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VOIP and other free phone thread
Old 08-21-2019, 07:09 AM   #61
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VOIP and other free phone thread

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Originally Posted by JoeWras View Post
Were the 911 people OK with this? I heard it is illegal to "test" in some places?

I wondered about that too and searched for accepted testing procedures. I found 911.gov which has a lot of info.

I called the (non-emergency) sheriff and asked first. They said, “call 911 and say you’re testing, it’s OK”. So I did. The person who took the call was very nice, took it in stride.

I wouldn’t do it blind. Ask the non-emergency police/sheriff first.
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Old 08-21-2019, 07:11 AM   #62
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Originally Posted by steelyman View Post
I wondered about that too and searched for accepted testing procedures. I found 911.gov which has a lot of info.

I called the (non-emergency) sheriff and asked first. They said, “call 911 and say you’re testing, it’s OK”. So I did. The person who took the call was very nice, took it in stride.

I wouldn’t do it blind. Ask the non-emergency police/sheriff first.

Great information, Steelyman. Thank you.
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Old 08-21-2019, 07:16 AM   #63
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Great information, Steelyman. Thank you.

You’re welcome. Next up: the acid test with my brand-new mobile provider while at and away from home!
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Old 11-02-2019, 08:46 AM   #64
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Steps to do this (port landline to Google Voice):
  1. Obtain OBI200 get it up and running with existing Google Voice number (my dad's old number)
  2. Port out landline to cell phone. Required by Google Voice to port in.
  3. Port cell phone to Google voice to replace old Google Voice number.
  4. Obtain E911 service on OBI200 through a different service provider.
I'm current at step 1 as I write. I want step 2 to go smoothly.
DONE with all steps as of this morning. Also added another step:
5. Connect OBI with home phone wiring so all phones work seemlessly.

This was slightly painful. Step 1 and 4 were super easy. I had consternation about it, but Polycom/OBIhai make connecting to Google Voice and adding E911 super easy. So we're paying $25 per year for E911 via OBI's default suggested E911 provider, Anveo. Basically, $2 per month.

Step 2 was painful. In the last few years, the number of plans that are cheap and have voice only are going away. T-Mobile used to have PayGo or something like that. Turns out they gave it to Ultra Mobile. You still have to go to a T-Mo store to get this secret Ultra Mobile SIM. It should be something like $13 total to get started, to make your port out easy.

Turns out, the kids at these stores are all confused. I had no luck getting an agent that knew about the Ultra Mobile Paygo. So I then go to the AT&T store to get their prepaid, and mention I want to port from a landline. The kids there say: "Seriously, you can do that? Who even has a landline anyway?"

The upshot is you are probably better off going to some web-only MVNO to get your landline ported to a cheap cell. I thought doing it with in-person help would make it easier. It made it harder. I don't want to drag out the details but it took me a day of running around to get that accomplished.

Step 3 actually took 4 days. It should only take 1. But I think it was because I had an old ported number on my Google Voice account existing. If I were to do this again, I'd transfer that number away (or delete) it first. Don't try to port in over it. I ultimately had to open a ticket with Google to resolve this. Note: if you are porting in over a number given by google voice, it should be easy with no issues.

The good news is that all is working today. Finally.

Oh, and as for step 5... I back-plugged my OBI into my phone jack and it resulted in a dead line. Turns out I had to disconnect the phone connection from Uverse. Even though it was "dead", it was pulling the line down to ground or something. Because of the way the tech backwired my phone from Uverse out to the outside junction box, I had to go outside and on the "consumer side" of the wiring box, make a disconnection. This may be a bit unnerving for many people.

So on goes the odyssey. I'm in the process of totally reworking all my communication and media (cell, landline, television). This takes care of 2 of the 3 items. TV (cut the cord) is next. When I'm done, I'll run an account of all the savings.
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Old 11-02-2019, 10:58 AM   #65
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I remember I had to disconnect the phone company jack outside when I installed my original OBI100 many years ago. I thought it was in the OBI instruction sheet at the time but maybe not any more.
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Old 11-02-2019, 11:10 AM   #66
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I remember I had to disconnect the phone company jack outside when I installed my original OBI100 many years ago. I thought it was in the OBI instruction sheet at the time but maybe not any more.
I probably didn't read that part. I would bet it is still there.
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Old 11-02-2019, 11:21 AM   #67
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I probably didn't read that part. I would bet it is still there.

I was pretty paranoid about that when working with my Ooma (post #33 in this thread). AT&T came out to verify. I learned a couple of things about unknown-purpose boxes in my home in the process. They looked very “telecom” to me and one had the T logo.
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Old 11-02-2019, 11:31 AM   #68
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I remember I had to disconnect the phone company jack outside when I installed my original OBI100 many years ago. I thought it was in the OBI instruction sheet at the time but maybe not any more.

Yep, and that part is critical if you plug your VOIP box into the phone line to distribute the signal to corded phones (or cordless bases) in other rooms, because the ring voltage that goes through the phone line could and probably would damage ATAs and other VOIP hardware.
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Old 11-02-2019, 11:38 AM   #69
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Yep, and that part is critical if you plug your VOIP box into the phone line to distribute the signal to corded phones (or cordless bases) in other rooms, because the ring voltage that goes through the phone line could and probably would damage ATAs and other VOIP hardware.
Probably what saved me was my reluctance to back plug when I was testing the OBI a few months ago. Back then, I just worked on getting it on Google Voice and had one phone plugged in.

Fast forward to today... My Uverse phone has been "dead" over a week while waiting for this transition, so it was unlikely to push out a ring voltage. But it was doing "something" like clamping the line.

Glad I apparently didn't damage anything!

BTW: back in the mid 80s, when they finally allowed us to play with our indoor wiring, I was adding a phone line for mom and dad. I had no issues doing this. And then suddenly, pow! Hey, that was a shock! Turns out someone was calling and I got a nice dose of 80v AC ring voltage. Not like the house mains power, but enough to wake me up for sure.
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Old 11-02-2019, 11:39 AM   #70
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Yep, and that part is critical if you plug your VOIP box into the phone line to distribute the signal to corded phones (or cordless bases) in other rooms, because the ring voltage that goes through the phone line could and probably would damage ATAs and other VOIP hardware.

You should be appointed “Secretary of Explaining Things” for this. I never knew.
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Old 11-02-2019, 03:33 PM   #71
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We still have our land lines, so I never considered plugging my obihai into the phone lines.
Instead I got a wireless set and plugged the base station to the internet cable and all the wireless handsets are around the house.
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Old 11-04-2019, 02:04 PM   #72
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Anybody do Ooma then to Obi or vice-versa?

Obi's price appeals to my inner cheapskate but the landline (currently cable VOIP) is still the main number we use.
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Old 11-04-2019, 02:11 PM   #73
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We still have our land lines, so I never considered plugging my obihai into the phone lines.
Instead I got a wireless set and plugged the base station to the internet cable and all the wireless handsets are around the house.
That is what I did but we already had a cordless phone with 5 handsets even back when we had POTS... so when we went to Ooma I just plugged the cordless phone base unit into the Ooma Telo.

I think technically my phone wall plugs are still connected to the POTS but the POTS service is disconnected and there are no phones connected to any of my phone wall plugs... so all is good.
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