Please help validate by OBi Setup

[pred02]

Hi,

I am new to these community forums. I bought two OBi devices OBi110 to install at my grandmother's place in Serbia and OBi202 in my parents place in Boston.

Objective:
1. Replace the PSTN phone line at my parent's household with VOIP provider to reduce costs
2. Install OBi110 adapter in Serbia to eliminate the international calling costs between US and Serbia
3. Reduce international rates (from the US) to other destinations
4. Ensure the setup is simple to use any parents/grandma  are non-technical

Configuration:

1. Set up OBi202 with a VOIP.ms account. Port our existing local number to this account. Rationale of porting to VOIP.ms (vs. GV) is that GV does not allow porting of landline->GV
2. Configure OBi110 in the US with a GV number - choose a local US number.
3. Take OBi110 to Serbia (already been setup in the US with my mother's GV account). Hook up the OBi110 to the LAN connection there and hook up to grandmother's regular number.

How will it work:
1. Grandma in Serbia will call for free our home in the US and/or US cell phone numbers (e.g. my mother).
2. From the US we can reach grandma for free (or cheap) from home and/or cell phone numbers without the international toll charges

Questions:
1. Will the above scenario work? Or will GV block the setup in Serbia?
2. I've chosen VOIP.ms because its pay as you go and has good rates. Are people happy with VOIP.ms?
3. We have a multi-function fax device. It is plugged into the regular RJ11 jack in our house. Once we switch to OBi (and feed all the devices in the household), how do we set up the T.38 fax so it works with the device?
4. On the OBi110 in Serbia - how do we get the local number 'line-in' to work on the same phone as the new US number via GV/OBi? It would be simplest from grandmother is she had one telephone.

Many thanks

[Rick]

Hi,

I am new to these community forums. I bought two OBi devices OBi110 to install at my grandmother's place in Serbia and OBi202 in my parents place in Boston.

Objective:
1. Replace the PSTN phone line at my parent's household with VOIP provider to reduce costs
2. Install OBi110 adapter in Serbia to eliminate the international calling costs between US and Serbia
3. Reduce international rates (from the US) to other destinations
4. Ensure the setup is simple to use any parents/grandma  are non-technical

Configuration:

1. Set up OBi202 with a VOIP.ms account. Port our existing local number to this account. Rationale of porting to VOIP.ms (vs. GV) is that GV does not allow porting of landline->GV
2. Configure OBi110 in the US with a GV number - choose a local US number.
3. Take OBi110 to Serbia (already been setup in the US with my mother's GV account). Hook up the OBi110 to the LAN connection there and hook up to grandmother's regular number.

How will it work:
1. Grandma in Serbia will call for free our home in the US and/or US cell phone numbers (e.g. my mother).
2. From the US we can reach grandma for free (or cheap) from home and/or cell phone numbers without the international toll charges

Questions:
1. Will the above scenario work? Or will GV block the setup in Serbia?
2. I've chosen VOIP.ms because its pay as you go and has good rates. Are people happy with VOIP.ms?
3. We have a multi-function fax device. It is plugged into the regular RJ11 jack in our house. Once we switch to OBi (and feed all the devices in the household), how do we set up the T.38 fax so it works with the device?
4. On the OBi110 in Serbia - how do we get the local number 'line-in' to work on the same phone as the new US number via GV/OBi? It would be simplest from grandmother is she had one telephone.

Many thanks

I have no expertise on setting up an OBi outside the US, nor on international dialing.  However, I can respond to a few of the things you bring up.

The rationale of porting your local number to VOIP, "because GV does not allow porting of landline" is wrong.  Everyone that ports to GV goes from a landline to a  prepaid cell to GV.  Intermediate step, documented all over the forum and elsewhere on the web. 

You state you can call Grandma for free (or cheap) from home and/or cell numbers.  Actually, it's just FREE.  OBi to OBi calls are free.  Your parents can call her for free from their home.  Anyone with access to the OBi can call through it to Grandma for FREE, no matter where in the US you are.  That's the beauty of an OBi (I don't use this capability). 

You do NOT setup the Serbian OBi with Google Voice if the idea is to give your Grandmother the ability to call your parents.  Or even to call places in the U.S., since she can do that via your parent's OBi. 

I can't comment on how a Serbian phone works with an OBi, or if a Serbian landline can work with the  110, sorry.

[ianobi]

I think it's fair to say that there's not much Serbian telecom expertise on this forum! However, there are lots of OBi devices working in Europe and other parts of the world. There may need to be changes to DigitMaps etc to accommodate Serbian number formats and different emergency services numbers.

I agree with Rick's general point of not bothering with GV in Serbia. Keep it simple for Grandma    All Grandma needs is a PSTN line and a reasonable internet connection. By default, when she dials from the phone connected to the OBi110 the call will go to her PSTN line. If she dials **9200123456 she can dial your parents or any other OBI (Assumes that 200123456 is your parents OBiTALK number). At your parents' OBi you put Grandma's OBiTALK number in the "Circle of Trust". Now Grandma will be connected to the auto attendant in your parents OBi and she can press 1 to ring your parents phone, or press 2 to make a new call using your parents GV service.

Anyhow, you get the general idea. Use the OBiTALK network to join devices together and then let trusted callers use each others' OBi devices as gateways to their connected services. The calls between the OBi devices using the OBiTALK network are free.