Obi 110 and Google Voice issues calls do not come through Sporatic

[tafkam]

Hello,

Ongoing issue with Obi 110 and Google voice but it is becoming somewhat problematic so I am hoping to either fix or may need to go to Net Talk or maybe a newer Obi?

Had my landline ported to Google Voice  about a year ago.  Actually ported to a mobile phone then to GV as I could only port a mobile number.

Everything seemed to work well at first, but then about 7 or 8 months ago I started getting complaints from friends and family that they either get a female  voice "the call cannot be completed as dialed" or something like that, or it goes directly to the GV  voice mail, and in either instance I have no idea that anyone called as obviously my phone that I have plugged in to the Obi did not ring as the call did not get past GV.

This happened to both my father calling me with his cell phone and at least one business that tried to call and got the same issue.  I have also had the VA try to call and they get the "number has been disconnected" message like it is blocked, but I hopefully fixed that by adding that number to my contacts and it lets them through. 

I also have the account set up to email me when there is a new GV message but that is not reliable either so I may still miss some calls.

Now, starting about a month ago, I cannot make an outgoing call I get a message saying "service unavailable" or something like that.

This is always fixed by simply unplugging the power from the Obi and then plugging it back in after a minute or so, but I never had to do this in the beginning, and I don't think it is related to the fact that some people cannot get through at all, even to GV voice mail.

The reason I say that is because my father tried several times to call me with his cell phone, but he got the female "your call cannot be completed" or something like that.  He had not tried to call me from his cell before, and when I was with him I tried with his cell phone and had the same problem calling my number. 

Just for the hell of it I put in *67 (per call blocking of caller ID) and the call DID go though GV to my answering machine.

The firmware is up to date, as far as I can tell I have everything set up correctly.   I don't see a way to turn off "spam" calls, maybe that is why my dad's cell did not get through?  I do have blocked numbers (seem to get a lot of strange calls since the number was changed from a landline to GV but still the same number obviously) but I definitely did not have my dad's cell number blocked, and even if I did I think they get a "number has been disconnected" message.

This all may be a Google Voice thing and not an Obi thing and if course I cannot complain about GV since it is free, but I am curious if any other Obi users have had this issue and what they did about it.

I really do need for everyone that I want to get through to me so I am at the point of looking at an alternative to the Obi like Nettalk (if they let me port the number) or Majic Jack OOMa, etc,

Or I can try a newer obi like the 200 model.

Any feedback would be much appreciated!
Thanks
Mike

[Shale]

http://www.obitalk.com/obinet/pg/obhdev/devices

Take a look at the Status for the OBi. Normally you should have a green icon in that column.

When you said "the call DID go though GV to my answering machine" I think you don't mean the GV voice mail. So that time things worked right. If that consistently worked better when you block your caller ID, that would change the suggestions.

Here are some things to consider doing after waiting for other suggestions. These are not necessarily the right or order or even the right things to do... See if other have better ideas.

1.  On OBiTalk, disable SP1 and set up SP2 to work with your existing GV account. This would be done by doing a Disable on the OBiTalk expert mode, and then setting up SP2.

2. do a factory reset on the OBi110. Do a Delete Device on OBiTalk, and then an Add Device. Set things up again.

3. You could also get a different GV number, and set that up on SP2. See if that number works more reliably. If it does, set up the original GV again.

4. Consider putting your OBi on a UPS. Maybe there is momentary loss of power that makes the OBi misbehave.

5. If you have continued problems after that, consider ordering an OBi100. It would be cheaper, and still do everything that you need.

[tafkam]

Shale,
Thanks for the info and I am sorry I guess I was a bit unclear....yes when I said that it went through Google Voice to my answering machine then yes, it worked.  I did not try multiple times with the *67 I just did it the one time.

However, when my son calls me on my ex-wife's cell phone OR home phone, they occasionally run into this issue as well (either it goes to the Google Voice Mail without ringing through to me OR they get some kind of out of service message).

I have not had them try the *67 but I will ask them to do that the next time they cannot get through.

I will try the other things and actually, was thinking of the Obi 200 series, or would the 100 be better for me?  I don't use the landline port in the 110, I only have it because Amazon was out of the 100s when I ordered it.

[Shale]

Regarding OBi100, it's cheaper. I don't know what the 200 would do for you that the 100 will not. You are not going to be running your voice traffic via WiFi.

Another way to go is OBi202... It will support two phone lines. Actually, unless you have more people or unless you have a fax machine, 2 lines may not be an improvement over one phone.

However even the OBi100 will support two service providers. So you might find it good to have GV plus a SIP provider both. Your SIP provider can handle 911. Each service can each ring the same phone. You can default which SP to phone out on, or you can specify.

Again, my suggestions may have been brute force ideas. Somebody may be able to pinpoint a solution.

[tafkam]

You are right I don't need anything wireless, and I do have a fax machine but only hook it up when I want to send or get a fax ( just unplug the phone and plug in the line connected to fax machine) as I don't ever get faxes and hardly ever need to send them, but it is handy when needed.

So, I guess I may give the 100 a try if what you have suggested does not pan out.

I am not sure what I would do with another SIP line, I admit I am a novice at this and one of the reasons I dropped the land line, in additoin of not being a fan of multiple products from the phone company (they do my Internet and kept screwing up combined cell/internet and TV so I dropped all except for Internet) I liked the idea of using an already existing internet connection for home phone service for free, once I got the Obi.

Again, I cannot complain as GV is free but then again, I do need to have reliable home phone number as the number is the same as the landline I had for 3 years, and most of my friends/family have no idea what I am talking about when I tell them that the number is now Google Voice, using it with an Obi, etc....

[Jackson]

I am not sure what I would do with another SIP line, I admit I am a novice at this and one of the reasons I dropped the land line, in additoin of not being a fan of multiple products from the phone company (they do my Internet and kept screwing up combined cell/internet and TV so I dropped all except for Internet) I liked the idea of using an already existing internet connection for home phone service for free, once I got the Obi.

Well I use GV, set as Primary.  I also added Anveo to get e911 at 80¢/month, as Shale noted.  Figured might as well get a number too as a backup.  Total cost $1.80/month.  On the free plan the number allows 40min/day incoming and outgoing is billed at 1¢/min.

I also dusted off an old UPS someone had tossed, just needed a new battery for it ($17) and use it for my cable modem, Obi and phone.  My Obi is also totally suspended in the air to avoid any potential heat issues.

I think I'm well covered now, just wish I had done all this sooner.

One day I'll figure out how to automatically route a call to Anveo if GV hiccups.

[tafkam]

Thanks Jackson I had not heard of Anveo....
If that is a way to get 911 I am definetly going to check that out.

As far as the Obi goes, I may get the 202 as if it has two lines, I think I should be able to get another Google Voice number for free and make that a dedicated fax number so I can leave the machine plugged in all of the time.  The reason I don't now is that it is a color multifunction laser and if it is plugged in to a phone, every time the phone rings the printer will start warming up after the first ring, so was wasting a lot of power and probably wear and tear on the printer too,