How does Obi110 complete my call after I dialed the number?

[onepolarbear]

I've been trying to explain how Obi110 works to my grandmother.
It's a lot harder than I thought because I don't think I know exactly
how it works.

After I dial the number(1-212-555-1212, for example), what happens
next?   Can anyone explain this step-by-step to an idiot like me?

Thanks!

[infin8loop]

Back in the Jurassic era when I was a young lad, if I asked my dad a question like this I would get something like, "go look it up, if I tell you everything, then you're not going to learn anything". This usually meant he had no clue. "Looking it up" most likely involved going to a library. We had an encyclopedia set at home but it certainly wasn't a "name brand" set. I usually decided I didn't really need to know what it was I asked. Moral here, you don't really need to know. I can imagine the glazed over deer in the head lights look grandma would have if you tried to explain it to her. A CB home base station with a honkin' antenna was high-tech for one of my grandfathers. He could "talk skip" part way around the globe with the correct atmospheric conditions.

What was the question again?  LOL   

[giqcass]

   It really depends on how you set it up.  It can get really complex fast.
Did you add Google Voice?
Did you plug in a regular old telephone?
Did you add a dial plan?

You pick up the phone and Dial the number.

The Obi gets the telephone number and decides how it should place the call based on the dial plan which is a set of rules.

The Obi makes a connection to an internet phone company, your regular phone company, or Google Voice.

They connect you to the person you called.

[QBZappy]

After I dial the number(1-212-555-1212, for example), what happens
next?   

You should be talking to who ever picks up the call and order that pizza. What else does anyone need to know. 

[Rick]

Grandma:

Remember in the old days where you picked up the can with the string, pulled it tight, and hollered into it (yes, like the Progresso commercials)? 

Well, this is a new fangled way of doing the same thing.


Seriously, does your Grandmother even understand the internet?  Or Internets as the case may be? 

Try this:

Grandma, a company called Google, which controls the world, decided to give everyone the ability to call free over the internets (plural intended).  They did this because their goal is to someday control all aspects of our lives.  Then a company called OBiHai (yes Grandma, the name is weird) made a white box that lets us plug our phones into it and use Google Voice, so we don't need a computer.  This allows you to make calls to all your friends, talk for hours and hours, and all for free - leaving more money available for you to lose at Bingo or the bus trips to Atlantic City.

[Lavarock7]

the bus trips to Atlantic City.

Ah, the bus trips to Atlantic City. You paid about $18.50 to be taken round trip to AC. They gave you a gambling stake, a cheap buffet lunch and on your return trip, a box of taffy.

A better question and answer is, how do casinos work? You put your money down, they spin the wheel (or deal the cards) and take your money.

Honestly, the Obi can be explained as a box that can make a decision as to which telephone company should be used to make calls. This may be because one is cheaper to use to call certain places. It takes the place of what used to be the phone company and their costly, propitiatory service and opens it up to competition and thus cost savings. It is like the leprechaun that sits inside the refrigerator and turns the light off when you close the door.