Need 3 lines (w/ 3GV accts) and want to use OBi202 this way - will it work?

[N.V.]

Hi, rank newbie here, trying to scale the learning curve as quickly as possible.

My family (wife + 5 kids) is about to move, and I want to use the occasion to change how we deal with telephones at home.

Current set up is a panasonic 2-line base unit with wireless 2-line handsets (DECT 6.0). I'd like to shift entirely to VoIP using the OBi202 and 3 Google Voice accounts, but would love some confirmation from more experienced members that the configuration I'd like to use will work.

GV1 - my line
GV2 - wife's line
GV3 - kids' line

panasonic base unit and handsets:
L1 - receives incoming call from GV1 and uses GV1 to place outgoing calls
L2 - receives incoming call from GV2 and uses GV2 to place outgoing calls

then I would buy a separate single-line phone for the kids:
L3 - receives incoming call from GV3 and uses GV3 to place outgoing calls

That way, I can have 3 distinct rings and, presumably, all three lines in use at once. In fact, might it not be possible to have 2 calls happening simultaneously on L3, which would allow 4 separate calls to take place at once?

I'm certainly open to other suggestions but this is my first stab. Just want to make sure I'm headed in the right direction.

Many thanks in advance!

[Shale]

Buy an OBi100 for the kid's line. On the OBi202, put the dual line phone on the OBi202 plugged into the Phone 1 slot, which has both phone lines. Plug nothing into the Phone 2 line.

What are you going to do about 911?

[N.V.]

Still learning about 911. Anveo seems to be the way to go, no?

If Anveo requires leaving one of the 2 phone line slots on the 202 open, so be it. But I'm curious why you are suggesting that I buy a separate unit (OBi100) for the kids' line as opposed to using the "empty"  Phone 2 slot on the 202. I'm not at all opposed to the 202 & 100 combo solution... just hoping to understand.

[Shale]

Still learning about 911. Anveo seems to be the way to go, no?

If Anveo requires leaving one of the 2 phone line slots on the 202 open, so be it. But I'm curious why you are suggesting that I buy a separate unit (OBi100) for the kids' line as opposed to using the "empty"  Phone 2 slot on the 202. I'm not at all opposed to the 202 & 100 combo solution... just hoping to understand.

The OBi202 can handle 2 phones or a 2-line phone. You can have up to 4 services that service those two lines. The Phone 2 jack has the  phone 2 pair of wires only. The Phone 1 jack has both, but the second pair of wires on the Phone 1 jack are the same signals that are on the Phone 2 jack. So if you put a phone into  Phone 2 jack, it will only be an extension of line 2 of the 2-line phone.

If you got  a second OBi202, you could grow to a 4th line some day, but the OBi202+OBi100 will meet your needs as you have described.

With 2 OBis, you would need two Anveo 911 services if you do things simply -- one for each OBi. That is $0.80 per month * 2 = $1.60. Maybe somebody could tell you how to do it with one service.

[N.V.]

Terrific. Very helpful. Thanks!

[sic0048]

As noted, the Obi 202 has two phone lines, but allows up to 4 service providers.  This would allow you to have three GV numbers as well as use Anveo for your E911 calls.

You could set phone line #1 up to be your line which would call out and receive calls on your GV line.
You could set phone line #2 up to be your wife's line which would call out and receive calls on her GV line.
But with just a single Obi202 device, you would have to set the device up to call out on the third line by pressing a code and then the phone number.  Something like *9 and then the phone number.  This third line could be set up for your kids GV line.  Incoming calls on the third line would ring line #1 or #2 (or both) and can be set with a distinctive ring so you know that the call is coming in on your kids line instead of your or your wife's line.

As suggested earlier, if you don't want to make your kids dial a special code, or if you really want to separate your kids phone line from yours and allow them a totally separate phone, then I would suggest getting another Obi device (even the 100 would work fine for this).  Set that device up with the kids GV number AND the E911 provider and they will have their own independent system.

While I haven't tried to connect to a E911 service provider from two different Obi devices, I cannot see why it wouldn't work.  Just put in the normal user name, phone numbers, and passwords of the provider in each Obi device and I suspect both will connect just fine.

[N.V.]

Also helpful. Thanks.