expertise of the forum contributors here is quite impressive.

Thanks, in advance, for any suggestions.

-Jer

[RonR]

You would have to set up another service provider (including another Google Voice account) on SP2 to use to forward the LINE Port call to your Google Voice number that's configured on SP1.  Calling your own Google Voice number from the Google Voice account configured on your OBi results in checking your Google Voice voicemail.

[Stewart]

I didn't want to set up a seperate voicemail for the PSTN line.

If you don't have caller ID service on the landline, RonR's suggestion is perfect -- set the desired answer delay in the OBi, and set up a Group on GV, which sends calls from the SP2 number directly to voicemail.

However, if you want the voicemail tagged with the landline caller's number (there are various ways to do that) but also insist that it goes to the same mailbox, there is no way to tell GV to treat those calls specially.  They will ring any other phones associated with your GV account, show as unwanted missed calls, and will also come back to your OBi, causing an unwanted call waiting indication.  If you attempt to avoid those issues by putting a delay in the OBi, both that delay and the 25 second GV delay must expire before voicemail picks up, which will likely cause the caller to lose patience and not leave a voicemail.

[kokosin]

Thanks for the advice on my original question.

I've been mulling over the options and decided that it might be better to send sp1, sp2, and li1 over to my cell number on no answer.  That way I can either answer the call or easily retrieve voicemails from any location.  One of the limitations on routing the unanswered calls is the 25 sec window after which GV voicemail picks up the call.  I may route sp1 and sp2, both GV service, to the PSTN line on li1 and then have that ring.  My next question, then, would be what is the effect of the CallForwardOnNoAnswerRingCount parameter being set to zero?  I was thinking of possibly minimizing the number of rings the caller has to endure before either the call being picked up on li1 or going to my cell and, eventually, to cell VM.

Thanks again for any sage advice.

-Jer

[RonR]

My next question, then, would be what is the effect of the CallForwardOnNoAnswerRingCount parameter being set to zero?

I was curious about that myself when I saw your question, so I tried it.  The result is an unstable/unpredictable OBi.

Sometimes the OBi crashes and reboots on an incoming call.  Sometimes the PHONE Port rings endlessly without ever forwarding the call (and doesn't stop ringing even after the incoming call terminates).  Sometimes the call is forwarded immediately without ringing the PHONE Port as if CallForwardUnconditional was set.

[kokosin]

Thanks, RonR.    Before your reply I was thinking that a ring count of zero might be the equivalent of using the CallForwardUnconditional feature.  Maybe not? 

But, bottom line, I think I would then try setting the CallForwardOnNoAnwerRingCount to 1 at a minimum and see how it goes.  The POTS line where the unanswered calls would end up is a line with basic service and no charge or limit for incoming calls. 

-Jer

[Stewart]

IMO, call forwarding is not the best approach for this application.  Instead, the InboundCallRoute should fork the call to PH and the cell phone or voicemail system, with a small delay specified for the second path.

For example, incoming calls on the Line port would ring the Phone port, and after 3 seconds, also send the call (via SP1) to a cell phone.  The setup time to the cell (via GV) might be 7 seconds, so the cell phone would start ringing 10 seconds after the home phone.  However, unlike a forward, the home phone would continue to ring.  If you take e.g. 20 seconds to answer, the only downside is a missed call on the cell.  If the cell voicemail picks up at 25 seconds, the caller would hear ringing for a total of 35 seconds, before getting the voicemail greeting.