TIPS Obivoice is now Vestalink

[Mark D. Montgomery II]

Awesome! Up and running. My GV and Ooma trunks have been delegated to the end of my routes and obivoice has been moved to the top of the routes for the family outgoing calls.

 

[StanSimmons]

Yep, works fine Ward, thanks. Just got up from my NyQuil induced nap due to a head cold, the kind that your eyes feel miles apart, and suddenly all is well.

Not a bad deal, wonder if they offer outbound CNAM. There's lots of settings though, including call id spoofing.

From an email from their support group:

If you are spoofing a number, CNAM will need to be set with the company that owns the number you are spoofing. If you are calling out with one of our numbers, or a number you have ported to obivoice you can set the CNAM in the number management section in the web portal. Thanks!

 

[StanSimmons]

Will they allow multiple DIDs or just one?
Yep. Now is the 500 minutes split between DIDs (as in 500 each) or 500/account total. I assume the latter. Probably worth it to just do the unlimited anyway.

Definitely want to go with the unlimited... from an email from their support group:

No overage allowed, minute usage is total billed 60/60. If you need more than 500 choose the residential plus plan. Thanks!

Extra DID's are $0.99 setup and $2.00/mo unlimited. (I could not find the $2/mo pricing anywhere on the site, but their support listed it in an email.)

 

[StanSimmons]

Outbound faxing from their web portal ( https://www.obivoice.com/fax.php ) is free and does not require a 2nd DID, unless you want their system to handle inbound faxes that drop in your email inbox.

25MB file limit. Intelafone supports documents and files in the following formats: Adobe PDF, Microsoft Word (doc, docx), HTML, Microsoft Excel (xls, xlsx), Rich Text Format (rtf), Text (txt), GIF Image (gif), JPEG Image (jpeg, jpg), Tagged Image File Format (tiff, tif) outbound.

 

[wardmundy]

Today on Nerd Vittles:

 

[matt91]

Thanks for the info and write up. This seems like it may finally get me off the GV wagon once and for all.

 

[Brian Simmons]

At first I didn't think you could port your number to Obivoice, but according to this page, you can. So spending the extra $20 would be worth it to get the CNAM information correct. https://intelafone.desk.com/customer/portal/articles/1338224-can-i-transfer-my-number-

Don't forget you also need to "unlock" you number on the Google Voice side to allow the number to be ported out. Google charges a $3 fee to do this, so the total porting cost is going to be $23. https://support.google.com/voice/answer/1316844?hl=en

 

[StanSimmons]

At first I didn't think you could port your number to Obivoice, but according to this page, you can. So spending the extra $20 would be worth it to get the CNAM information correct. https://intelafone.desk.com/customer/portal/articles/1338224-can-i-transfer-my-number-

Don't forget you also need to "unlock" you number on the Google Voice side to allow the number to be ported out. Google charges a $3 fee to do this, so the total porting cost is going to be $23. https://support.google.com/voice/answer/1316844?hl=en

Hi Cousin!

If you sign up for the free trial, go to the obivoice web portal, then go to this page: https://www.obivoice.com/portnumber.php porting is $10. Plus the $3 for the Google "unlock".

 

[wardmundy]

There is no need to port the number at all. You can leave your Google Voice number in place and forward the calls to your new Obivoice number using the Google Voice web GUI. Then use the Obivoice portal to spoof the CallerID of your Google Voice number for outgoing calls. Here is the Obivoice link.

 

[Trimline2]

Note:

On a side note, via the web interface, Manager Numbers, DO NOT put your email address in the Fax Email address for your main DID. This converts your DID to an inbound fax machine and you will no longer receive calls to your trunk (or device). If you purchase an additional DID for faxing, that would be the time to enter your email address to associate with the new DID.

More information here:

https://intelafone.desk.com/custome...inbound-fax-number-to-your-intelafone-account

Don't ask me how I know this...

 

[Mark D. Montgomery II]

Note:

On a side note, via the web interface, Manager Numbers, DO NOT put your email address in the Fax Email address for your main DID. This converts your DID to an inbound fax machine and you will no longer receive calls to your trunk (or device). If you purchase an additional DID for faxing, that would be the time to enter your email address to associate with the new DID.

More information here:

https://intelafone.desk.com/custome...inbound-fax-number-to-your-intelafone-account

Don't ask me how I know this...

Huh...Maybe I'll do that since I'm only using it for outgoing calls...it would be nice to have an incoming FAX number..

 

[smith6145]

No joy for anyone outside the USA. Tried to sign up for the 2 year plan, but was refused, as a Canadian.


JAN 14, 2014 | 09:06AM PST
Andrew Tilton replied:


To clarify, yes, we cannot accept payment as we do not provide service outside of the United States. We only possess licensing to do business with customers residing within the United States. Sorry for the inconvenience.


Just to clarify your position; even if people are only looking for ‘outbound calling’ and do not mind having a US DiD and will never use the 911 service (as many non-US users have with Google voice), Obivoice refuses to accept payment?! If this is the case, then I believe there should be a disclaimer.

From: 'Ryan Tilton' [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Tuesday, January 14, 2014 11:39 AM

​

JAN 14, 2014 | 08:39AM PST
Andrew Tilton replied:

While we support free calling to Canada, Obivoice only provides service to the United States at this time. Sorry about that.

Intelafone Customer Relations
http://www.intelafone.com

 

[wardmundy]

Same situation with Google Voice as I recall.

 

[TwigsUSAN]

So today I signed up for the free trial and did some very quick testing. I was up and processing calls in 10-15 mins. I tried conference in multiple calls on the trunk. Even though 2 channels where configured, I tried 3 which failed of course. I said screw it and up the channels to 5. I didn't process 5 calls, but I did process 3 without any issues. I definitely believe I found my replacement service for my GV line, which has been my home office line for a while. Sound quality is great as well.

 

[wardmundy]

Gotta love the DSLR "experts"

 

[Trimline2]

Agreed, let the pros put it all together as pictured below ....

 

[TwigsUSAN]

The sad part is I have run into that more often than not.

 

[Jeff Nessen]

Note:

On a side note, via the web interface, Manager Numbers, DO NOT put your email address in the Fax Email address for your main DID. This converts your DID to an inbound fax machine and you will no longer receive calls to your trunk (or device). If you purchase an additional DID for faxing, that would be the time to enter your email address to associate with the new DID.

More information here:

https://intelafone.desk.com/custome...inbound-fax-number-to-your-intelafone-account

Don't ask me how I know this...

Thanks. This post helped me out a ton. I sent a message to support, then almost immediately saw this. Removed my email address from the fax email and viola, I am getting calls again.

 

[Brian Simmons]

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone involved in finding this solution and spelling out how to make it work with PIAF. I'm demoing it right now, but have everything set up and the call ID info spoofed. This looks like a very good alternative to GV. I'm going to continue to test it a few more days/weeks and then probably sign up for the 2 year commitment.

Thanks again!

 

[jeff20737]

Thanks for pointing this out guys. Setup was easy enough and the service looks promising.

EXCEPT, I noticed immediately that they won't complete calls to certain [presumably high-cost] rural exchanges. I'm seeing this a lot with VOIP providers now, including google voice...if the call completes at all, the audio quality is usually horrific. Is there any recourse when carriers do this?