Voice Service Bridge and VoIP Telephone Adapter Review

I bought an Obi110 for myself in March 2011 to have Google Voice replace my home phone. Google will give a phone number or transfer your mobile number. Google's phone service in the States and Canada is free for 2011. I suspect they will continue to be free charge (or $5 a month like Skype) in 2012. As I was replacing my home number I found a company called Viopo (dot com) that would forward my old home number to my Google number for a year for $36. Google voice is accessed through your computer.

Obi110 allows you to turn off your computer and use your regular cordless phone to access Google voice/have a dial tone. You need high speed internet access. Setting it up Google Voice and Obi110 was easy. Sort of like setting a Gmail you go to the two websites to setup your account. This is a do it yourself process. Other companies cost more (and add value) because they hold your hand. I have used the service for three months and I have had great sound quality. I called a friend once that had Vonage, and there was static but I think it was because of that companies service.

If you need help you search the Google and Obihai (Obi) forums. I found all the answers I needed. Beware, it IS a do it yourself service. I have had to do some maintenance. (1) There was a software update in May, which involved dialing ***6 on the phone. (2) One day my phone did not ring. I had configured Google voice to ring my home and mobile phone so that is how I found out. I searched the Obihai forum and found out when you are logged into Google Talk the phone call is routed to either Obi110 or Google Chat depending on which service logged on first. The solution for me was to permanently log out of Google Chat. this was not a big deal for me as I don't instant message and rarely video conference. For those that do you can setup a separate Google account that is for your phone ONLY and avoid that issue. (3) One day the phone did not work. Not sure why, maybe the issue (2) above? I looked at the device and the phone led was not green, it was off. My solution was simply to unplug the device and plug it back in! Sort of like hitting a TV to get better reception back in the old days! The green phone LED came back on and I had dial tone. All and all I consider these minor problems (even interesting puzzles for the technology oriented person) for free phone service. I was paying $30 or $40 a month for phone service so when combined with the temporary forwarding I have already made my money back.

I recommend this device to my friends and family, will help them set it up and even bought one for my Dad for Fathers Day. I have tried probably a dozen different voip solutions and we now have basically the holy grail:

1) You don't need special phones -- you can hook up your analog cordless phones (Panasonic DECT 6.0 models are usually great).
2) Service through Google Voice is free and relatively high quality -- comparable in reliability and sound quality to Skype I'd say.
3) The Obihai device really is easy to configure.
4) The device JUST WORKS. You connect it to your router and forget about it. Never need to reboot -- nothing.
5) You don't need a super broadband connection -- your run of the mill cable internet or DSL will do.


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