HELLO & WELCOME

[WelshPaul]

So I decided to set up a google voice account tonight, as i am in the UK i did this via a VPN. Call centric helped complete the process and i now have an active google voice account. But...

What happens if you attempt to setup your google voice account on an OBIHAI device from outside the US? will it work and continue to work months down the line?

[kylerlittle]

What exactly are you going to use it for? I think it depends.

[WelshPaul]

What exactly are you going to use it for? I think it depends.

Well mainly to learn how it works, how it configures across the OBIHAI devices, this will help when providing support to others.

I did a bit of reading on this last night and found out it costs just 3.4p to call a mobile here in the UK! That's cheap, very cheap. So I am now considering using it for that very reason. My only issue, would anyone answer my calls? The caller ID would show an US telephone number. Most people over here see those types of calls from cold callers and as a result either block them or simply ignore them.

I was just wondering if registering a google voice account on an OBIHAI device and then using it permanently here the UK results in any problems further down the line? Such as google closing the account? Last thing I want to do is add a load of credit only to find out further down the road my google voice account has been deleted/restricted along with any calling credit.

I will do some more research on google voice later and see what I can dig up.

[kylerlittle]

I think it does absolutely matter though. But, if you couldn't do it, and then people wouldn't answer due to it being a US number, couldn't you try other services? Skype is a great one, and you can even choose a caller ID for yourself, and people can call you directly to Skype by having a Skype number, and it's even so cheap.

[WelshPaul]

I think it does absolutely matter though.

I didn't say it didn't.

But, if you couldn't do it, and then people wouldn't answer due to it being a US number, couldn't you try other services?

I think you mean if I could do it?

As for 'trying another service' well I have other services, loads, trouble is none offer calls to UK mobiles at 3.6p or less a minute.

Skype is a great one, and you can even choose a caller ID for yourself, and people can call you directly to Skype by having a Skype number, and it's even so cheap.

It's not cheap at all, Skype has it's place but it's no substitute for replacing your home landline and as for business use well pfft. :P

[kylerlittle]

Did you check the price rates? It's even cheaper than 3.6p a minute. There's a lot of price rates and different plans on Skype, look it up.

[WelshPaul]

Did you check the price rates? It's even cheaper than 3.6p a minute. There's a lot of price rates and different plans on Skype, look it up.

Of course I did, Skype charge 7.6p per minute to call a UK mobile. Landline calls are also more expensive at 1.8p per minute. They also charge a connection fee on some calls.

[pwarbi]

Just going back a bit to the caller ID issue, you said that it would come up as a US nunber? Would there not be a way to bypass that? If not then it wouldn't be an issue anyway for long as I'm guessing not many people will have friends calling them for US numbers apart from you, so it won't really matter anyway.

Or am I missing something?

[dibts]

Hmmm... I haven't tried doing it. I will give it a shot on my end and see for myself.

[pwarbi]

Brings up another point really but does anybody use call forwarding on a personal account or is it only useful when used for business?

[Guest]

@WelshPaul hey,

Did you persevere with this?

I'm in your exact position and researching workarounds...

Yours hopefully

[WelshPaul]

After creating a google voice account as mentioned in my post above I went on to configure my OBi1032 to work with it.

I can confirm that it continued to work a couple of months down the line even though it was being accessed from a UK IP address.

It appeared to work very well, sadly nobody ever answered my calls though as the CLI gave the impression I was a cold caller! :oops:

[drgeoff]

For more than a year I have had a GV account and number which I set up from here in the UK. Didn't use a VPN, just a free DID from IPKall. Has been on an OBi1032 since last autumn. Has also been on various Asterisk servers including a JS200-FX and briefly for testing on Sipsorcery. I never put any credit on the account. Never had any issues.