News:

On Tuesday September 6th the forum will be down for maintenance from 9:30 PM to 11:59 PM PDT

Main Menu

Press 1 to accept call <--make this go away

Started by MikeHardin, September 10, 2013, 02:42:11 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

MikeHardin

I tried to turn off the "bypass call screening option" in the expert mode, thinking it would allow me to use GV call screening. Of course I found out it didn't. So I decided to set the Obi up with a CallCentric number and forward GV calls there rather than Google Talk, so I could get the screening back.

I changed the "bypass call screening" option back to it's original setting, I've reset all settings to original, I've done a hard reset on the device, NOTHING WORKS. I've got the CallCentric line up and runnning, but I have to "press 1 to accept calls" every time I answer it. Help!

SteveInWA

I'm confused.  Do you, or do you not, want INbound call screening to work with your INbound calls made to your Google Voice number, and answered on your OBi-attached phone?

If you want to screen INbound calls made to your GV number, then log into your Google Voice account, not your OBi, and enable call screening there.  Conversely, if you don't want it, disable it there.


MikeHardin

#2
Yes, you are confused. If you read the post again you will see I'm no longer even using Google Voice with the obihai. I have set it up with a CallCentric account. What I want is to NOT have to press 1 to receive incoming calls. Currently when someone calls my CallCentric number (or if they call my GV number and it forwards to my CallCentric number) when I answer the phone I'm prompted to press 1 to accept the call. This is NOT from Google Voice, it's from the Obihai attendant. It happens even if I dial the CallCentric number directly (from another line) and leave Google Voice out of the loop altogether.

Steve, my settings in Google Voice are already correctly configured to screen calls. When I answer a Google Voice call on my mobile the screening works fine. What I have figured out from my own experience is that call screening does not work on the Obihai, if you have it configured as a Google Chat client, because for whatever reason, call screening doesn't work in Google Chat, even if you have Google Voice configured to screen your calls. But it took me a while to figure this out. That is why I initially tried turning off the obihai settings that bypass call screening. I thought it was an Obihai issue. It was not. But now that I have turned the "bypass call screening" option back on on the Obihai, it still screens calls. Except screening here isn't telling you who is calling, it's just making you press one to answer the call. Before I messed with the settings I didn't have to press one to answer calls. Now I can't get it to go away. Does it make more sense now?

I apologize I originally sent you this as a private message. I didn't mean to. I thought I was replying in the forum. Only when it didn't show up here did I find it in my outbox. Forgive a newbie.

Shale

#3
Look at the call history in you OBi. See what number is being recognized. Remove that number from your list of trusted callers in ObiTalk.

Then think about why that number is coming in as the caller ID. Is it your GV number, a Callcentric number, the phone you are testing from? If the lphone you are testing from, that will be funny.

If it is GV, then change GV to send the caller ID of the caller rather than your GV number as caller ID when it forwards the call.

Your original post seemed to imply you thought you were hearing the call screening prompt from GV rather than the OBi attendant voice.

MikeHardin

Shale, I'm not clear how looking at the call history helps me turn off the "press 1 to accept the call" prompt from the Obi attendant. I get that prompt no matter who is calling, and no matter whether the call is routed through Google voice, nor whether it goes straight to the CallCentric number.

Also, I'm a newbie here and I'm not sure I know how to access the call history either.

Shale

I suspect you will find that all calls appear to come from the same number. If that is the case, there are ways to deal with that.

To check the call history log:

1.  If you do not know the IP address of your OBi, find IP address:
from your phone dial ***1 and listen for the IP address.  Write it
down.

2.Let a comma represent a pause. On your connected phone,
dial ***0,30#, 1, 1 (for OBi202 for first time to enable WAN web access).
For OBi100, 110, 200 or subsequent OBi202 access instead dial just ***1.

Your OBi should read your current IP number to you. It is often
192.168.__.__ or 10.0.__/.___ where __ represents some numbers. Write
that down.

3. Enter the IP address that you wrote down into the address box on your
browser. If you don't know what a browser is, that means Internet Explorer,
Chrome or Safari. It could  also mean Firefox,  etc.

Be prepared to enter the password for your OBi. The username is admin.

4. On the left, click Status -> Call History.


MikeHardin

Ok, I'm at home right now, and the obi device is in my office so I can't access the web interface for the device. But I have checked on obitalk and I have no trusted callers listed.

MikeHardin

OK, checked the call log this afternoon. Inbound calls are coming from multiple numbers. Any other ideas?

Shale

#8
Quote from: MikeHardin on September 13, 2013, 10:17:09 AM
OK, checked the call log this afternoon. Inbound calls are coming from multiple numbers. Any other ideas?

Thanks for checking. That eliminates what I was suspecting, but I now see I had misinterpreted parts of your postings.

Note that if the OBi is generating that voice, it is a male voice that starts "Welcome to OBi Attendant". But it would be the callers who hear the voice-- not you. I don't think you are hearing OBi Attendant. Yet you say "This is NOT from Google Voice, it's from the Obihai attendant." What makes you think that?

Looking back, I see things I found confusing. Your first post says "so I decided to set the Obi up with a CallCentric number and forward GV calls there rather than Google Talk, so I could get the screening back. " So at that point, you are using GV to receive the call, but you are having GV forward that to CC and the OBi is receiving the call GV via CC. I am sorry for my misunderstandings.

What does GV call screening mean to you? To me, "to accept Press 1" is an integral part of it. To you, it would seem to mean something else. Does the voice you hear sound like the voice in the video on this page? https://support.google.com/voice/answer/115083?hl=en While OBi has the X_SkipCallScreening for Google Voice, I have not tried that. I  I would not expect X_SkipCallScreening to have any effect on a call coming in from CC.

I wouldn't know what to expect if I have call screening turned on in GV and also forwarding to a phone.

What are you trying to accomplish? I think you want your caller to say something to GV, and then you would then accept the call unconditionally. The admin document says "Google Voice offers a call screening feature such that you must press digit 1 before answering an incoming GV call. OBi device can be setup to automatically do that for you when you pick up the phone. To enable this feature on the device, set  the X_SkipCallScreening parameter to YES (default is NO) (on the device web page, under the SP1/SP2 Service – CallingFeatures section). " OBi did not press the 1 for you as expected, so you thought the process would work better if you routed the call through CC.  If you just want to get rid of the "to accept Press 1  " then turn off call screening in GV. https://support.google.com/voice/answer/116933?hl=en

So again, what are you trying to accomplish?

MikeHardin

The call screening voice in GV is FEMALE. It first tells you who is calling, then prompts you to either press 1 to accept the call, or press 2 to send to voice mail.

The voice I'm getting when I answer calls on the OBI connected phone is a MALE voice that simply says "press 1 to accept this call". No announcement of who is calling. No option to send to voicemail. And I get this voice whether the person has called my GV number and it has forwarded to CallCentric, or whether the CallCentric number was called directly. If the CallCentric number has been called directly it cannot possibly be related to Google Voice.

At this point the only thing I'm trying to accomplish is to be able to pick up the handset and say, "Hello" without being prompted to press 1 to accept the call.

Shale

Quote from: MikeHardin on September 13, 2013, 01:13:53 PM
At this point the only thing I'm trying to accomplish is to be able to pick up the handset and say, "Hello" without being prompted to press 1 to accept the call.
Turn off call screening in GV. https://support.google.com/voice/answer/116933?hl=en

MikeHardin

#11
Never mind. I found the problem. It was a CallCentric setting.

I'm not sure how you thought turning off call screening in GV was going to help when it was not GV call screening. I told you it happened when I dialed the CallCentric number DIRECTLY. I told you it was a male voice, didn't announce the caller, and didn't offer a "press 2 to send to voicemail option."

Why would you keep giving me Google Voice solutions for a line that is using CallCentric?

Rick

You should lose the attitude if you want others to help you in the future...

Lavarock7

Quote from: MikeHardin on September 13, 2013, 01:29:29 PM
Never mind. I found the problem. It was a CallCentric setting.

I'm not sure how you thought turning off call screening in GV was going to help when it was not GV call screening. I told you it happened when I dialed the CallCentric number DIRECTLY. I told you it was a male voice, didn't announce the caller, and didn't offer a "press 2 to send to voicemail option."

Why would you keep giving me Google Voice solutions for a line that is using CallCentric?

Please understand that MOST people here are users such as yourself, not Obi techs. We spend hours looking at problems and solutions of others and try to help when we can. We are not paid.

I know that things can be frustrating, especially for new owners, but there are many times when a solution is found, the OP gave incorrect information.

I also have a callcentric account and I don't remember a prompt such as you stated. I accept that you found a setting for that and it solved your problem, but it *may* be a new option they added recently. I know they added subaccounts and other options recently and I personally have not reviewed them, because my line is forwarded and working, so I leave it alone.

By the way, when I saw your subject that included "<--make this go away" I stayed way from the topic because it sounded like a command to the powers that be, rather than a request to help stop the prompts. But that is just me :-)
My websites: Kona Coffee: http://itskona.com and Web Hosting: http://planetaloha.info<br />A simplified Voip explanation: http://voip.planet-aloha.com

MikeHardin

You are right Rick. I apologize. I got a little frustrated.