[Discuss] Cutting the phone line

[tmetro+blu at gmail.com (Tom Metro)]

Doug wrote:
> A few of the video tutorials looked workable ("Look dear, a regular
> phone can plug into it", a line for my technology skeptical wife).
> Has anyone "cut the phone cord" by using this or similar devices?

I have a couple of OBi110's. One is lightly used and the other not
deployed yet. I was made aware of it from another BLU list member, who I
believe is actively using one, and I told a colleague about it, who is
making heavy use of it.

It seems to work petty well. It has a couple of advantages over analog
telephone adapters (ATAs) of the past. One is that you can configure it
using a web-based wizard hosted by the manufacturer, which simplifies
setup a bit. Basically you plug in the device to a network with DHCP,
plug in a phone and dial a special number, and it makes an outbound
connection to the vendors servers to receive config information. (The
device also has a built-in web UI (see referenced thread) and can be
managed without involving the manufacturer.)

It's also popular as one of the few devices that can let you use
traditional analog phones with Google free Google Voice service. (For
whatever reason Google chose to use XMPP (Jabber) as their VoIP
protocol, rather than the more common SIP, so most ATAs won't work with it.)

As with any VoIP service, it is fully dependent on your Internet
service, so quality will vary based on your connection.

 -Tom

-- 
Tom Metro
Venture Logic, Newton, MA, USA
"Enterprise solutions through open source."
Professional Profile: http://tmetro.venturelogic.com/