Anveo for ObiTalk (Approved Service Provider)

[AlanB]

I wanted to share some findings about the Anveo ObiTalk plan that are not obvious until after you sign up.

1) The SIP information is locked.  Accessing this info in Anveo gives the following:
Access to SIP credentials (username/password) is restricted on your subscription package. However, you can still configure other SIP related options.

2) Because of item 1), you must use the ObiTalk provisioning tool for the Anveo Approved Service Provider account.  You can not provision manually.

3) If you already have an Anveo 911 account provisioned, the provisioning tool may fail.  I tried three times to provision and had problems.  I finally decided to delete the Anveo 911 provisioning and then my reprovision of my new Anveo account worked.

4) If you need to reprovision, Anveo for ObiTalk, you need to start the sign-up procedure, but on the first page after you click on a plan, there is some small text with a link to reprovision.

5) Incoming CallerID with Name is turned OFF by default even if you select the Basic Plus plan.  To turn it on, you need to go to Phone Numbers..Manage Phone Numbers..(edit phone number)..Caller ID.

6) Outgoing CNAM (Caller ID with Name) does not appear to be available.  ("Spoofing" a callerID number works fine.  There is a $0.01 charge for verification because they've experienced a high number of "spoofs").

7) Minor detail but Anveo cycles all end on the 14th of the month.  So, your first month will be prorated and the difference will be credited to your account balance to be used as necessary.

8 ) I wasn't planning to use this, but did notice that online Conference Call feature is disabled (in my Just Right! plan)

9) Consistent with billing cycle, the minutes available for outgoing calls reset on at on the 15th at midnight GMT.  They were generous and did not prorate the first partial month.

10) Voice mail can be configured to send you a WAV file as an e-mail.  The MWI (message waiting indicator) works on my phone with no problems.

11) Call Flow is a great feature to route calls.  Great for avoiding blocked calls. You can even set up unknown numbers to make them dial a number to actually get the call through.

12) As of May 6, 2014, the provisioning includes protection against SIP scanners.  

Just wanted to pass this info on.  If you've got any questions about other features, I'll be glad to log in and check.

Message 86 has some good info on signing up as well: http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=7391.msg49930#msg49930



***Anveo is currently porting from Google Voice for free and claims the port can be completed in one hour!

Reply #96 indicates that there is a 30 day period in which you can cancel and receive a refund.

[ericab]

Hi Alan;
thanks for the list;
i too recently signed up for the BASIC PLUS plan, and have run into every entry on your list.

im very disappointed by #1. i was hoping to use my landline # on my android softphone, but i guess this isnt possible now.


(i did save my config file, and tried to cherry pick the anveo SIP password; but for some reason the entry where is should be isnt there;
the username is however...)

[MikeHObi]

5) Incoming CallerID with Name is turned OFF by default even if you select the Basic Plus plan.  To turn it on, you need to go to Phone Numbers..Manage Phone Numbers..(edit phone number)..Caller ID.

You may want to note that by turning that on you may incur additional costs for CNAME look-ups.

[giqcass]

(i did save my config file, and tried to cherry pick the anveo SIP password; but for some reason the entry where is should be isnt there;
the username is however...)

That is for security.  No ITSP passwords should be saved in your backup config file.  Being forced to use Obitalk for the config = me not very likely to subscribe.

Are the call flow options still there?
Are the pro call flow options still available for an additional fee?
Has anyone got Anveo to move the balance of an old account to the new account?

[AlanB]

5) Incoming CallerID with Name is turned OFF by default even if you select the Basic Plus plan.  To turn it on, you need to go to Phone Numbers..Manage Phone Numbers..(edit phone number)..Caller ID.

You may want to note that by turning that on you may incur additional costs for CNAME look-ups.

CNAM is included in the Obitalk Basic Plus option.  It shows a fee of $0 by the option to turn it on.

[ericab]

(i did save my config file, and tried to cherry pick the anveo SIP password; but for some reason the entry where is should be isnt there;
the username is however...)

That is for security.  No ITSP passwords should be saved in your backup config file.  Being forced to use Obitalk for the config = me not very likely to subscribe.

Are the call flow options still there?
Are the pro call flow options still available for an additional fee?
Has anyone got Anveo to move the balance of an old account to the new account?

call-flow is there, and works beautifully and call-flow pro widgets are there and available for use.
i considered having anveo transfer the balance from my old account into my new basic-plus account; have not tried yet; it seems like they have put up a fight in the past to this ?

[AlanB]

Are the call flow options still there?
Are the pro call flow options still available for an additional fee?
Has anyone got Anveo to move the balance of an old account to the new account?

I'm not familiar with the pro call flow options.  I do see several call flow templates.  Where should I check for the pro call flow options.

[ericab]

they are all on the left hand side --->   https://db.tt/WHw9h1W7

[c3c3]

I just had an online chat with Anveo.  I was told to sign up for the new account first and request to have the balance moved over.  The CSR cannot change a current account to the new plan.  If you want to use the same email address, you have to ask the CSR to change the email address for the current account first.

[jsteuart]

Signed up for the basic Anveo plan.  Mostly satisfied, BUT:

> No voicemail transcription in the plan.  Not even a paid option.

Will go back forwarding my GVoice # to get this back.

Don't do much outbound calling on the landline nowadays, so we'll see if the 250 minutes is an issue.

[AlanB]

I ported my phone number from Google Voice to Anveo.  The process took about five days.  You first need to unlock your Google Voice number.  If you had one of their numbers you must pay $3 to do this.  I had ported my old landline to Google Voice when I got my Obi, so in my case I could just unlock without the $3 fee (I had paid $20 to port in the first place).

The fee for Anveo port in for this plan is $15 for a US number.  While it's not as cheap as some other providers currently have, $15 is a fair price.  I didn't even have that much money in my account and Anveo let me go to a negative balance.

Overall, the porting process from Google Voice was quite simple.

[c3c3]

I just had an online chat with Anveo.  I was told to sign up for the new account first and request to have the balance moved over.  The CSR cannot change a current account to the new plan.  If you want to use the same email address, you have to ask the CSR to change the email address for the current account first.

I just had the balance transferred.  You need to submit a ticket from the old account.

[c3c3]

Overall, the porting process from Google Voice was quite simple.

Thanks for the report.  I'm still debating whether I should port or stay with forwarding.  Did you have problem with calls forwarded from GV to Anveo?

[BravoKilo]

Thanks Alan.
Item #6 on your list (no out-going CNAM) means if we keep our number on GoogleVoice we cannot send that number on out-going calls originated from the Obi device, right?

http://blog.obihai.com/2013/12/what-does-40-bucks-and-obi-device-buy.html

[AlanB]

Thanks Alan.
Item #6 on your list (no out-going CNAM) means if we keep our number on GoogleVoice we cannot send that number on out-going calls originated from the Obi device, right?

http://blog.obihai.com/2013/12/what-does-40-bucks-and-obi-device-buy.html

No, your statement is not correct.  You can "spoof" your Google Voice phone number so that your GV number will show when you make a call using Anveo for ObiTalk.

CNAM is the TEXT (or NAME) that goes along with the phone number.  This won't apply if you are keeping Google Voice, as Google Voice controls your CNAM and they don't let you modify it.

In other words, if you port a number to Anveo, like with GV, you won't be able to set a NAME that displays on outbound calls. 

Actually, for $2/month more, it is possible to have CNAM (by having a second number on the account), but I'm not going to pay that fee.

[AlanB]

Overall, the porting process from Google Voice was quite simple.

Thanks for the report.  I'm still debating whether I should port or stay with forwarding.  Did you have problem with calls forwarded from GV to Anveo?

Occasionally I did have garbling.

Since my port was just completed this morning, I have no comparison of incoming calls directly with Anveo yet.  I'll report back on that in a few weeks, but I don't anticipate any problems based on general Anveo reviews.

My main reason to port was for simplicity.  We typically use our answering machine at home, not GV voicemail.  Now I have control over time to go to voicemail and I can extend the number of rings at home.

[Jackson]

Great post, thanks for taking the time to explain it so thoroughly.

Two questions.

3) If you already have an Anveo 911 account provisioned, the provisioning tool may fail.  I tried three times to provision and had problems.  I finally decided to delete the Anveo 911 provisioning and then my reprovision of my new Anveo account worked.

So in my existing account I have a phone number (which I don't really need) and e911.  So you are saying I should basically delete both?  When I jump on the new plan will it not use my current account? I'm not concerned about my balance it's <$2.

[BravoKilo]

Thanks Alan.
Item #6 on your list (no out-going CNAM) means if we keep our number on GoogleVoice we cannot send that number on out-going calls originated from the Obi device, right?

http://blog.obihai.com/2013/12/what-does-40-bucks-and-obi-device-buy.html

No, your statement is not correct.  You can "spoof" your Google Voice phone number so that your GV number will show when you make a call using Anveo for ObiTalk.

CNAM is the TEXT (or NAME) that goes along with the phone number.  This won't apply if you are keeping Google Voice, as Google Voice controls your CNAM and they don't let you modify it.

In other words, if you port a number to Anveo, like with GV, you won't be able to set a NAME that displays on outbound calls. 

Actually, for $2/month more, it is possible to have CNAM (by having a second number on the account), but I'm not going to pay that fee.

Thanks Alan.  I'm considering using GoogleVoice for voicemail and forwarding to Anveo for the Obi device.  If Anveo let's me spoof my number on outgoing calls, then it sounds like the main thing I'm losing when converting from GoogleVoice XMPP service to Anveo is MWI (message waiting indicator) for voicemails.

[c3c3]

Set up my call flow to ring Obi and mobile at the same time.  If no answer, go to voicemail.  I also changed the voicemail notification email format to MP3, so GMail can play it back directly.

[AlanB]

Great post, thanks for taking the time to explain it so thoroughly.

Two questions.

3) If you already have an Anveo 911 account provisioned, the provisioning tool may fail.  I tried three times to provision and had problems.  I finally decided to delete the Anveo 911 provisioning and then my reprovision of my new Anveo account worked.

So in my existing account I have a phone number (which I don't really need) and e911.  So you are saying I should basically delete both?  When I jump on the new plan will it not use my current account? I'm not concerned about my balance it's <$2.

Based on my experience, you will need to remove any Anveo accounts you currently have provisioned.  You can then run the Anveo for ObiTalk provisioning to assign to an SP.   Your new account will have a phone number and 911.

Should you want the old account, still until it expires, you can always set it up again on another SP after provisioning Anveo for ObiTalk.  In my case I still had three months on my Anveo e911 account, but I don't need it anymore so I didn't reprovision it.