"Free" Home Phone Service via Google Voice

There is a huge trend of people canceling their home phone service and relying solely on their mobile phone for all their voice communication.  For many, especially those with unlimited minutes and great cell coverage at their house, it's a very tempting idea...who doesn't like to have some extra cash in their pocket each month?  There are others, myself included, who really don't want to give companies I do business with my mobile number.  I receive enough telemarketers calling on my home phone (so much for donotcall.gov) and prefer not to have them calling my mobile too.  Also, maybe I'm just a little old fashioned, but I prefer talking on a regular "old" cordless phone handset instead of my iPhone.

We've used Vonage as our home phone service for several years and I was very happy with their service and the features they provide, especially emailing & transcription of voice mail messages.  Unfortunately, the service was ~$34 (including tax) per month.  [For those unfamiliar with Vonage, they are a VoIP telephone provider and utilize your internet connection to provide phone service using standard analog phones].  There are many VoIP providers out there, some of which, like Ooma, are significantly cheaper that Vonage. However, to get the features we wanted, we would need to subscribe to Ooma Premier plus the voice-to-text add-on for a total monthly cost of $15 +tax.  While that is a nice savings over Vonage, I wanted to find something even better.  Enter Google Voice + Obi....

You are probably familiar with Google Voice and all if it's awesome (and free) features but you probably thought you could only use it with your existing mobile or home phone service.  That's how it's designed to be used, but an Obi adapter from Obihai Technology can get you around that limitation.  You can pick up the base model Obi (100) from Amazon for about $40 and then configure it to use Google Voice, FREE of monthly service charges.  You will have a ton a amazing features for a great monthly price (free) but there are two features you will not have by default: caller ID with name and 911 service.  Google Voice does display the number of the person calling, but not the name.  If caller ID with name is an essential feature for you, it's possible to use the Simon Telephonics Google Voice Gateway to enable it. Use of the gateway is free, but donations are encouraged.  If 911 service is important to you, Obi supports getting this service from Anveo for only $12 per year.

Interested?  Follow the steps below to get up and running with Google Voice via Obi:

1. If you don't already have VoIP service, run a test to see if the quality of your internet connection is sufficient for a VoIP connection:  http://myspeed.visualware.com/indexvoip.php
2. Determine which Obi is right for you and purchase 
3. Create a new gmail (or Google Apps) account to use with Google Voice (this step isn't necessary if you have an existing Google Voice account/number you want to use).  You can configure this new gmail to automatically forward messages to your existing email account.
4. Sign up for Google Voice using your new Gmail account:  http://www.google.com/voice (I suggest you create a new [temporary] phone number as you can port your number later)
5. Configure your Obi to use Google Voice:  http://www.obihai.com/googlevoice.html
6. If possible, Call Forward your existing service to your temporary Google Voice number.  Make test calls for a few days and see how the service performs.  If you are having audio quality issues, consider enabling/configuring QoS settings on your router
7. Once testing is complete, you can port your existing number to Google Voice.  Do not cancel your existing service, that will happen automatically as part of the porting process.  Unfortunately, Google Voice does not allow you to port land line numbers.  The work around is to port your home number to a pre-paid mobile provider (like TracFone) and then port from that mobile provider to Google Voice.  [I was able to do this for about $40 ($5 TracFone, $5 shipping, $10 TracFone airtime, and $20 Google Voice port fee).  Should you choose the TracFone route, a few helpful tips: 1) you probably don't need to purchase any airtime as you get 10 minutes just for activating 2) when filling out the Google Voice port form, your TracFone carrier will show as the actual network the phone is using rather than TracFone 3) Your TracFone account number is your phone's serial number (also called IMEI)].  Google Voice will notify you via email once your port is complete.
8. If caller ID with name is important to you, follow these instructions to sign up for Simon Telephonics Google Voice Gateway and reconfigure your Obi device. (don't forget to donate)
9. If 911 service is important to you, log into ObiTalk and follow these instructions to setup 911 service.
10. Enjoy your "free" home phone service and Google Voice features

Please let me know if you have any additional tips steps or hints I can add to this list!

Cutting the Cord...Five Months Later

It's been about five month's since we "cut the cord" and cancelled our satellite service.  Overall, I think it's been a great experience and I've not missed cable at all; although my wife may disagree.

The majority of our content comes from streaming services, primarily Netflix & Amazon, but we also utilize a few other sources, including Hulu+.   One thing is for sure, there are plenty of options. The only challenge is getting everyone in the family to agree on what to watch.

Our antenna & TiVo service are important and enable us watch our local stations, including the news, with DVR functionality.  I was really excited about TiVo, and with respect to an over-the-air DVR, it doesn't disappoint.  However, their integrated search and streaming applications leave a lot to be desired.  I was hoping that the TiVo device would be able to handle all of our over-the-air content as well as streaming content, but that wasn't the case.

Another complaint I have about TiVo is how expensive it is to stream your over-the-air content to other rooms and other devices.  You have to purchase additional hardware and pay additional monthly services charges for this service.  At $15 a month for a single DVR service, TiVo is already more expensive than their competitors and I doubt anyone is interested in paying another $10 to $15 a month (plus cost of hardware) just to add DVR functionality to an additional room.

The good news is that there are some very innovative TiVo alternatives out there.  I've got my eye on Simple.TV.  It's a small device that plugs into your home network and your antenna and then streams over-the-air content (with DVR functionality) to your tablets, computers, and Roku devices.  There are a few things that set Simple.TV apart from TiVo.  Both devices cost about the same, but the monthly cost for Simple.TV is only $5 verse $15 for TiVo.  Also, Simple.TV will let you stream to any TV with a  Roku connected to it, and on tablets and computers, both at home and on the road. I look forward to giving Simple.TV a try as my year-long TiVo commitment comes to and end.

Another over-the-air DVR service to keep an eye on is Aereo.  It is only available in select markets, none of which are in Northern California, but essentially provides over-the-air DVR functionality via "the cloud".  What makes it even cooler is that the antenna used by Aereo lives at their data center rather than your house.  This allows people who have trouble picking up TV signals at their house the ability to cut-the-cord and still receive local channels (with DVR functionality) for about $8 to $12 per month.  Aereo can display over-the-air content on Roku as well as tablets, smartphones, and PCs.

So I've talked about some over-the-air DVR options but what about streaming devices?  Apple TV easily has the best interface around but unfortunately, the content is somewhat limited.  My recommendation when it comes to streaming is Roku.  We'd been using Roku all along in our bedroom but added one to the living room as well.  For us, a major advantage of Roku over Apple TV is support for Amazon (both pay-per-view/purchase and free Prime content) as well as a ton of other "channels" like Spotify and iHeartRadio.  Plus, both Simple.TV and Aereo can work with your Roku device to deliver over-the-air content. 

We didn't watch a ton of TV before, but we watch even less now, which is a good thing.   Given our experience so far, we don't plan to go back to cable anytime soon.

My previous blogs on this topic can be found at:
Thinking of Cutting the Cord? (Part 1)
Thinking of Cutting the Cord? (Part 2)

I'd love to hear about your cord-cutting experience and/or questions in the comments.