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by Anura Guruge

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Related posts:


>> VoicePro option — Apr. 19, 2014.

>> Obi-based Guruge network — Nov. 24, 2013.

++++ Search ‘OBi‘ for other related posts >>>>>

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I waited until the 11th hour to pull the trigger (on in this case pull the plug on ). I was dreading doing it.

I had, as I had already told you, decided that I was going to go with the PhonePower $60/year UNLIMITED plan. I actually don’t use the phone that much BUT I hate to have a ‘limit’ over my head. $60/year, at least for the first year, seems reasonable for unlimited — though, I think, FREE was better.

I switched over using the OBiTalk Dashboard per the OBi recommendation — following the links.

You then had to signup with PhonePower and, of course, give them a credit card number.

Then they send 2 e-mails. The e-mails claim things like 10 days for the service to be activated!

I kept on refreshing the OBiTalk Dashboard. 4th time around I got ‘Registered’.

It seems to work.

It sure seems to take much longer to get a RINGING TONE with PhonePower than with Google Voice!

Not talking dial tone. The calling/busy tone you get when a connection is established with the other end.

The delay is JUST on the psychological boundary — just as you are getting ready to believe that something has gone wrong.

Thanks to my IBM training I know that within 3 days I will get used to this! Humans always get used to whatever response time they are subject to PROVIDED it is CONSISTENT. When we complain about response times it is because of the variation in time (provided of course that it isn’t totally dead).

Sound quality seems OK.

Two niggles:

1/ I had to go back and set my SP1, i.e., PhonePower, as my . Though this was how it was set up for Google Voice this setting was NOT carried over. So make sure of that.

2/ During the PhonePower registration process they FORCE you to enter your old/existing Google Voice number even IF you ask for a new one. That seems stupid. So I got a new number, but the old Google Voice number is what appears in Caller ID. This is IMPORTANT in my case. Google Voice (like Magic Jack of old) does NOT support the 603 area code — the ONLY one we have for New Hampshire. So I had to use a 207 area code — i.e., that for Maine. PhonePower does support 603. So I now have a 603 number. But my caller ID still shows the 207. [All my inbound calls come in on my TDS landline — which has a proper 603 number. So the Google Voice/PhonePower number is only for VoIP outbound calls.]

Hope this helps.

It seems to work. Let me know IF you have any problems. All the best.

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