using cat5 and analog phones for voip system

#Using cat5 and analog phones for voip system free#

Want those services elsewhere they will cost you.

Google Voice has voicemail to text, multiple ring, spam call reduction, call screening, text notifications and more. Ooma, by contrast, charges $40 to port a number.Ĩ. Google Voice will not port numbers from most landline or VoIP providers, but for $20 will port from nearly all cell carriers. You can probably port your EXISTING phone number to Google Voice - if you first port the number to a cell carrier (find any carrier with a Pay as you go plan and a low cost, e.g. You need two (or more?) Google Voice numbers.ħ. Ooma, for example, allows you to have 'two lines' but they behave like one unless you purchase Ooma's handsets and their $10/month service.

Even the outlay for the cost of the box is less than you'll pay for those services because they charge more outright (Ooma is $120), or require a one year contract.Ħ.

#Using cat5 and analog phones for voip system free#

Ooma Telo Free Home Phone Service, Vonage, Xfinity. When paired with Google Voice, it's FREE. Overall, while it's not as 'techy' as the Grandstream unit, it's overall an awesome choice if you want a wired line, have a Google Voice or other VOIP service, and don't want to pay the telephone company a stupid rate for what's essentially a cellphone backup. (Obviously you need a service provider to have service.) You get a number to dial that allows Obi to recognize your box, and then you can simply tell it what kind of service you're using and it's automatically provisioned within 10 minutes, or you can go in and mess with settings yourself. To set up, you need a wired phone to plug in to the unit, and an account with Obi. (That was honestly my only complaint about Grandstream's products.) Physically, the box is similar size to the Grandstream unit, save the LEDs are a more pleasing green than the hard to see from an angle but still eye-searing blue LEDs of the Grands tream unit. There has been no issues with any of the devices connected. Two of the lines are purely voice, the other two are an X10 Telephone Responder and an Alarm Announce unit. I currently have 4 'lines' connected to this box, three Google Voice and 1 Callcentric. When Google Voice made changes to their service this summer, Simon was unable to continue service due to server loading and other issues that weren't solvable by what was essentially a hobby effort for the community. I purchased one of these to take the place of a (still working) Grandstream box that was being connected to Google Voice via Simon Telephonics. It does what it says on the box, that's all.