Quote from: barkster99 on January 04, 2013, 07:05:06 AM
Purchased Obihai in anticipation of move, now questioning if I even need it.
Local comm provider (only game in town) will only provide Internet as bundle that includes POTS/landline. Or, more correctly, they price it such that it's cheaper that way, even if you don't plug in landline phone. Another twist on this... my new home's in middle of BFE and I have no cell coverage.
I've been using the Call feature of Google Voice (from my Android tablet or from my PC), specifying my landline number as "Phone to call with". Works great. My question is: Will my local carrier be charging me for that call as long-distance or is that all going through Google Voice? And, if that's not a long distance call with my local carrier, what would I gain by setting up my Obihai?
Hope that makes sense. Thanks for any help
I'm a little surprised at your question since you're using GV's call feature now. Did you not read how that worked before using it, to ensure you weren't being charged, in your current setup?
That feature CALLS your phone, then GOOGLE VOICE makes the outbound call. So, your phone receives an incoming call, it never made a call. If that's free for your new line, as it most likely is, then you're all set.
Does your new provider give you free long distance to the US and Canada? If not, then the OBi gives you the advantage that when configured with GV you can make calls without getting up and going over to your computer or tablet to make a call. And of course you can call OBi to OBi for free if you know someone that has an OBi, no matter where in the world they are.
If you have no cell coverage where you are, you could consider forwarding your cell to your GV number, which would then ring your OBi, and therefore get all your cell calls in your home. Of course you will be using minutes in that scenario, unless you have a friends and family cell plan where you can call a group of numbers for free and you specify your GV number as one of them.
