TIPS Awesome: Obihai OBi110 ATA with Google Voice

[atsak]

The last time I saw that issue, the guy didn't have the X_InboundCallRoute setting for Service Provider 2 (his Asterisk trunk) set correctly. See Reply #28 in this thread (currently the last message in the thread as I'm writing this):

http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=201.15

If that's not it, you might want to look through the rest of the thread — I must have suggested every cause I could think of somewhere in that thread!

In the article you wrote it seems to indicate the call route should be:

{>(1xxx xxx xxxx):sp1}, {>( xxx xxx xxx)pp}

And this is indeed what I have set in the X_inboundcallroute setting in sp2.

Frustratingly the calls on the FXS port work just fine over Google Voice; The dial string appears correct as well that's getting passed (ie I see 1xxxxxxxxxx getting sent in the CLI during the call setup).

I even changed the string to just:

{>(1xxxxxxxxxx):sp1}

In case there was something odd about the spacing or something (which of course there shouldn't be). The OBI just doesn't pass the call over, it replies with busy.

I'll keep fooling around with it.

 

[MichiganTelephone]

When you plug a phone into the phone port and try to dial out, does it go out via Google Voice? You should make sure that works first. It may be that you're not even registering with GV correctly.

You could try just changing that string to "sp1" (without the quotes) temporarily to see if that makes any difference. If it doesn't, then it's probably not that string that's the problem (I wouldn't leave it like that, but just for testing it can help you figure out if there really is a problem with that string).

If you do figure it out, please post what the problem was. I'd like to know what issues people may be running into, in case I need to tweak my instructions.

 

[atsak]

When you plug a phone into the phone port and try to dial out, does it go out via Google Voice? You should make sure that works first. It may be that you're not even registering with GV correctly.

Yes, it dials out via Google Voice (I see this in both the OBi log and the google voice log).

Also, I turned on syslogging and see the SIP conversation arrive at the OBi device. Now I need to understand why it won't simply pass the call, since clearly the trunk is setup properly on the Asterisk server or the call would never get there (I suspected this anyway because of the busy signal).

I am running the most up to date firmware as well.

 

[atsak]

You could try just changing that string to "sp1" (without the quotes) temporarily to see if that makes any difference. If it doesn't, then it's probably not that string that's the problem (I wouldn't leave it like that, but just for testing it can help you figure out if there really is a problem with that string).

The string being set as sp1 by itself works.

Tomorrow I will test for other circumstances (I tried putting the string back and it definately doesn't work right away again, so I'll see if I can modify the string in different ways). Perhaps there's something about the newest firmware ?????

Anyway, pleased to have it proven as workable.

 

[MichiganTelephone]

Now try using

{>(1xxx xxx xxxx):sp1}, {>(<ob> xxx xxx xxx):pp}

Make sure you copy and paste the line above and that you DON'T get any extra characters (such as a linefeed). I get the feeling that this is what happens in these cases — either there's a hidden "bad" character, or people try to retype the line by hand and they get regular parenthesis and curly braces mixed up. If even one character in the string isn't right, it can cause the OBi device to completely ignore the entire string. One thing you might want to do is copy the string to a plain text editor that doesn't support HTML or anything of that nature, make sure it looks right there, and then copy it from there to the SP2 X_InboundCallRoute setting, just to make sure you're not picking up any formatting or HTML garbage. Or, try erasing and re-typing the angle bracket characters (>) because they are represented by html entities (&gt on web pages.

This assumes your Google Voice trunk is on SP1, and your Asterisk trunk is on SP2.

 

[MichiganTelephone]

In the article you wrote it seems to indicate the call route should be:

{>(1xxx xxx xxxx):sp1}, {>( xxx xxx xxx)pp}

And this is indeed what I have set in the X_inboundcallroute setting in sp2.

I just wanted to note that this is wrong, and it's not your fault, it's WordPress (and mine for not noticing). opsb: If I happen to edit the article in "Visual" mode, which is the default in WordPress, it strips out the <ob> (and sometimes the other angle brackets) from the string. As I noted above, the correct string is:

{>(1xxx xxx xxxx):sp1}, {>(<ob> xxx xxx xxx):pp}

I think this is about the third time now that <ob> has turned up MIA and therefore I've added some text to the article that (among other things) advises people to check the pasted string against the string in the graphic in the article, which will not change no matter what mode I edit the article in.

 

[wardmundy]

Using ampersand, lt, and a semicolon avoids the problem.

 

[atsak]

As I noted above, the correct string is:

{>(1xxx xxx xxxx):sp1}, {>(<ob> xxx xxx xxx):pp}

I think this is about the third time now that <ob> has turned up MIA and therefore I've added some text to the article that (among other things) advises people to check the pasted string against the string in the graphic in the article, which will not change no matter what mode I edit the article in.

Confirmed. The copy and paste must have caused the problem. Typed the string manually and it works fine now. The upside to this was that I want to continue to use 1755 Gold, instead of purple. While I hang my personal stuff off the PBX, I also hang my business, so I'd rather have Gold running for that. My personal calls though can certainly run through Google Voice without an issue (as long as they don't notice I've got a funny accent and most of my calls have Canadian area codes).

 

[rossiv]

Just got mine today and have it configured for GV and an extension on my PIAF Silver. However, I would like to use this as a trunk for PIAF as well, but still keep GV and the other extension. Is this possible? From the look of MT's article, it looks like it isn't but I may be misunderstanding.
Another issue I am having, whenever I call my GV number (and this was before the Obi and now as well), it goes straight to voicemail. But ONLY from my cell phone. My landlines and other GV lines and VOIP.ms and pretty much any other phone number except mine works as expected. Also, none of the calls to or from my cell show up in the GV panel either. I have contacted Google, but does anyone know anything about this? And another thing, it goes to the generic GV greeting no matter what it is set to online.

 

[billsimon]

Ross, pardon me if this seems like a dumb question, but is your cell phone configured as a phone in Google Voice? (If so, you can't call your GV number from that phone and cause it to ring.)

 

[MichiganTelephone]

Ross, the problem is that you only have two service provider slots, so you would normally use one SP for Google Voice (assuming, as in your case, that you are not running PiaF purple) and the other as either an extension or a trunk off your PiaF server. But, it definitely is possible to make the same SP slot do double duty as both a trunk AND an extension. I haven't written this up yet (not in the final form that I want to, anyway), partly because I'm waiting for a certain beta feature to be publicly released (I'm not sure if I should talk about it yet, so I won't, but you don't need it to set this up now, it just may make it a little bit more difficult).

If you understand what is being done in these two articles...

How to use the Obihai OBi100 or OBi110 VoIP device as a gateway between Asterisk/FreePBX and Google Voice and/or the OBiTALK network

How to use the Obihai OBi100 or OBi110 VoIP device as a gateway between Asterisk/FreePBX and Google Voice and/or the OBiTALK network — Part 2: Using the Phone port as an Asterisk extension

...INCLUDING the comments under the second article, then you will understand that it's possible to "piggyback" an extension onto a trunk connection, and do even more than that (it can also act as a gateway to the OBiTALK network). It's mostly just a matter of routing, and being able to separate the extension's traffic from the rest of the traffic as it passes through the trunk (which isn't that difficult if you understand what you are doing).

If you want to try it and get stuck, feel free to leave a comment under that second article, or here in this thread (chances are that I will see the comment in my blog sooner, but then again, there may be more people following this thread, so it's a toss-up as to which would be more effective).

 

[rossiv]

Ross, pardon me if this seems like a dumb question, but is your cell phone configured as a phone in Google Voice? (If so, you can't call your GV number from that phone and cause it to ring.)

Yes, it is, but not for that account. It is for a different account, and for the one it is paired to, it goes to "To access your account..." not "The google voice subscriber..."

 

[rossiv]

Ross, the problem is that you only have two service provider slots, so you would normally use one SP for Google Voice (assuming, as in your case, that you are not running PiaF purple) and the other as either an extension or a trunk off your PiaF server. But, it definitely is possible to make the same SP slot do double duty as both a trunk AND an extension. I haven't written this up yet (not in the final form that I want to, anyway), partly because I'm waiting for a certain beta feature to be publicly released (I'm not sure if I should talk about it yet, so I won't, but you don't need it to set this up now, it just may make it a little bit more difficult).

If you understand what is being done in these two articles...

How to use the Obihai OBi100 or OBi110 VoIP device as a gateway between Asterisk/FreePBX and Google Voice and/or the OBiTALK network

How to use the Obihai OBi100 or OBi110 VoIP device as a gateway between Asterisk/FreePBX and Google Voice and/or the OBiTALK network — Part 2: Using the Phone port as an Asterisk extension

...INCLUDING the comments under the second article, then you will understand that it's possible to "piggyback" an extension onto a trunk connection, and do even more than that (it can also act as a gateway to the OBiTALK network). It's mostly just a matter of routing, and being able to separate the extension's traffic from the rest of the traffic as it passes through the trunk (which isn't that difficult if you understand what you are doing).

If you want to try it and get stuck, feel free to leave a comment under that second article, or here in this thread (chances are that I will see the comment in my blog sooner, but then again, there may be more people following this thread, so it's a toss-up as to which would be more effective).

I actually do have a Purple box running just fine, with the other 5 of my GV Accounts. I used to have 6, but moved the 6th over to the Obihai. What I will probably do is just drop the extension and make it the trunk.
--Sidenote, mostly OT: I plan on taking my Obi to St. Vincent and the Grenadines and using it there for phone service with GV. Will that work since it is on the Obi or will GV notice the difference or what? Will I need to route it back in a VPN? (Not trying to hijack the thread, but I don't know if the Obi uses some special protocol for GV that may route it back to the US or not)

 

[It's all good]

--Sidenote, mostly OT: I plan on taking my Obi to St. Vincent and the Grenadines and using it there for phone service with GV. Will that work since it is on the Obi or will GV notice the difference or what? Will I need to route it back in a VPN? (Not trying to hijack the thread, but I don't know if the Obi uses some special protocol for GV that may route it back to the US or not)

I used an Obi110 in Costa Rica in early February using my GV number just fine. ~200 calls were made and received.

 

[wardmundy]

If it doesn't work, you can always connect thru another OBi in the U.S. using a Circle of Trust. Probably depends upon whether Google considers the St. Vincent IP address as one in the U.S. Keep us posted. If you have a problem, contact us and we can set you up a link temporarily thru one of our devices if you don't have two.

 

[atsak]

They don't seem to block Canadian ones. I realize some people think we're the 51st state so maybe that's it. You definately can't sign up from a Canadian IP though.

 

[wardmundy]

I don't see ULC, but it does indicate that it is Class B compliant with Canadian ICES-003.

 

[MichiganTelephone]

Is there any legit e-tailer other than amazon.com? They won't ship to me in Canada and the amazon.ca site doesn't sell it (of course!). Looks like my only option at this point is ebay, about $100 with the overpriced shipping.

Lorne, before you buy from an unauthorized seller (and lose your right to warranty or technical support), I'd at least fire off an e-mail to obihai.com (use the support@ … address) and ask if they can suggest a way for you to obtain a legitimate unit.

 

[Lavarock7]

And they are not blocking Hawaii, even though many people think WE are a foreign country...

 

[Tekmon]

911- old cell? One could just leave the cell charged and use straight up as cell phone for emergency only. I'm going to test it here locally. Sorry mam not an emergency. Great idea.