Review on 📞 Black OBi202 VoIP Phone Adapter - 2-Port Support for Google Voice, Fax, and Home/SOHO Phone Service by Nichole Long

Update: June 16, 2019 This is a good device but lacks the tech support or troubleshooting from PolyCom. As others have said when dialing some phone numbers when the person answers all that can be heard is loud noise. I've found this issue to appear every time on a few phone numbers, most of which were AT&T cell phones. When I contacted PolyCom about the issue, they said they knew about it and blamed Google, while Google blamed PolyCom for it. Apparently this problem has existed for a long time. I have tried these affected numbers with other Google Voice Bridge devices and had no problems. The Plus/Premium package isn't worth the money either, since the CallerID function was mostly useless. The voice assistant can't find anything you're asking for. Another big mistake; If you turn the modem/router off and on again, 60% of the time this device will not reconnect by itself until it is turned off and on again. Not bad for free phone service, but not very good either. That little headache is worth it when you save $90 a month on phone bills. *Original review* After serious problems with Centurylink's landline and DSL network, I ditched the cable and switched to a much cheaper internet-only cable plan. Problem with this: I still needed 2 phone lines to fax and call my phones; Solution: OBI202. Despite some problems sending faxes (solution below) and the need to seek technical support on the PolyCom forums, this is an excellent device. The setup via the online portal is very simple, enter your OBI number and start connecting your service providers. I used 3 unique Google Voice accounts to have a separate phone number for fax, general calls and home office. If you plan to use this in a fairly simple "plug your phone into a port and that's it" method, the online portal will suffice. However, if you want more granular settings like codecs, fax settings, distinctive ringtones, etc., you have two options: enable and use the internal web portal, or use the expert settings on the OBI website. I prefer the internal web portal (select ***0, 30#, 1, 1#, 1 to enable it) as I don't have to worry about some settings being overwritten by the OBI deployment tool. Making and receiving calls with Google Voice sounds amazing, and most people comment on how much clearer calls sound. I wanted to be able to use the existing phone jacks and cords in my apartment, so I disconnected CenturyLink's physical incoming phone line (this is VERY important if you're going to just plug this into a wall outlet that's still connected to the TelCo line, you could breaking the device) and hooking it up so that line 1 goes to most of my apartment and line 2 goes straight to my home office. It's certainly not the easiest (or possibly best) way to do it, but it hasn't disappointed me yet. It's important to note that when using this method, you must be absolutely sure that you've disconnected both the physical line to the phone company (use a voltmeter to check) and the ground line (if you have one). You can then connect LINE 1/2 from OBI202 to any telephone line in your house/office and use the other lines as usual. it seems they really exist. Luckily a simple google search for OBI and the problem you are having will take you to the OBI/PolyCom forums where people will be very helpful. The first). I found I needed to make some key changes with Star Code and change some basic settings on the fax machine.1. Set your fax machine to the slowest fax speed and turn off error correction mode.2. On the OBI toolbar, in the list of service providers, click OBI Expert Configuration and then click Expert Mode3. In the left column below; Click on Star Codes and then on Profile A.4. Create a new Starcode with the following parameters: *01, Modem Call, set($Noji1,200),set($Noec1,1),set($Cdm1,3)5. Click Submit/Save. (Repeat steps 3-5 for Profile B) 6. Set the area code to *01 on the fax machine. (Or dial *01 before fax number when sending)7. If you want to use a specific service provider/account for your fax machine, you can specify the prefix *01**N, where N is the service provider number (1-4). In addition, you can set up your fax and OBI to add a distinctive ringtone to incoming faxes, allowing your fax machine to use the same line as your phone but still have its own number. Go to Voice Services in the expert menu at the top, select your fax account and scroll down to "X_DefaultRing", uncheck the box for the default settings, then uncheck the second box. Set the value to 3 (Double Ring) and click Submit. Set your fax machine to only answer a clear or double ring.