Actually, I've been looking for an alternative to Google Voice....but
for a different reason....the deprecation of XMPP.
I've been using Obihai adapters to do phone service at home using Google
Voice. Which has generally been okay, though the dropped calls does
happen...which I hadn't really thought about much, since my mother could
easily talk for hours without letting me say anything when I call if
Google didn't disconnect me. ;-D
The adapters work seem to be acting like a GoogleTalk/XMPP clients.
Which Google is abandoning in favor of its protocol for Hangouts. (its
been mentioned that GVjack does that protocol, so it will still work...
but seems it would require me to have a Windows computer....even if I
were to repurpose a MagicJack Plus for this.)
The Obihai adapters also work as normal ATA's, though I guess for me...I
want something that is as close to free as possible. Or perhaps without
all those annoying taxes and surcharges for stuff I don't need.
Like they tell you not to use VoIP for E-911, but charge you for E-911
(if you have a US address.) I used to have a couple of VoIP
services...Vonage and another that I don't recall off hand.....but then
I moved to an area where they don't have local numbers. (though first number
I got from the Vonage, the second number was ported from landline...at the
time Vonage was X minutes of calls to only US and Canada, while the other
company offered X minutes calls to US, Canada and the UK...which stopped
being useful shortly after my cousin's husband missed getting blown up on the
London Underground by a few minutes....and they moved back to the US.)
I didn't get the unlimited option, as I didn't see the need for more than the
block of minutes option. (think one was 250 and the other was 500.)
I was able to get a Google Voice account with a local number (though
everybody else I know that has tried to sign up, hasn't been able to get
one.) Also when I moved here, I wasn't able to get a local number for my
cellphone. And, where I work...we're not allowed to make long distance
calls, and I need to be reachable by work. At first I kept one VoIP service
and canceled the other....
Though one thing Google Voice won't let me do is call into conference
calls run by freeconferencecall.com (or something like that....the
one we used to use for phone conference calls for LOPSA Mentor Program Team
meetings)....which was also used by a conference organizing committee
that I had been involved with one year. Since I only has a small number of
minutes on my VoIP service...it wasn't sufficient with the weekly 3 hour
conference calls for the conference committee...so its gone.
In retrospect, I should've at least kept the number....since it was free of
people calling for people I don't know.
For some reason, all the new numbers I've gotten since...the previous owner
was being hounded by collection agencies....who can't understand that they
should stop now. I should send the prepaid minutes they've wasted to
collections against them.
I first tried MagicJack...they intercept the call and redirect to their
own version of the service. No use if I'm trying to join a conference
call. Then Google Voice...which gives a fast busy. Ended up going with
a prepaid phone that year (pay by day.) Let it expire after the conference
was over, since I didn't need it anymore. Couldn't use it at work for LMPT
meetings, as there's no reception in the basement by the data center...the
cell repeaters were specific for US Cellular (provider for university
cellular service, which they have since stopped doing...since all the other
major carriers are now available through state contract, and there are plenty
of good prepaid options for our International students who don't have
credit.)
Back then...on call was a phone that was passed around...
Hmmm, wonder if I really need to find an alternative to Google Voice that has
a local number? Of course, what happens if Google pulls the plug on Google
Voice completely?
And, what happens to the money I put into my Google Voice account that I
haven't needed to use yet?
On 02/07/14 20:23, Ed wrote:
Edward - has anything in your network changed recently? It sounds like
you need a keep alive on a network connection. Or your broadband
connection wants to sell you SIP..... without all that network
neutrality I'm sure you can be more successfully monetized by those
you depend on.
;) no really, without a keep alive, it feels like a connection going
up for renegotiation and the stream breaking. Can you put the
connection in a tunnel (vpn) and test if you get the same fail from a
remote location & service (like linode or other vps). It might be as
simple as having your router add a keepalive signal to the channel.
From Google's perspective, I have heard that GV is a deprecated
service - at least the XMPP part - and I think the suggested migration
is to G+ and Hangouts. or I could be wrong. If you go VoIP, I
recommend Diamondcard.us.
Ed
--
Who: Lawrence K. Chen, P.Eng. - W0LKC - Sr. Unix Systems Administrator
For: Enterprise Server Technologies (EST) -- & SafeZone Ally
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