Obivoice (Intelafone) vs. Forthcoming Obihai Service?

[gderf]

This is from the CallWithUs site:

"Toll free service: if you need to terminate calls to US toll free numbers, send SIP calls to tf.callwithus.com, accepted area codes are 1800, 1888, 1877, 1866, 1855 and 1844, codec G711u. You don't need to have an account with us to terminate calls to TF numbers."

Looks like it includes AC 888 to me.

[Arghtastic]

So, FYI to all---I asked ObiVoice what they considered business usage---they said about 5 hours or more per day would be considered business usage. 

I am on the phone more than that, some days--so this won't work for me.  At least not as a primary line.

[giqcass]

Sounds like a viable option if you don't make certain international calls.  Some international call prices are quite high.  I'd have to keep my prepaid long distance service I used before GV.

Localphone is a good option for international calls.  Low rates and prepaid credit lasts forever as long as you use the credit at least once every 365 days. No monthly fees for basic service. Caller ID spoofing for verified numbers.  The Obi can be set up to use Localphone or another similar service for only the outgoing calls to certain destinations if you like.  No extra dialing needed.

[LeoKing]

So, FYI to all---I asked ObiVoice what they considered business usage---they said about 5 hours or more per day would be considered business usage.  

I am on the phone more than that, some days--so this won't work for me.  At least not as a primary line.

I don't think I will ever use the phone more than 5 hrs a day because I don't have a job that requires using the phone most of the time and I don't have a big family that shares the same phone line. But that converts to 9000 mins a month as normal usage and that sounds about right.

[colleenz]

What I like about Obivoice right now is they are watching these forums and trying to accommodate us.  Unfortunately this thread is one sided since ObiHai isn't giving us anything to compare yet.  Come on ObiHai give us something!

I went whole hog, signed up for the 2 year unlimited plan, and ported my number to Obivoice. 

Give us an update in a month or so.

I've contacted Obivoice twice now & they've been very polite & informative. I got this, this am.
P.S. The help on these forums is fenominal, but you wizards, please remember that not all of us are familiar yet with the voip terminology; I did dwnl a glossary. Many thanks for all the info.

Subject: using Obivoice
JAN 20, 2014  |  10:54AM PST
Andrew Tilton replied:
Colleen,

You can have our service at the same time as Century Link home phone service. Unfortunately we do not recommend use of our service with Satellite or Wireless service as we cannot guarantee quality VoIP service with that sort of internet connection.

Our service would work with a cordless phone system. As long as you plug in the main phone line with the adapter the rest of the phones will receive the calls wirelessly.

Intelafone Customer Relations
http://www.intelafone.com

[simpleAnswers]

With Obivoice it appears I can make a seamless transition from XMPP without any issues.

As you could just as easily with any other VoIP provider.

Sorry but I have to disagree with you on that one. Every other option I found here was full of gimmicks and take backs. If I wasn't paying X for E911, it was Y for DID, Z for per minute calling or some other charge using perl script.

Truth is like most GV-OBi users, I bought the OBi because I could easily use it with GV without worrying about all of these issues.

I tried CallCentric, Localphone and Obivoice, and I'll have to say ObiVoice is the most transparent when it comes to what you get and you get a lot. All the others are just full of nickel and dime here with too much hassle. I never liked my cable company so I'm not one for a bunch of charges. Just give me a final number and no hassle which is what most of the GV-Obi users are crying for.

ObiVoice is the easiest way to transition off GV XMPP. I got a DID, unlimited calling, voicemail, even FAX from the portal. All for $30 per year. Which is the cost of 1year of SipSorcery, I already get everything I need without the Perl.
I didn't even have to port my number, it works seamlessly with the Obi device, in just 3 steps, I'm now using it instead of GV as the SP in my Obi, my callers don't know the difference, same CID and all, so far so good.

[giqcass]

ObiVoice is the easiest way to transition off GV XMPP. I got a DID, unlimited calling, voicemail, even FAX from the portal.

If you use the fax feature please let us know how well it works or what limitations you find.

[ceg3]

So, I decided to go ahead and try the free trial and I connected my OBi.  I added my new number to GV and spoofed my outbound caller ID to show my GV number.  It was all very simple to enter the proxy numbers and so on from my OBi configuration to my obivoice account. One downside I see right away is that the free month is a month or 60 minutes and of course 60 minutes won't last very long. That seems kind of cheesy. I did make one test to call my new number and the caller ID only showed "unknown caller." I have little doubt that will work itself out. I'm feeling good about the service in the first few hours, the limited trial aside, and as I stated setting it up was pretty simple. I may decide to port my GV number eventually.  I'm told Google charges 3.00 to port out a number, but obivoice is waiving their normal 10.00 fee for us GV clients.

[gderf]

Did you make your test call to your GV number which is forwarded to your obivoice number, or did you call your obivoice number?

[LeoKing]

I ported one of my GV numbers to a cell phone provider last year and Google charged me $3 through my Google Wallet. Porting into Google Voice would cost more, I think it's $20 or so.

[ceg3]

Did you make your test call to your GV number which is forwarded to your obivoice number, or did you call your obivoice number?

My test call was from my cell phone to the obivoice number which, as you suspect, could be affected by GV.  My GV number also rings my cell number.

I just got someone to call me and the ID worked perfectly with name and number. I've really missed that with GV for the past two years. My info was also displayed when I called that person, so it looks like CNAM is working. On the other hand, the first call in was dialed to my GV number and CNAM displayed and then changed to data error and the call was dropped. I had the caller call me back on the obivoice number and everything seemed OK.  I guess I'm going to have to go ahead and sign up for at least a month to fully test out the service, since the trial period is only an hour.

I have to think eventually porting my GV number or using the obivoice number and doing away with that GV link can only help.

[Johnny]

I guess I should contact ObiVoice with this question, but I thought I would ask it here first.

Did anyone hear if ObiVoice was going to be adding other area codes in the near future?

My area code is not available, and I am not able to transfer my GV number either.

I really want to keep this number so if they don't soon add other area codes in my state, I will have to look elsewhere.  Also, you guys that received a new number from ObiVoice, were you able to see the entire number before agreeing to it, or did you just see the area code?

I'm hoping that Obihai announces that their new service is soon available, and hopefully it will have numbers in my area code.

Thanks...

[gderf]

My area code is not available, and I am not able to transfer my GV number either.

I really want to keep this number so if they don't soon add other area codes in my state, I will have to look elsewhere. 

Is there some reason that forwarding calls to your GV number to an obivoice number is a problem?

[TheoGeek]

I ported one of my GV numbers to a cell phone provider last year and Google charged me $3 through my Google Wallet. Porting into Google Voice would cost more, I think it's $20 or so.

In my eventually ending up with Obivoice, one step along the way a long time ago was to port my home phone number (from a cable internet provider) to GV.  I had to do the "port number to tracfone then to GV".  Evidently, because I did that, GV did not charge to port the number away (https://support.google.com/voice/answer/1316844?hl=en)  That page says "There is a one time $3 fee to port your number away from Google Voice. For users who ported their mobile numbers into Google Voice, the fee is waived."

So, if you ported your number to GV from a mobile phone, there is no $3 fee to port away.  That was true in my case.

Jeff.

[LeoKing]

I ported one of my GV numbers to a cell phone provider last year and Google charged me $3 through my Google Wallet. Porting into Google Voice would cost more, I think it's $20 or so.

In my eventually ending up with Obivoice, one step along the way a long time ago was to port my home phone number (from a cable internet provider) to GV.  I had to do the "port number to tracfone then to GV".  Evidently, because I did that, GV did not charge to port the number away (https://support.google.com/voice/answer/1316844?hl=en)  That page says "There is a one time $3 fee to port your number away from Google Voice. For users who ported their mobile numbers into Google Voice, the fee is waived."

So, if you ported your number to GV from a mobile phone, there is no $3 fee to port away.  That was true in my case.

Jeff.

Thanks for the info! I never ported into GV so it's good to know.

[Johnny]

My area code is not available, and I am not able to transfer my GV number either.

I really want to keep this number so if they don't soon add other area codes in my state, I will have to look elsewhere. 

Is there some reason that forwarding calls to your GV number to an obivoice number is a problem?

It looks like as of now, that's my only option if I want to use a GV number.

Problem doing it that way?  Not really, as long as the service is reliable.

Might be worth testing.

Thanks.....

[Alyson]

I wonder if they charge to issue new phone numbers.  I intend to keep my GV number so I can give out one phone number for everything.  I need to keep an eye on this.  I think there will be more deals coming down the pike the closer we get to May 15.

[jazzy]

Just signed up for the free 60 minutes to test out Obivoice.  Set up was easy and my forwarded GV  number rings my ObV within 1 ring or less.  Currently was using a free DID from CC, and the forwarded GV number would ring my Obihai after at least 2 rings. Some calls wouldn't even ring the Obihai and those calls would end up in GV voice mail. Seems like about 20%-40% of my incoming calls would not get sent to the free CC DID. So it seems for now, ObV is more reliable.  Spoofing my GV number, and it shows up fine as the number in caller ID. 

[gderf]

GV forwarding problems to the free CC DIDs are long known and ongoing.

You may want to try a free IPKall DID as there have been fewer reported GV forwarding problems with them.

[TheoGeek]

GV forwarding problems to the free CC DIDs are long known and ongoing.

Yup.  I had issues with that.  Delayed rings, walkie talkie effect, etc.  I even had those issues with a paid CC DID.  Not sure why though.  When I ported my GV number to CC though, the issues went away, same with Obivoice.

GV must not have liked me very well.