How To: Use Google Voice and OBi

[Rick]

I want to emphasize what Steve said at the end:

"That's why many of use us a separate, dedicated Google account for our OBi devices."

If you're porting your home number to Google Voice, you SHOULD STRONGLY CONSIDER setting up a new Google account.  Have it just handle that phone number.  Your regular Google account can also have a GV number, and can make and receive calls from Google Chat or the Google Voice page.

[Emagin]

Ok Steve but what about this scenario:
I got Google Voice (Grand Central) back in the day to have ONE number - GV1
I gave that number out to 100s of people on my business card.
I would like my Obi device to ring my cordless handset phone when people call GV1

It so happens that GV1 is tied to my primary business Gmail Account GM1
My Gmail (Gapps) are always open and logged in on my PC and often on my Android phone
I have GrooveIP on my Android phone logged into GV1
I have other GM2, GM3 and GVoice accounts (GV2, GV3)

Current Setup
SP1 -> GV1

So what should I do to follow your advice.
How do I make Obi ring my cordless handset when GV1 is dialed by third parties without causing a mess when my android or gmail are on GM1

Thank you

[Rick]

Move the number to another Google account.

[SteveInWA]

Ok Steve but what about this scenario:
...

So what should I do to follow your advice.
How do I make Obi ring my cordless handset when GV1 is dialed by third parties without causing a mess when my android or gmail are on GM1

Thank you

I explained why this doesn't work.  It is a limitation of GV.  Do what Rick and I said...move your number over to another GV account.

http://support.google.com/voice/troubleshooter/1378507

I hope you take this as friendly advice, not scolding: 

GV is not a full-function, business-class offering.  If the option of splitting your number off to another account doesn't meet your business needs, keep in mind the standard warning we give everyone who posts on the GV forum with a "I use this for my business" comment:  Google Voice is great for personal, individual use, but it has no direct technical support, and (especially lately) it is subject to outages and mysterious bugs that can extend for long periods of time with no resolution.  We strongly recommend that business users consider one of the hosted PBX services (just one example being Ring Central), which offer a higher service level and business-specific features.

[Emagin]

Thanks. I've used Anveo extensively with plugins, complex inbound with 10 VAs in asia. I get the business vs. personal. I guess I'm wanting juiced up personal functionality understanding the limitations of Gvoice.

I am just not clear on how you keep the one GV number for people to call you on  while also separating the two GV numbers from each other. I thought there might be some trick in advanced Obi settings to have the GV2 number that's 'extra' still ring all the devices that are associated with GV1.

I explained why this doesn't work.  It is a limitation of GV.  Do what Rick and I said...move your number over to another GV account.
http://support.google.com/voice/troubleshooter/1378507
I hope you take this as friendly advice, not scolding: 

[leck]

I got an email this morning saying that my Google Voice number port was complete (Verizon landline -->Tmobile-->GV).

I haven't yet added it to the Obi, want to test it on PC first:
Can call out using Google Chat and caller ID at other end displays the correct number
Can't call out using Google Voice (says "phone to call with: Google Talk") - should I be able to make an outgoing call from PC?
Incoming calls go to voicemail. Oh, I see if I set forwarding to Google Chat the call goes there. Should I be able to see it in Google Voice if I disable Google Chat?

I find Google Chat vs Google Voice confusing. Before this I thought they were two names for the same thing.

[Koby]

I posted this in another thread a few days ago but it occurs to me that it probably should go in this one as well.  Note this issue started when Google made Hangouts the default for new Gmail accounts in late May.

I had occasion to help set up a NEW Google Voice account and noticed that Google Talk was not available as a destination by default, so I did the usual trick of switching over to Gmail to place one call from the web interface.  But because it was a new account, it started out with Hangouts enabled and not Google Voice, and no phone icon was shown!  However there is a dropdown menu in the lower part of the left hand column, which in this case was slow to appear (Google was having some server issues), but once it showed up I could go into that menu and there was an option to revert back to using Google Talk.  Once I did that, the page refreshed and the phone icon appeared, and then I could make the one call from the browser that sets up Google Talk as a destination in Google Voice.

[Shale]

I would also strongly recommend setting up a separate GV account (which requires a separate GMail account) for your OBi.  I did that, I wanted to be able to keep things separate, and not give my Google password to the OBi device, which then gives access to all my Google stuff.

It would be good if jimates were to modify the second post on this sticky thread to make that suggestion early in the thread. Otherwise there can be problematic interactions such as described in http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=6195.msg39697 when you are trying to use the same Google account for everything.

[yudengaz]

Need help to set up the device. I Just bought Obi100. Had a problem adding the device to OBi talk. Internet connection is good. Power is on. Dialed **9222222222 was told IP not available. FAQ00. Read the trouble shooting guide. seems that I have to reconfigure my Linksys router to move the device to DMZ. I lost my password to Linksys web based router admin login. Need to reset the router altogether. Can anyone help me understand if the firewall on the router is the real issue before I reset the router and redo entire config altogether..Thank you!! Eugene

[Rick]

Plug the OBi directly into the internet, bypassing the router.  If that works, you have to change router settings of some type. If not, it's not a router issue.

[yudengaz]

do you mean I dial the **9222222222 test number after have the Obi bypass the router? When I connect OBi directly to internet port from cable modem the router is offline and all computer will not have internet access and I am not able to continue with setup. Sorry I am not a tech person.

[Shale]

do you mean I dial the **9222222222 test number after have the Obi bypass the router? When I connect OBi directly to internet port from cable modem the router is offline and all computer will not have internet access and I am not able to continue with setup. Sorry I am not a tech person.

In your testing, dial ***1 to see if you are drawing an IP successfully. You should be able to do this if your router is in place, even if your router is blocking your connectivity out. That IP number will let you put that address in your browser to poke around. Don't make changes, but just look around to show you are connecting locally.

In that test Rick suggested, you may have to reboot your cable modem after disconnecting your router.

Yes, do the **9222222222 test number test. You probably set up other things already, so you should then be able to try some test calls. If [at least some of] those things work, clearly your router was blocking the connectivity. DMZ would be one way to deal with this. But find out what is working first.

[BillyBobAtlantis]

My first GV account set up and works fine on SP1.
But although my second GV account (w/different gmail account) seems to have configured properly, and I've followed all the Support Instructions for GV, Gmail, Gmail callout, and so on, all the calls into my SP2 do not ring.  They only go to Voice Mail.

So, my questions are:
1.   Can I set it up in this manner?
2.   If so, why is it not working properly?

Thank you.

[Miichael]

I had to change my PW on Google and so when I went to use my OBI Phone it would not work, said I had to go to OBI Talk and change the PW there too.......I have done that......BUT......things remain the same, I get the same message and cannot make a phone call.  PLEASE advise....

THANKS  michael

[ctr123]

Apologize, I'm trying to find instructions to set up 2nd GV # on Obi110.  I try to add the device in 2nd GV and receive the following: "The device has joined the network before, and under another user's account."

Can someone direct me to the steps to add 2nd GV # under SP2?  Thank you... tr

[PressureDrop]

So I have been using my OBi100 for quite some time, with both my @gmail.com GV account (SP1), as well as my @mydomain.org GV account (SP2). Recently, the SP2 account stopped working on my OBi, but it still works with the phones linked to it. I have spent a couple hours today messing with it, deleting it/re-adding it, and I have done lot's of searching/reading with no success to this point.
It has made many calls from the web (in the past to "Google Talk" aka OBi, and also as recently as just now to "Cell Phone", "Work Phone"etc.), and the email address for this GV2 (SP2) account is the only email address for this google account, and it only uses Gmail for all mail to this domain (and I can log into Gmail using this user@mydomain.org address - contacts, voice, etc too!).

What gives? Why does it remain with "Backing Off" or "Service Not Configured" every time I add it? Even not 2, but 30 minutes later!

I am at the end of my rope :-(

[sdb-]

can you log into that gmail account from a PC?

It may be that google is prompting you to enter a captcha.  It happens...

Or if you have enabled 2-factor auth, then you need to create an app specific password and use that for the OBi.

[PressureDrop]

Yes. I can log into it from PC, Android, even an iPad :-P
No captcha, no problems. I have done multiple calls from the web, Android, etc - but the OBi seems to be unable to connect :-(

[SteveInWA]

So I have been using my OBi100 for quite some time, with both my @gmail.com GV account (SP1), as well as my @mydomain.org GV account (SP2). Recently, the SP2 account stopped working on my OBi, but it still works with the phones linked to it. I have spent a couple hours today messing with it, deleting it/re-adding it, and I have done lot's of searching/reading with no success to this point.
It has made many calls from the web (in the past to "Google Talk" aka OBi, and also as recently as just now to "Cell Phone", "Work Phone"etc.), and the email address for this GV2 (SP2) account is the only email address for this google account, and it only uses Gmail for all mail to this domain (and I can log into Gmail using this user@mydomain.org address - contacts, voice, etc too!).

What gives? Why does it remain with "Backing Off" or "Service Not Configured" every time I add it? Even not 2, but 30 minutes later!

I am at the end of my rope :-(

Don't let go of the rope yet.

Log into the Google Voice account for SP2.  Look at your settings on this page:

https://www.google.com/voice#phones

*I don't know if this URL becomes something else for Apps domain accounts, but in any case, you need to get to your GV settings for the account.

Confirm that you see the exact phrase "Your number" on the left side of the web page, and not "Get a Voice number" or "Access number".  Underneath it should be your GV number, not a generic access number.

Confirm that you have a working forwarding phone number in your list, not just Google Chat.  Confirm that there are check marks next to those two destinations.  Confirm that you don't have any other, non-working forwarding phone numbers (abandoned, canceled numbers you no longer control).  Look at the forwarding "phone" entry for Google Chat.  Ensure that the email address shown underneath it is the same address you are using in your OBi configuration.

Call your GV number from some OTHER phone line.  Confirm that your forwarding phone does ring, and you can answer the call.  Note that if you have not been actually receiving calls on a real forwarding phone (not just Chat/Obi), Google will eventually reclaim (disable and take back) the GV phone number on that account, as it would be in violation of the intended use of the service.

If all this works, then you may want to delete SP2 and reconfigure it, or delete it, and then temporarily simply change the user name and password on SP1 from your gmail account to your domain account, to isolate if the problem is account-related or OBi-related.  If the domain account works when you log into it as your SP1 account, then it's an OBi-specific configuration issue.

[PressureDrop]

So I have been using my OBi100 for quite some time, with both my @gmail.com GV account (SP1), as well as my @mydomain.org GV account (SP2). Recently, the SP2 account stopped working on my OBi, but it still works with the phones linked to it. I have spent a couple hours today messing with it, deleting it/re-adding it, and I have done lot's of searching/reading with no success to this point.
It has made many calls from the web (in the past to "Google Talk" aka OBi, and also as recently as just now to "Cell Phone", "Work Phone"etc.), and the email address for this GV2 (SP2) account is the only email address for this google account, and it only uses Gmail for all mail to this domain (and I can log into Gmail using this user@mydomain.org address - contacts, voice, etc too!).

What gives? Why does it remain with "Backing Off" or "Service Not Configured" every time I add it? Even not 2, but 30 minutes later!

I am at the end of my rope :-(

Don't let go of the rope yet.

Log into the Google Voice account for SP2.  Look at your settings on this page:

https://www.google.com/voice#phones

*I don't know if this URL becomes something else for Apps domain accounts, but in any case, you need to get to your GV settings for the account.

Confirm that you see the exact phrase "Your number" on the left side of the web page, and not "Get a Voice number" or "Access number".  Underneath it should be your GV number, not a generic access number.

Confirm that you have a working forwarding phone number in your list, not just Google Chat.  Confirm that there are check marks next to those two destinations.  Confirm that you don't have any other, non-working forwarding phone numbers (abandoned, canceled numbers you no longer control).  Look at the forwarding "phone" entry for Google Chat.  Ensure that the email address shown underneath it is the same address you are using in your OBi configuration.

Call your GV number from some OTHER phone line.  Confirm that your forwarding phone does ring, and you can answer the call.  Note that if you have not been actually receiving calls on a real forwarding phone (not just Chat/Obi), Google will eventually reclaim (disable and take back) the GV phone number on that account, as it would be in violation of the intended use of the service.

If all this works, then you may want to delete SP2 and reconfigure it, or delete it, and then temporarily simply change the user name and password on SP1 from your gmail account to your domain account, to isolate if the problem is account-related or OBi-related.  If the domain account works when you log into it as your SP1 account, then it's an OBi-specific configuration issue.

Yep. Been trying all those things for days now 
The account has a number. The account has other phones connected to it that work (inbound calls and outbound calls). The account used to work fine on this very same OBi device. This account currently will not work as SP1 or SP2.