Monday, May 23, 2011
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Obi110 + ObiON for iPhone = free VOIP!
I have previously mentioned that I travel a lot, internationally. I keep in touch back home in the US with a prepaid international cellphone, Skype, and email.
I recently found a new tool that may replace the first two (mostly).
(I can't find the original article that pointed me to this...)
The Obihai Obi110.
This website has a few good articles on the subject.
This box (the obi110) has ports for your phone line, phone, and ethernet. You plug it into the phone line to allow your VOIP calls access to the outside world, the phone plug puts your house phone on the VOIP or regular phone line.
I it disgustingly easy to set up. I have cordless phones linked to one base station, so I plug that base into the OBI, plug the OBI into the wall and ethernet, and the phone still works normally, no setup required. The OBI gets an IP address...and you can pick up your handset to dial the unit to get the IP.
Go to that IP on your computer, and you can either dig into the elaborate lists of settings...OR...run the ObiTalk app that steps you through most setups.
Ok, so what. So using ObiTalk I set the Obi110 unit up as the Voice Gateway. I installed the ObiON app to my iPhone, and added its obi number to my ObiTalk account.
Here is the neat part. Using the ObiON app I log into my Obi110 unit. From there I can ring the phone or do other things...and the call audio is much better than cellphone...
...it gets better. So lets say I am in Paris and I want to call the wife's cellphone. I use the ObiOn app, dial her regular cellphone number (just the digits, no other codes) ...the Obi110 uses the land line to call her cellphone. You can call any number you want, and it will route through your home line...of course at that point if you dial out of your local area, then long distance charges would apply, just as if you used the handset in the house.
As long as the app is running, you can receive calls from other OBi units. You can set up speed dials on your phone...
...and you can set up Google Voice on the Obi.
I haven't tried that feature yet, but it is well documented at the Obihai site.
Only drawback so far is the ObiON app for the iPhone (there is an Android app also) sucks a lot of battery power when on...so if you are not plugged in and using the app...you had better kill it. (with my jailbroken iPhone, that part is easy).
I recently found a new tool that may replace the first two (mostly).
(I can't find the original article that pointed me to this...)
The Obihai Obi110.
This website has a few good articles on the subject.
This box (the obi110) has ports for your phone line, phone, and ethernet. You plug it into the phone line to allow your VOIP calls access to the outside world, the phone plug puts your house phone on the VOIP or regular phone line.
I it disgustingly easy to set up. I have cordless phones linked to one base station, so I plug that base into the OBI, plug the OBI into the wall and ethernet, and the phone still works normally, no setup required. The OBI gets an IP address...and you can pick up your handset to dial the unit to get the IP.
Go to that IP on your computer, and you can either dig into the elaborate lists of settings...OR...run the ObiTalk app that steps you through most setups.
Ok, so what. So using ObiTalk I set the Obi110 unit up as the Voice Gateway. I installed the ObiON app to my iPhone, and added its obi number to my ObiTalk account.
Here is the neat part. Using the ObiON app I log into my Obi110 unit. From there I can ring the phone or do other things...and the call audio is much better than cellphone...
...it gets better. So lets say I am in Paris and I want to call the wife's cellphone. I use the ObiOn app, dial her regular cellphone number (just the digits, no other codes) ...the Obi110 uses the land line to call her cellphone. You can call any number you want, and it will route through your home line...of course at that point if you dial out of your local area, then long distance charges would apply, just as if you used the handset in the house.
As long as the app is running, you can receive calls from other OBi units. You can set up speed dials on your phone...
...and you can set up Google Voice on the Obi.
I haven't tried that feature yet, but it is well documented at the Obihai site.
Only drawback so far is the ObiON app for the iPhone (there is an Android app also) sucks a lot of battery power when on...so if you are not plugged in and using the app...you had better kill it. (with my jailbroken iPhone, that part is easy).
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