OBION PC Through Simonics.com for GV

[thetoad30]

Hello,

I have the OBI 202 and have this set up through Simonics in order to have caller id through GV. Everything is working correctly via the OBI and a regular telephone plugged into the device.

What I cannot get working is the X-Lite soft phone and the OBION for PC application. I have followed all the instructions in the posts and pictures, and I do get the device to call out and ring the destination number, but there is no audio either way, and after 5-10 seconds the call disconnects.

Is there something I'm doing wrong?

Thank you in advance.

[thetoad30]

Hello,

Does anyone have any ideas? Is this just not possible to do with the ObiON PC App? Or do I need to do something different to connect to the Simonics.com server from the soft phone?

I'm new to SIP so please go easy on me!

Thank you.

[ianobi]

thetoad30 - welcome to the forum.

This sounds like an RTP problem. A SIP call has two parts - signalling to set up a call etc, and speech. In your case the signalling appears to be working, but not the speech.

I'm assuming that you have done the recommended port forwarding as your OBi202 is working ok. The OBiAPP (OBiON for PC) can require some port forwarding, which is not mentioned in the FAQs. The default RTP ports are 36000 to 36200, protocol is UTP. You could try putting your PC into DMZ mode in your router just for testing. Do not leave it there for long.

[thetoad30]

Hello,

Thank you for the information.

Here's the issue: I believe I had this working when I was using just the Google Voice account via the OBI 202. It was when I switched to Simonics.com for caller ID that this started to do this. What I don't understand is that the soft phone should be going through the OBI, and using that information, correct? So in other words, when my OBI works flawlessly through a regular telephone (which it does), then the soft phone should follow, correct? However, it's not - meaning somewhere I have a problem... but exactly where... that's the problem.

Am I troubleshooting this properly, or does the soft phone do something totally different?

Thank you.

[ianobi]

Watching the OBiAPP > Properties > Status > Call State during calls and checking in your OBi202 Web Page > Status > Call History after calls may give useful information here.

If you dial **9222222222 from your softphone to get the OBi echo test, you will see that the call goes from the softphone to the OBiAPP then straight to the Obihai servers. Your OBi202 is not involved. The OBiAPP is an independant "endpoint".

If you dial from your softphone to a number that matches your Primary Line DigitMap (default sp1), then the call will be set up via OBiAPP and the Obihai servers and you will see in the OBI202 Call History the call has come in on the OBiTALK network and gone out on sp1. However, when the call is answered, the OBi202 can see that the softphone and sp1 are in the same subnet, so it will connect the RTP (speech) paths together locally and not via the OBiTALK network. This means that my first reply to you was probably not helpful.

Check to see that the calls that fail are routing correctly on the right sp1, sp2 etc the same as calls from the OBi Phone Port are routing. If all the routing is corect, then it may be that the X-Lite is not receiving something that it needs. You might try another free softphone like 3CX to prove it one way or another. 3CX setup examples are on this forum if you do a search.

[thetoad30]

Hello and thank you for the reply.

So, the echo test will set up correctly, dial out, and connect, but then there is no echo back to me when I speak, and it still disconnects after 5-7 seconds. I imagine this indicates an issue with the PC or soft phone set up somehow. What would cause the application to connect and then disconnect after ringing and connecting?

This occurs both with the echo test number and my external cell number. Note that any calls placed with a phone connected to the Obi adapter work perfectly.

Thank you for helping me so far. I do appreciate the time.

[thetoad30]

Okay - right after I sent this message I noticed you had stated to download another soft phone to test.

I downloaded Zoiper and configured much the same way that X-Lite is supposed to be configured, and guess what? Zoiper worked.

I'm imagining there must be something wrong with X-Lite configuration... I'm using version 4.5 so clicked on the version 4 link from my dashboard ObiON page and followed those instructions. Is this a problem with X-Lite you think or with my network or ObiON itself?

[ianobi]

I'm afraid I gave up with x-lite due to the annoying adverts, so I'm not an expert on its configuration.

If Zoiper works, then OBiON/OBiAPP must be ok. It still looks like an RTP problem. It may be that Zoiper opens different ports to x-lite, or is better at resolving routing problems. I use 3CX and PhoneLite softphones and get no problems.

[thetoad30]

Okay, good to know.

I know this is going to be a rather subjective question, but which soft phone is regarded as one of the best?

I must admit that I tire of X-Lite "taking over" my computer with all of it's crap ads...

[ianobi]

I must admit that I tire of X-Lite "taking over" my computer with all of it's crap ads...

Many here on this forum have said the same 


I have only tried the free softphones. Zoiper gets good comments. 3CX has a good look and feel and can register several accounts at one time - audio and video. This means it's not only your OBi softphone, but can be a direct line out to voip providers as well. PhonerLite is simple and great as a test tool, but lacks video and looks a bit clunky.

They are free, so try them! Setup info is available on this forum for most of them - just do a search.

Good luck. Let us know what you think of them.