OBITalk.com shutdown and Google Voice

[GL2099]

Hello, I own a OBIHai VoIP adapter that I use with Google Voice. Now OBIHai portal is getting shutdown. The email I got today morning about OBITalk.com said this about Google Voice integration “many cloud SIP PBX providers provide the ability to configure and register your OBiHAI device allowing you to continue to maintain your home service.”. Does this basically say that I cannot use my OBIHai device with Google Voice or is it saying that other Cloud Providers do offer configuring OBIHai device with Google Voice?

[moond42]

Got the same email, and same question!

[SteffenBaierUK · Accepted solution]

Hello @GL2099 or @moond42  ,

welcome to the HP Poly community.

• The official explanation of why and when the ObiHai Portal will retire is >here<
• In case the question is related to Google Voice our partner Google provides >this<
  There is also a 3rd party discussion over >here< on Reddit concerning ObiHai and Google. There are also more details >here<

from the HP Poly ObiHai FAQ:

Q: Will I still be able to use my OBiHAI Device to contact 911 in case of an emergency?

A: While the changes to the OBiTALK Consumer Portal is not intended to have any impact to the daily operation of already configured devices, there is a risk that existing devices will become unregistered, either temporarily or permanently during this decommissioning process.  

Therefore, HP advises users to reach out to their Cloud PBX provider and E911 provider should they have concerns about their ability to dial 911 in an emergency. Additionally, HP recommends customers begin to seek alternative measures for requesting emergency services should the decommissioning impact your existing device.

Q: Will I retain access to my device?

A: Yes!  While the OBiHAI devices were enhanced through their connection to the OBiTALK Service, the connection was not required for most configurations.  You will continue to be able to locally configure your OBiHAI devices for as long as you own the device and may continue to use and register it to other Cloud PBX providers.

Best Regards

Steffen Baier

[GL2099]

Hello @SteffenBaierUK thank you for that reply. I read through the articles and links. It somewhat feels better to see that I "can continue?" using my OBiHai 200 until sometime when Google finally decides to ditch us. However, I have couple questions still lingering in my mind:

From the articles, it seems that I can configure through the local admin interface of OBiHai to connect to Google Voice. Is there any article from OBiHai/Poly/Google about how to go about configuring it? I happened to go into the Admin interface and was astounded to see the amount of configuration items there in, and no way can a layman somebody configure things like that to connect to Google Voice.

Second, in one of the articles, there was a statement that you could or have to configure it via local Admin before disabling/deleting the device from OBiHai portal. Now, I am truly lost here as I am wondering that once OBiHai deletes my device and shuts down the portal, would the same thing happen?? It was clearly laid out whether I "WOULD NEED TO" setup through local Admin for Google Voice connection or the device would still continue working as is, until a not foreseen amount of time?

Let me know!!

[SteffenBaierUK]

Hello @GL2099 ,

welcome back to the HP Poly community.

The 2nd Paragraph directly from Google should explain everything:

• In case the question is related to Google Voice our partner Google provides >this<

Specifically the section:

• Recapping the information above

Best Regards

Steffen Baier

[GL2099]

Thank you @SteffenBaierUK. I did go through that article but still got confused by the other article I guess. 

So, the gist is already configured devices will not lose their configuration even after OBiHai portal shuts down and will still continue to work until Google decides to shut down the infrastructure supporting these device connections.

I will watch out for any more communications on this but thanks for getting back!

[MikeMoranNJ]

I got that same email. I used to use a Poly phone with the free Google Voice, but I later upgraded to paid Google Voice and got a new Poly phone, which works. When I got this email, I reached out to Google (I get support because it is a paid Google Voice account) and they said that my phone will continue to work--the shutdown in this email applies only to free Google Voice accounts.

Can anyone at HP confirm what Google says is true? If so, then switching to a paid Google Voice account (and possibly buying a new phone) will get it to keep working for you, also. So, you could switch to another VOIP provider but you could also switch to a paid Google Voice account--if this is true. HP, is it true? This shutdown affects only free Google Voice accounts?

[MikeMoranNJ]

Hello, HP.

You sent me an email describing the shutdown. Your email says not to reply, so I didn't. Your email says to look at a link for more information. I did, but I still have a question. Your email told me to come to this forum to ask the question.

I posted that question here four days ago and you still haven't answered. I am trying again.

My question for HP is: If I have the paid version of Google Voice, Google says that your announcement does not apply to me (even though you sent me the email as though it does). HP, can you verify that I am not affected? I would like a quick answer because if I am affected I would like to find an alternative before the end of the month. If I am not affected, I'd like to take this off my list.

Can you tell me the answer, HP? Thanks.

[SteffenBaierUK]

Hello @MikeMoranNJ ,

welcome to the HP Poly community.

The motto of the community is:

• A place where you can find great tips and helpful solutions from other HP product users.
• The HP Community is where owners of HP products, like you, volunteer to help each other find solutions.
  

You can either wait until another volunteer answers or get one of the agents to reply to you.

Best Regards

Steffen Baier

[MikeMoranNJ]

I opened a chat with HP who send me to a call center and I eventually was able to verify that this shutdown affects only old devices that used a free Google Voice account and does NOT affect new devices attached to a paid Google Voice account. I've asked them to send out another email to explain this but I am not going to hold my breath until they do.