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Leveraging Callcentric IP Freedom DID’s with Google Voice

Started by Usetheforceobiwan, April 13, 2014, 06:29:01 PM

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Usetheforceobiwan

OK, for you newbies out there (me about a year ago) -  if your eyes start rolling when you read this kind of stuff it's alright, happens to the best of this.  Try to follow it and do a search for other related posts and it will all sink in eventually. 

As most are aware, GV stops supporting directly logging into and making calls from your GV account from Obi's and via other means (i.e. Groove IP) after May 14, 2014.  While this change means you can no longer make or receive "pure" Google Voice calls directly with your OBI, Google Voice will still allow you to forward calls to another phone number regardless of where that phone number (or DID as it's known in the SIP world) is located.

With that in mind, from Callcentric you can get an IP Freedom account and two free phone numbers and use these to simulate how you currently use your Obi today.  If you have one, two or even four GV #'s now, you can set your Obi up for incoming GV calls and make similated outgoing GV calls such that your callers would not know the difference.  And your cost will be very minimal (as low as $1.50 / month if you only get incoming GV calls).

Again, an IP Freedom account is free.  Initially with it you can only call other CC accounts and via SIP with no POTS (plain old telephone system) endpoints.  What's cool though is that with an IP Freedom account, you can get two free unlimited incoming minutes DID's that are based in New York.   CC makes money on these DID's by charging a termination fee to the carrier that originated the call.   You can also make outgoing calls with these DID's with either a pay as you go plan where you are charged a couple pennies a minute or a monthly plan where you get unlimited outgoing for a few bucks a month.  Callcentric mandates an E911 fee ($1.50 / month) if you will be using their service within the US or Canada.

Google voice allows you to forward two GV #'s to the same phone number if one GV # forwards to "home" and the other GV# forwards to "work".  GV will only allow one # to forward to a given DID if the forwarding number is considered mobile when you set it up in GV.  What this means related to CC is that you can forward up to 4 GV #'s to the 2 free CC DID's you can get with an IP Freedom account.  The only issue with forwarding two separate GV #'s to the same DID, you cannot distinguish which one the call originally went to because CC forwards the CID that was sent from GV.

Expanding this further, Callcentric lets you spoof outgoing verified caller ID's by extension so you have the potential to have 20 spoofed numbers if you assign a different CID to each extension.  Those 20 extensions are each sub accounts which means you can have 20 different softphones , ATA's PBX's, etc. logged into your account at the same time.  Callcentric also allows you to direct an incoming call on one of your DID's to a ring group of extensions or to a specific extension. 

On the OBI side, you have up to 8 outgoing voice gateways and a minimum of 2 sp's to play around with which means potentially 10 different outgoing caller ID's (using different CC extensions outgoing from the 8 VG's and 2 SP's with spoofed CID) depending on how your dial plan is set up.   

Between the Obi and Callcentric, there are alot of options to allow you to simulate how you use your Obi now with Google Voice.  What this means is that after May 14th, you can still use your Obi to make and receive GV calls with a little bit of additional setup by utilizing another providers services (in this case CC) to provide the connection to and from GV and the POTS network.  It isn't entirely free but at a minimum of less than $2 / month with a commitment that can be cancelled at any time, you can make your Obi work exactly as it does now.

JH2011

I agree, I think Callcentric is the perfect home for Obi/GV refugees  :)


mo832

Are you allowed *2* free DID phone numbers on the free incoming program? I've not seen anything about that. All I can remember is them talking about *a* free DID in NY, but I didn't notice anything about TWO free DIDs per account.

Can someone clarify and also explain how this works to obtain the 2 numbers?


Also, can the free CC numbers be directed to other(outside company) SIP providers besides the one that comes with CC registration?

gderf

You can have two free Callcentric DIDs per account. If you want a second number, just do the same thing you did for the first one. If you try for a third, you will be denied.

If you want to delete a number, be aware that does not happen immediately, but rather at the end of the month. You can ask to have a number deleted immediately if some circumstance requires that. Open a ticket to do that.

I'm not exactly sure what your last question means, but I suspect the answer is no.
Help me OBiHai PhoneOBi. You're my only hope.

mo832

Quote from: gderf on April 14, 2014, 06:28:34 AM

I'm not exactly sure what your last question means, but I suspect the answer is no.


The last question put another way:

Can you have a CC free incoming number, and instead of the number pointing at your CC issued Sip account for incoming calls, could you point the NY phone number to ring, say a Localphone SIP address, or a sip2sip address, to name a few?

gderf

I don't think so. If you want that type of capability, get an IPKall DID.
Help me OBiHai PhoneOBi. You're my only hope.

Usetheforceobiwan

#6
Quote from: mo832 on April 14, 2014, 07:23:15 AM
Quote from: gderf on April 14, 2014, 06:28:34 AM

I'm not exactly sure what your last question means, but I suspect the answer is no.


The last question put another way:

Can you have a CC free incoming number, and instead of the number pointing at your CC issued Sip account for incoming calls, could you point the NY phone number to ring, say a Localphone SIP address, or a sip2sip address, to name a few?

Yes, CC allows you to forward a DID inbound either to a real phone number or to another providers (i.e. Voip.ms, Anveo, Sip2Sip, etc.) sip account via a pure sip URI connection.  You set this up in either the DID forwarding or call treatments menus.  Also remember that each CC extension is it's own sub account and can be reached via SIP from another SIP provider by URI dialing 1777XXXXXXXExt@in.callcentric.com.

Taoman

Quote from: mo832 on April 14, 2014, 07:23:15 AM
The last question put another way:

Can you have a CC free incoming number, and instead of the number pointing at your CC issued Sip account for incoming calls, could you point the NY phone number to ring, say a Localphone SIP address, or a sip2sip address, to name a few?
Yes, people do this all the time with Localphone so they can have incoming CNAM with their DID. If you were using Localphone's DID you would not have CNAM.

Usetheforceobiwan

Quote from: Taoman on April 14, 2014, 09:11:08 AM
Quote from: mo832 on April 14, 2014, 07:23:15 AM
The last question put another way:

Can you have a CC free incoming number, and instead of the number pointing at your CC issued Sip account for incoming calls, could you point the NY phone number to ring, say a Localphone SIP address, or a sip2sip address, to name a few?
Yes, people do this all the time with Localphone so they can have incoming CNAM with their DID. If you were using Localphone's DID you would not have CNAM.

CNAM = Caller ID Name Lookup.  GV only provides Caller ID, not CNAM .  Callcentric provides free CNAM to any account (including IP Freedom) which is worth at least $.50 / month.

FreeServiceForLife

If all I wanted to do was allow GV to forward calls to my Obi100 after the 15th, would I need to do anything other than sign up for CallCentric's Free DID (what does DID stand for anyway?) numbers and configure the OBi100?  Not really worried about placing calls with the OBi100 in the near term.

Thanks,

Z

pas777

Hello all, this sound like a good alternate.
I have a newbie question.

I like to set up just a International pay as you go with CC, I got a IP Freedom set up in a OBI 202 and it's registered
then I got a free NY DID number, How do I make it ring as incoming to the obi and trigger the Obi assistant  so I can place international call thought the pay as you go IP freedom??
if it's possible.?
Thanks

murtazao

Quote from: Usetheforceobiwan on April 13, 2014, 06:29:01 PM
Expanding this further, Callcentric lets you spoof outgoing verified caller ID's by extension so you have the potential to have 20 spoofed numbers if you assign a different CID to each extension.  Those 20 extensions are each sub accounts which means you can have 20 different softphones , ATA's PBX's, etc. logged into your account at the same time.  Callcentric also allows you to direct an incoming call on one of your DID's to a ring group of extensions or to a specific extension. 

I'm still trying to understand why you would even want this. When someone at a bar asks for your number you respond with "which one? I have 20!" :)

Or maybe you are operating a 20 person company. In that case, I imagine it would make sense to get a proper account set up with CC (or some other company) rather than cobbling together a bunch of free incoming numbers, and forwarding rules etc.

MikeHObi

Quote from: FreeServiceForLife on April 14, 2014, 02:32:30 PM
what does DID stand for anyway?
Direct Inward Dial.  It is a Phone number that can be dialed and directly ring your device.
Obi202 user & Obi100 using Anveo and Callcentric.

Usetheforceobiwan

Quote from: murtazao on April 14, 2014, 04:02:50 PM
Quote from: Usetheforceobiwan on April 13, 2014, 06:29:01 PM
Expanding this further, Callcentric lets you spoof outgoing verified caller ID's by extension so you have the potential to have 20 spoofed numbers if you assign a different CID to each extension.  Those 20 extensions are each sub accounts which means you can have 20 different softphones , ATA's PBX's, etc. logged into your account at the same time.  Callcentric also allows you to direct an incoming call on one of your DID's to a ring group of extensions or to a specific extension. 

I'm still trying to understand why you would even want this. When someone at a bar asks for your number you respond with "which one? I have 20!" :)

You only have to use one if that's all you wanna do.   CC also sells to small companies so I would think 20 may be considered not enough if you throw in a conference room, a couple fax machines, warehouse extensions, etc.  

cleith

Usetheforceobiwan

Can you provide a link to Callcentric where they say that you can get two free phone numbers with the IP Freedom accounts. I cant find anything on their website.  They also don't appear to have a sales number that I can call. 

If I am understanding you correctly. It sounds like I can get the IP Freedom account and have one of the free numbers forwarded using GV for incoming calls and then just sign up for the Pay Per Call plan for outgoing and this will work for a home phone using OBi110. 

Is my understanding correct. 

Thanks,
cleith


gderf

If you have one Callcentric Free DID and want another, just order another one.

Why do you need a link to something saying you can have two? Just take them and be done with it.

But if you do try for a third number you will get this response:

"We apologize, but due to fraud/abuse, accounts are limited to having only 2 Free Phone Numbers.

If you have a legitimate need more than 2 Free Phone Numbers we may be able to accommodate your request; however in order to do so we will need some further information in regards to your account and your intended use of these numbers."
Help me OBiHai PhoneOBi. You're my only hope.

cleith

I only need 1 but was not sure how to obtain it. But I think that I have figured it out.

Usetheforceobiwan

Quote from: gderf on April 15, 2014, 12:46:08 PM
If you have one Callcentric Free DID and want another, just order another one.

What he said  ;)

BobTeatow

#18
Others and I found that the "free" numbers provided by Callcentric work okay - BUT DO NOT support CNAM consistently/correctly.  (If this has been fixed please let us know! Seems to have been fixed a few months ago, I switched back to "free" and have had no problems for a few months - I'm adding this update on 9/21/2014 -- Also Google Voice is supported "officially" again -yea!)

However - the "dirt cheap" numbers do CNAM perfectly - AND I really like the way Callcentric allow you to edit/augment the CNAM database with your own personalized names for any numbers.  For example if "Aunt Millie" frequently calls you from 203-555-6789 and the CNAM shows up as JONES, MILLICENT CT or some such, you can change that to "Aunt Millie"  - especially great if you have a phone that does CNAM text to speech to "announce" incoming calls aloud.

I've been using this with GV for months now - works very well.

If any other VOIP provider has a similar and competitive CNAM service, I'd like to know!
GV has never supported CNAM to OBI (or similar ATAs)

Come May 15th....
For outbound calls I'm going to try LocalPhone.com - which is as cheap as $.001/minute when you "subscrbe"
Personally I'll subscribe for 800 minutes / $1.60... (that's $.002/minute) "overages" or no subscription rate is $.005.

Yes, I'd rather use just  GV or just Callcentric or just LocalPhone - but being a computer phone/geek - I'll use all three + my OBI (two devices for two people) to get the features I want.




Taoman

Quote from: BobTeatow on May 07, 2014, 09:01:56 AM
Others and I found that the "free" numbers provided by Callcentric work okay - BUT DO NOT support CNAM consistently/correctly.  (If this has been fixed please let us know!)


It has been fixed. I'm letting you know.