Google Voice 2 line / 2 account setup

[DrZKrewe]

Hello,

I am seeing all that can be done with the awesome OBi 110.

I originally setup my OBi 110 with 2 different Google Voice (aka Gmail Chat) accounts; one as SP1 the other as SP2.

I read somewhere in a telephone blog about the OBi 110, that I could use the same Google Voice account for SP1 and SP2, this would then allow for 3 way conference calling.  Make one call, hit the flash button, make another call, hit flash again to conference call.  I tested this and can verify that it works very well.

My questions are:  

1.  As Google Voice supports 2 simultaneous sessions (per account), is there any benefit to using a second Google Voice account with the OBi 110?  Aside from having a second incoming call line to the same OBi 110 and having the ability to dial out from a second Google Voice account?

2.  Am I missing any capabilities of the OBi 110 by using one Google Voice account for both SP1 and SP2?  Is there 4 way calling or 5 way calling I'm missing out on?    

3.  Can you conference call 2 separate Google Voice accounts on the same phone call on the same OBi 110?

4.  Is it possible to have both of my Google Voice accounts on the OBi 110 (first GV account as SP1 and second GV account as SP2) and still get the 3 way calling I have with the same Google Voice account as SP1 and SP2?

5.  If I had both of my Google Voice accounts on the OBi 110, could I still get 3 way calling on both lines?  Or would hitting the flash button switch to the other Google Voice account?


Thanks!


P.S.  I read the other Google Voice 2 line thread and it didn't answer my questions, so that's why I started this thread.

[jimates]

Probably no great benefit for the average user. Just another incoming line.

There isn't 4 way calling from the handset, but you can have your Obi do exactly what Google Voice does by ringing multiple phones simultaneously. With 2 accounts you can have one incoming call and 3 outgoing calls at the same time. For those with a land line they can have one incoming and forward to 4 other phones.

You can get 3 way calling with just one GV account set up once on the Obi. You don't need it set up twice.
Even with 2 GV accounts when you do a normal 3 way call both calls are on sp1. When you get the dial tone to place the second call if you press **2 and dial, the call will go out on sp2. No advantage if both sp1 & sp2 are the same account.

If you do an attended call transfer with only one GV account then both sessions will be in use and there will be none available for any incoming or outgoing call until the transfered call is terminated.

With 2 GV accounts you could actually do an attended transfer and then pick up the second line and do a 3 way or another attended transfer. Pressing hook/flash puts a call on hold and connects you to the other call or session. hanging up transfers the call, then you can pick up the phone again and be connected to the second account and can repeat the 3 way/transfer

I am sure not many people use the call transfer but if you just do a hook/flash and connect for a 3 way call, you have no open line for an incoming call. If you do the 3 way using the second GV account then you can still have an incoming call on your main sp line.

So having the same account on both sp lines is still only going to give 2 simultaneous sessions.


Basic Advantage Example

-Call in progress on sp1
-press hook/flash - 1st call put on hold, dial tone on phone
-dial **2 + number - connect second call using sp2 (outgoing caller id will be second GV #)
-press hook/flash - both calls connected for 3 way call

You now have one session in use for each GV account. You will still be able to receive an incoming call with call waiting tone on either of the GV accounts. If you only had one GV account set up (either once or twice) you would not have an open session available for an incoming call.

Also if you did the 3 way call without dialing **2 for the second call, both session would be on the same GV account and you would not be able to receive an incoming call on that #.

I haven't created this scenario to see what happens when answering the incoming call but I will do that and see what the results are.

[jimates]

Well my test didn't return very good results. I thought it should work as described but when the call came in while on the 3 way call no call waiting tone was presented. It rang until my GV voicemail picked up.

Anyone else have a comment on my test.

[RonR]

Well my test didn't return very good results. I thought it should work as described but when the call came in while on the 3 way call no call waiting tone was presented. It rang until my GV voicemail picked up.

The Hook Flash is intended to do the following:

- Hold current call and start second dial tone for 3-way calls
- Start a 3-way conference
- End call with 2nd conferencee in a 3-way conference
- Swap between two calls in a call-waiting situation

The problem is, the last two are at odds with each other.  Consequently, it appears 3-way calls win out over call-waiting.

[DrZKrewe]

Probably no great benefit for the average user. Just another incoming line.

There isn't 4 way calling from the handset, but you can have your Obi do exactly what Google Voice does by ringing multiple phones simultaneously. With 2 accounts you can have one incoming call and 3 outgoing calls at the same time. For those with a land line they can have one incoming and forward to 4 other phones.

You can get 3 way calling with just one GV account set up once on the Obi. You don't need it set up twice.
Even with 2 GV accounts when you do a normal 3 way call both calls are on sp1. When you get the dial tone to place the second call if you press **2 and dial, the call will go out on sp2. No advantage if both sp1 & sp2 are the same account.

If you do an attended call transfer with only one GV account then both sessions will be in use and there will be none available for any incoming or outgoing call until the transfered call is terminated.

With 2 GV accounts you could actually do an attended transfer and then pick up the second line and do a 3 way or another attended transfer. Pressing hook/flash puts a call on hold and connects you to the other call or session. hanging up transfers the call, then you can pick up the phone again and be connected to the second account and can repeat the 3 way/transfer

I am sure not many people use the call transfer but if you just do a hook/flash and connect for a 3 way call, you have no open line for an incoming call. If you do the 3 way using the second GV account then you can still have an incoming call on your main sp line.

So having the same account on both sp lines is still only going to give 2 simultaneous sessions.


Basic Advantage Example

-Call in progress on sp1
-press hook/flash - 1st call put on hold, dial tone on phone
-dial **2 + number - connect second call using sp2 (outgoing caller id will be second GV #)
-press hook/flash - both calls connected for 3 way call

You now have one session in use for each GV account. You will still be able to receive an incoming call with call waiting tone on either of the GV accounts. If you only had one GV account set up (either once or twice) you would not have an open session available for an incoming call.

Also if you did the 3 way call without dialing **2 for the second call, both session would be on the same GV account and you would not be able to receive an incoming call on that #.

I haven't created this scenario to see what happens when answering the incoming call but I will do that and see what the results are.

Jimates,

Thank you for the information, that is exactly what I was looking for.  I think I'll set it back up with both my GV accounts again.

Your example with the hook / flash answered another question I had about that function; which was hitting that button presents a dial tone on current (in this example, SP1) account - and I could just as easily dial out on the second account using **2 + number.

[DrZKrewe]

Well my test didn't return very good results. I thought it should work as described but when the call came in while on the 3 way call no call waiting tone was presented. It rang until my GV voicemail picked up.

The Hook Flash is intended to do the following:

- Hold current call and start second dial tone for 3-way calls
- Start a 3-way conference
- End call with 2nd conferencee in a 3-way conference
- Swap between two calls in a call-waiting situation

The problem is, the last two are at odds with each other.  Consequently, it appears 3-way calls win out over call-waiting.

RonR,

Thanks for the explanation of the Hook / Flash.

So, based on your explanation, this begs the question: is it possible to accept a call from call waiting while in a 3 way call?

Jimates,

Was your 3 way call all on SP1?  And the incoming call on SP2?  Or was the conference on SP1 and SP2 and the incoming call on either?


Thank you both for the help!

[jimates]

for my test

incoming call on sp1
I placed an outgoing call on sp2 then bridged the 2 calls for a 3way
I then called the GV number for sp1, but I did not get a call waiting tone. the incoming call rang 4 times then went to GV voicemail.

[DrZKrewe]

for my test

incoming call on sp1
I placed an outgoing call on sp2 then bridged the 2 calls for a 3way
I then called the GV number for sp1, but I did not get a call waiting tone. the incoming call rang 4 times then went to GV voicemail.

Makes sense the way you had it setup.  I'd be curious to see what happens if you have a 3 way call all on SP1 and an incoming call on SP2...

[RonR]

I'd be curious to see what happens if you have a 3 way call all on SP1 and an incoming call on SP2...

The problem is that you've only got one phone and it's on a 3-way call.  It doesn't matter what ports they're coming from.  If you use the hook flash while you're on a 3-way call, you're going to dump the 3rd party in the conference.  Consequently, there's really no option but for the OBi to ignore the incoming call (call-waiting wise).

[DrZKrewe]

I'd be curious to see what happens if you have a 3 way call all on SP1 and an incoming call on SP2...

The problem is that you've only got one phone and it's on a 3-way call.  It doesn't matter what ports they're coming from.  If you use the hook flash while you're on a 3-way call, you're going to dump the 3rd party in the conference.  Consequently, there's really no option but for the OBi to ignore the incoming call (call-waiting wise).

Jimates and RonR, thank you both for all the help.  This has answered all my questions!