All the positive buzz about this product is true. Same product/features/setup as Obihai OBi110 (read reviews on Amazon.com) but without the land line (POTS) service. I am using this as a replacement for my home phone line. You can not port your home number directly to Google Voice, but you can port to a mobile prepaid company of you choice and THEN port to Google Voice for $20. Plus the unit is the size of a mouse and comes with a 100-240v adapter. I have not tested this device outside of U.S./Canada yet but will report back with results. I am really impressed by this device. Hats off to the folks at Obihai and Google Voice. OBi100 VoIP Telephone Adapter and Voice Service Bridge
(Edited April 28, 2011)
The OBi100 is a FANTASTIC device. FIVE STARS FOR THE HARDWARE DEVICE ITSELF. The OBi100 is really small. And it's easy to hook up. There really isn't too much to say about the hardware itself except to say it's too easy to hook up. The OBi100 is designed to work with the various VoIP services that are out there. And, in particular, the OBi100 is "suppose" to work with Google Voice. Many people should have no problem getting the OBi100 to work with Google Voice (GV). Set up your GV account, log into Google Chat in GMAIL, and make at least one outgoing call from GMAIL. Then do the setup for the OBi100. The online OBiTalk setup for the OBi100 is relatively easy to follow. And then it should all work for both incoming GV calls and outgoing GV calls. The typical incoming GV call process could be illustrated as follows:
Incoming Call
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V
Google Voice Number
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V
OBi100
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V
Phone
But for some people, like myself, there could be a problem -- in particular, getting the phone connected to the OBi100 to ring on each and every incoming Google Voice call. Note that OUTGOING calls via Google Voice using the OBi100-connected phone were not a problem. The problem was getting the OBi100-connected phone to ring on each and every *INCOMING* Google Voice call. In other words, some incoming GV calls would ring but most other incoming GV calls would not ring. And this was with numerous repeated calls from the same phones calling into the GV number. It's was like: ring, not ring. If you don't encounter this problem, then consider yourself to be lucky and blessed.
I originally wanted to have my Google Voice to forward calls to my iPhone and also to the phone connected to my OBi100. However, initially, using the default OBi100 setup for Google Voice, the phone connected to the OBi100 may ring or may not ring -- although my iPhone would certainly ring. It was like hit-or-miss if the OBi100-connected phone would ring on an incoming GV call. I've tried directly hooking up the OBi100 to several different phones, which I know all ring when we last had AT&T service in our home, but the hit-or-miss ringing still occurred. This hit-or-miss ringing (or non-ringing) also happened with Google Chat which handles the calls in GMAIL. The OBi100 has a built-in google-chat function which is "suppose" to allow the Obi device to handle GV calls. It is "suppose" to work and should for most people. But it did not work for me.
As far as I can guess, there was probably some sort of issue with how Google Voice works with Google Chat. So, that was really more of a Google Voice problem and not completely the fault of this Obi device. If you do a search in the Google Voice discussion forum, and do a search for something like "not ring" or "not ringing", then you can see that a bunch of people are having problems with GV not ringing forwarded incoming calls on home phones, work phones, and in Gmail. Incoming GV calls forwarded to a cell phone seems to be more successful in getting the cell phone to ring. The frequent non-ringing of incoming calls in Gmail and the OBi100 appears to be with how Google Voice works with Google Chat to take incoming calls. The "Google Chat" capability should theoretically make the OBi100 ring on incoming GV calls. However, it did not work for me where GV is dependent on forwarding incoming calls to Google Chat and therefore to the built-in google-chat function in the OBi100.
TELEPHONE NOT RING FOR INCOMING GOOGLE VOICE CALLS???
POSSIBLE SOLUTION: USE A SIP TO HANDLE INCOMING GV CALLS
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If you look in the Google Voice settings under Phones, you will see where you can select which phones GV forwards incoming calls to. The first phone is Google Chat. And the box for that may be checked as a default. This allows you to take incoming GV calls while in GMAIL if you are logged into Google Chat in GMAIL. And the OBi100 used a google-chat function to handle Google Voice calls. But it wasn't working for me because the phone was NOT ringing. So what to do to fix this? One option is to simply wait for Google to fix this issue. I really don't hold out any hope for Google fixing this issue anytime soon.
My solution is to take the google-chat function out of the equation for *INCOMING* calls and instead use something else to handle the incoming calls on the OBi100. That meant I had to use a SIP service. SIP stands for Session Initiation Protocol which is a standard used for Voice over IP (VoIP). You can look that up if you want more of a technical explanation. But from a practical standpoint that meant I had to look for a free or cheap SIP service that I could use.
What I got was a free account at SIPGATE dot com where I then set up SIPGATE as Service Provider 2 (SP2) in the OBi settings. Google Voice was already set up as Service Provider 1 (SP1) when I originally set up GV on my OBi100. When you sign up for SIPGATE, get the free account. The free SIPGATE account is free for taking incoming calls. SIPGATE is not free for making outgoing calls (after the initial free 60-minutes of outgoing SIPGATE calls that are good for thirty days). I got a San Francisco area code (415) telephone number which is not where I live in California. You may probably get one in your state, but don't expect one that is in your city since you're getting the SIPGATE number for free. If you want a SIPGATE number in your city, you will probably have to pay for one. If you don't get a SIPGATE number in your state, it shouldn't matter because you will be intending that only incoming GV calls to be forwarded to the SIPGATE number to be received by the OBi100.
The idea here is that the OBi100 uses SIPGATE to handle your incoming GV calls and therefore make the OBi100-connected phone ring. Let me also point out that, meanwhile, the OBi100 will still be using GV but for making your outgoing GV calls. The following illustrates the process:
Incoming GV Call:
(using SIPGATE to get phone to ring)
Incoming Call
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V
Google Voice
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V
SIPGATE
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V
OBi100
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V
Phone
Outgoing GV Call:
(does NOT require SIPGATE)
Phone ( Outgoing Call )
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V
OBi100
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V
Google Voice
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V
Whoever You're Calling
SETTING UP SIPGATE + GOOGLE VOICE + OBi100
--------------------------------------------------------
The following is the step-by-step setup that I went through to set up SIPGATE to work with Google Voice and my OBi100:
1. sign up at SIPGATE dot com
2. get free number
3. install SIPGATE software on computer
4. turn on the SIPGATE software
5. set up your SIPGATE number in Google Voice
6. verify your SIPGATE number
7. answer the call in the SIPGATE software and verify (you may have to do this several times to get it to take) (you'll have to click the dialpad button to get the dialpad in order to verify)
8. while you are still in the Google Voice website, go into settings, phones, and you can uncheck the box for Google Chat (to eliminate the need for the OBi100 to use the google-chat function to handle incoming GV calls, but this also results in removing the capability of receiving incoming calls in Gmail)
9. go back to the SIPGATE website where you should be logged in
10. go into the SIPGATE settings and click "SIP Credentials"
11. get the SIP-ID and the SIP-Password
12. log into the OBiTalk dot com website and go into the OBi Dashboard settings
13. under "My OBi Endpoints", click the gear icon in the "Action" column for your OBi100
14. below "Device Configuration", look for the section underneath at the bottom of the page for "Configure Voice Services"
15. Service Provider 1 (SP1) is most likely set up for Google Voice if you have that set up already
16. Service Provider 2 (SP2) may be blank (I remember it being there with nothing)
17. click the gear icon to get into the SP2 settings
18. when you get a list, click "Sipgate"
19. enter your SIP-ID from SIPGATE as your Username
20. enter your SIP-Password
21. make sure that the box for "Make This the Primary Line to Call Out" is NOT checked for your SIPGATE (because you want SIPGATE to only take incoming calls)
22. click submit
23. click "OBi Dashboard" in the left column and click the gear icon again for your OBi100
24. this time click the gear icon for Google Voice in the "Configure Voice Services" section at the bottom of the page
25. make sure that the box for "Make This the Primary Line to Call Out" is CHECKED for your Google Voice (to have Google Voice handle outgoing calls)
Note: If SIPGATE did not show up as "Registered" in the "Configure Voice Services" section, then input your SIP-ID and SIP-Password again, and then go back to see if SIPGATE is "Registered". I had to do this several times before it took.
Note: By adding SIPGATE in the Google Voice phone settings, that also adds SIPGATE to your groups settings in Google Voice but that is what you may want anyways.
Note: If you are unable to get a free SIPGATE account because they ran out of numbers, you can either wait until they get more numbers or you can try a different SIP service provider. Just be sure you get the correct SIP username and password credentials for whatever provider you use because those credentials may be different than the SIP provider's website user login.
Multiple Forwarding: I've also tried a funneling of multiple-phone forwarding of incoming calls and that worked where the SIPGATE number is designated as a HOME number in the GV settings for two different GV numbers. Using the SIPGATE as the funnel is the key to this. The process can be illustrated as follows:
Incoming Call
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V
Google Voice #1
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V
SIPGATE <------ Google Voice #2 <----- Incoming Call
| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
V . . . . . . . . . . . .. . |
OBi100. . . . . . . . . . |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
V . . . . . . . . . . .. . . V
HOUSE . . . . . . . . CELL
PHONE . . . . . . . . PHONE
In this illustration, the idea is that although the "House Phone" receives *INCOMING* GV calls made to GV #1, the "House Phone" can also receive *INCOMING* GV calls made to GV #2 for my "Cell Phone". (Also, although *OUTGOING* calls are not illustrated with arrows, in my setup, the "House Phone" makes *OUTGOING* GV calls via GV #1 while the "Cell Phone" makes *OUTGOING* GV calls via GV #2.)
So far, by using this GV-SIPGATE-OBi100 arrangement, all incoming Google Voice calls have been ringing on the phone connected to my OBi100. So, it was a "ringing" success. LOL. Thank you SIPGATE.
At this point, it appears that perhaps the only time when the phone connected to the OBi100 may not ring is if the OBi100 loses the internet connection.
MORE GOOGLE VOICE SETTINGS
-------------------------------------
As for other settings that I use in Google Voice, this works for me to make incoming GV calls to more directly go where I want the calls to go.
[1] GV Phone #1 - OBi100 (GV-to-SIPGATE):
In GV settings,
Phones > only forwards to my SIPGATE number
[2] GV Phone #2 - iPhone (GV-to-cell-phone):
In the GV settings,
Phones > only forwards to my iPhone's AT&T number and to my SIPGATE number
Advanced settings (for the iPhone) > Forwarding Options > checked "Ring my other phones before going to voicemail"
(This GV number was originally my cell phone number before I signed up for GV in the first place and before I got an iPhone. It's just recently when I ported that cell phone number to GV and now have it forward to my iPhone.)
I also have the Call Screening turned off for both GV phone numbers, but that's my personal preference. You may like Call Screening and want to keep it turned on. And in Gmail, I'm NOT logged into Google Chat for either GV phone number.
HOW ABOUT SKYPE AND THE OBi100?
-------------------------------------------
NOTE: You do NOT need SKYPE if all you want is the free Google Voice number.
I already pay for a SKYPE number for taking incoming calls from people with telephones. And I also pay for a SKYPE "unlimited" subscription for making outgoing SKYPE calls to telephone numbers. I have the SKYPE number forwarding to both my iPhone's AT&T number and also to the GV number dedicated to my OBi100. The forwarding works fine and the phones do ring on each and every incoming SKYPE call.
You cannot *DIRECTLY* configure SKYPE into the OBi device. However, you can go into your SKYPE settings and have SKYPE forward to your GV number to get the incoming SKYPE calls via GV going to the OBi. For my arrangement, the process can be illustrated as follows:
Forwarding SKYPE call (SKYPE-to-GV-to-SIPGATE-to-OBi):
(using SIPGATE to get the OBi100 to ring if OBi100-connected phone can't ring otherwise)
Incoming Call (made to SKYPE number)
|
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V
SKYPE
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V
Google Voice
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V
SIPGATE
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V
OBi100
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V
Phone
I have SKYPE set up to allow incoming calls from anyone. That means I can get get calls from anyone calling my SKYPE number as well as calls from anyone trying to contact me via free SKYPE-to-SKYPE calls to my SKYPE username. And with SKYPE forwarding to my Google Voice number, then that means I can get the incoming SKYPE calls on my OBi100-connected phone.
(Unfortunately, that may also mean getting telemarketing calls from people making free SKYPE-to-SKYPE junk spam calls to my SKYPE username. I get those junk calls once in a while. I would then go into the SKYPE website to check my call history, look at my forwarded calls which will have my phone number in the log, click the "+" on the call to see the username of the caller and then manually put that username in the "Manage Block Users" list in the SKYPE software.)
Also in the SKYPE settings, I have SKYPE forward after 10 seconds to give me a chance to pick up the skype call on my computer if I want to. If you don't want the caller to wait through too many rings before the skype call is finally forwarded, and if you don't ever want to take the skype call on the computer, you may want to set SKYPE to forward after 1 or 2 seconds.
That's all only for *INCOMING* SKYPE calls. If you want to make *OUTGOING* SKYPE calls, then you'll have to do that on your computer or use something like a separate IPEVO SKYPE phone. If you want more of a combined solution for use with your OBi device to include outgoing SKYPE calls, then you may want to set up your own private SIP server on a computer dedicated to SKYPE, or you may want to get something like the Philips VOIP841 phone device, and then somehow set that up with your OBi device. It would be wonderful if SKYPE was somehow integrated into the OBi device, but that's probably asking for too much and would probably greatly increase the price of the OBi device.
FAX MACHINES
-----------------
If you are wondering about faxes, I've tried connecting a fax machine to the OBi100 and tried faxing a four-page document to Hawaii from California using my GV number. The result was a four-page blank fax at the other end. I've checked the fax machine's manual to make sure that I was putting in the paper correctly. I've also tried to fax to a local fax number and that refused to work. From what I can tell, you need a real phone line to send faxes from a fax machine and the OBi100 with Google Voice will not work for that. Also, the Google Voice discussion forum indicates faxing is not supported.
By the way, SIPGATE does have a web-based faxing capability to send out faxes, but you may have to pay for that. SIPGATE has a support page for setting up a fax machine, but you would be using SIPGATE to make an outgoing call sending out a fax. In the arrangement described in this review, only the free SIPGATE account is being used for incoming calls. Also SIPGATE does not guarantee the reliability of using a fax machine with the SIPGATE service. I assume that means for both sending or receiving a fax via the SIPGATE service using a fax machine. If you want an online service for both incoming and outgoing faxes, you may want to check out services such as TrustFAX but you would be using that on a computer and NOT with a fax machine connected to the OBi100.
INDOOR HOME TELEPHONE WIRING JACKS
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If you want to hook up the OBi100 with Google Voice to your home's existing telephone wiring, that should work. We've had AT&T landline service disconnected and turned OFF at our home for some time now and so the telephone wiring in the home was not being used at all. But connect the phone line from the OBi100 to the phone jack in the wall and now there's a dial tone on the extension phones throughout the home. If you don't have a phone jack that is near your OBi100 to connect to, then use cordless phones.
If you are thinking about using an electrical phone extension that plugs into an electrical outlet to connect your OBi device to your home telephone wiring because your nearest telephone jack is like in another room, then you may not be too happy with using an electrical phone extension because it may intermittently work where you may lose the dialtone and any calls may have a bunch of static. By itself that may happen. However, it'll work if you also use a simple phone line splitter to directly connect a phone to the OBi100 as well as a line going to the electrical phone extension. Plug into an electrical outlet further away from the OBi100, router, and modem to minimize the static interference if you have to use an electrical phone extension, but you'll most likely still get static on the extension phones connected to the home's telephone wiring jacks (since the electrical phone extension is also being used to get to the jacks). It would be better, without the static, if you can plug directly into a jack and not use an electrical phone extension to get to a jack. You may want to use cordless phones if you don't have enough phone jacks around your home to use.
Outgoing Calls, Incoming GV Call Ringing & Conclusion
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If you only want to make OUTGOING calls, then using Google Voice with the OBi100 works wonderfully. Whether making outgoing GV calls or taking an incoming GV call, the GV calls are clear and with almost no latency delay. Talking during calls was like on a real phone for me. If you don't want to do all of this extra setting up, then I would say spend more money and get an Ooma. My parents have the Ooma Telo box and the calls on that are like with a real phone company. Nonetheless, despite the extra hassles that you may have to go through in getting incoming Google Voice calls to ring on a phone connected to the OBi100, this device by itself is worth getting at such a cheap price.'
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