It seems like fewer and fewer people these days have a
landline phone. There is something to be said about having one in certain emergency
scenarios, but I think for most, the $30 to $45 a month costs are simply too
much to justify. Years ago, I thought I’d try to save a little cash and go with
a Vonage line. It worked well for a while, but costs steadily rose and I found
myself using it less and less. Eventually, I decided that even paying $18 a
month for my entry-level Vonage plan was a waste of money. Thankfully, I found
the perfect solution that allows me to retain my phone number without having to
spend a dime in monthly fees.
Important Update (3-1-14): I just discovered that the Google Voice service described in this post will no longer be compatible with the Obi (or any third-party service relying on Google Voice for that matter) as of May 15, 2014. I have switched to Vestalink that allows for easy number porting from Google Voice (if you happened to follow the original guide below) and allows me to use my existing Obi device. So far, it is working perfectly for me with most of the features I enjoyed with Google Voice for a very nominal cost. If you haven't used the guide below, you can likely port your number directly to Vestalink in a much more straightforward fashion. However, if porting from Google Voice, check out this post for information on getting a free port (normally $10).
Here’s how it works in a nutshell. The Obi110 is essentially
a mini computer. It has a port for connecting a standard cordless or corded telephone,
and also hooks into you router to get Internet connectivity. When configured
with your Google Voice account information, it makes voice over IP (VOIP) calls
to any number you dial, the same way you would if you were using Google Chat through Gmail from
your computer. The key advantage here is
that no one on either end has to sit at a computer to make a call. When you
want to call someone, you simply pickup your phone and dial. Inbound callers
don’t even know you are using Google Voice or the Obi. They simply dial your
number like any other.
Google Voice is a free service, and they’ll issue you a
number for free as well, but my issue was that I really didn't want to lose the
phone number we’d had over the years. Luckily, I found a great tutorial that showed me how to go through the process of porting my phone
number to Google Voice. That tutorial is specific to porting a Vonage number,
but I am pretty sure it would work for any landline phone number. The process isn't for the faint of heart, but I assure you, it is worth it if you want to
save some money and enjoy the great benefits of Google Voice such as call
blocking (reason enough for me), voice to text email transcription of
voicemails, ridiculously cheap international calling, and of course free
domestic calls in the United States.
So how does the
porting process work?
Here is a brief summary of the steps you’ll need to take to
make this happen. Don’t just read those though; go through the tutorial
in detail as well. Apologies to my international readers, this will only work
for U.S. numbers.
Step 1
As you can only port a mobile number to Google Voice, you’ll
first need to port your number to a mobile carrier. I used T-Mobile as it was
the example given in the tutorial so I was confident it would work. To do this,
you’ll need a T-Mobile phone (or an unlocked GSM phone) and a prepaid SIM card.
I was lucky enough to have access to an old T-Mobile cell phone, so I simply
bought a $1 prepaid SIM card from T-Mobile.com.
Step 2
Once the SIM card arrives, you’ll need to call T-Mobile and
tell them that you want to activate the card by porting your number. During
this process, you will be asked to provide a PIN. Remember this as you’ll need
it for step 7.
Step 3
Wait. The porting process can take days, especially with a
Vonage number.
Step 4
Once ported, you’ll need to put some credit on the card to
make the number active and allow Google Voice to verify the number is really
yours (see step 6). Unfortunately, T-Mobile required that I initially put a
minimum of $30 on the card to activate it. This was annoying as I knew I was
going to be porting the number immediately. I’m not sure if I’ll ever get the
money back, but I am comforted by knowing that I don’t have to pay $18 a month
any longer.
Step 5
Confirm that your number is ready to port to Google Voice by
entering it here. If
not, you might be stuck with your T-Mobile prepaid service while you try to
sort things out. This was a risk I was aware of from reading the tutorial, and
I accepted it before starting. Worst case scenario, you should be able to port
your number back to the landline provider of your choice as a new customer and
get a deal on the service plan.
Step 6
Sign up for Google Voice and request to port your T-Mobile number. This will result in a one-time $20 charge. At
some point in the process, Google will call your phone and instruct you to
enter in a code. For this reason, it is essential that you have your SIM card
in a working phone.
Step 7
Wait for the number to fully port. This can take a day or
so, and is designed to fail at first. I say this as your T-Mobile PIN is
required for the port to complete, but Google doesn't ask for it when you first
request the port. Instead, it WILL fail and you’ll get an email asking you to
go in and enter the PIN. Once you do that, it should complete just fine.
Step 8
After the port has completed, and you've confirmed that Google
Voice is working (see the Google Voice how to guide here), order an Obi110 from Amazon. I’m not just looking for an Amazon referral credit here.
Amazon is actually Obihai’s primary distribution method. There are other Obi models, but the Obi110
is the minimum needed for Google Voice, and the Obi202 seemed like overkill.
Also, if you don’t already have a cordless phone, get one. Any phone will work
with the Obi, but as it needs to be plugged into your router, the position of
the Obi in the house may not be convenient if using a corded phone. I use this cordless phone set, but any phone that you have will work.
Step 9
Plug the Obi into your router, and then configure it as
described in this tutorial video.
Step 10
If all goes according to plan, make and receive calls to
your heart’s content.
Easy right? Well not really, but I am glad I did it. All in
all, I spent $100 to do this, but will be saving $216 a year. I had an ear to
ear smile the other day when I blocked a solicitor through the Google Voice
interface. Now whenever they call me they’ll hear a message indicating that the
number has been disconnected. I can even setup do not disturb periods if I want
to eat dinner in peace, or vary my voicemail message according to who is
calling.
What are the
downsides?
There are always caveats right? Well the good news is that they
have nothing to do with the call quality. So far, call quality has been
indistinguishable from what I've experienced with landlines. Okay, so here are
the downsides you should consider before attempting this:
No 911 calls: Google Voice is not capable of making
911 calls at all. I accept this as I've got a mobile phone that can do this. Update 3-1-13: Thanks to Lifehacker, it has recently come to my attention that E911 service is available through Obihai's partnership with Anveo for just $12 a year.
Free for now: Google may charge for calls in 2014 or beyond (but knowing Google, it should still be
very cheap).
International credit needed: Google Voice isn't completely free. If you want to dial international numbers, you’ll need some
prepaid credit. The good news, is that rates for most countries are dirt
cheap.
Complex porting process: There is a risk that this
may fail and people won’t be able to call your number until you sort things
out. Also, as this isn't exactly a supported process, you may be on your own
searching the web to solve a problem. If you don’t need to port a number, then
you are good to go as Google will give you a number for free and you’ll be up
and running with the Obi in minutes.
Names do not appear on caller ID: Only the incoming
numbers will show up. As far as I know, this is a limitation of Google Voice
and not the Obi. If your phone supports it, you can work around this by storing
names and their corresponding numbers in your address book. The name will then
display when that person calls.
Google support: I've had issues occasionally in the past with a Google Voice call not getting connected. Google is also notoriously bad at offering support for their free services. If you have a mission critical need for your phone line, don't use this.
Quality of Service: Keep in mind that calls will now
be travelling over the Internet and not over dedicated phone lines. This is
nothing new for Vonage transplants, but it will be a new consideration for
first-time VOIP users with heavily saturated Internet connections. Most routers these days have a Quality of Service (QOS)
setting that can be enabled to give priority to VOIP calls (over things like standard
web browsing traffic). If you purchase the Obi202,
it can sit between your router and your modem to handle this, but I've never
been a fan of this approach as it can introduce other complications that I won’t
get into here. Personally, I haven’t had to monkey with QOS settings and I haven’t had a
problem yet.
So, ready to give it a try and “cut the cord”? Have you
already tried it and had good/bad experiences? Let me know!
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