Custom Caller ID Names with Google Voice, OBi202, OpenCNAM and YATE (part 3 of 3)

In this series: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

If you are not already aware, Google will be making changes in May, 2014 that will break compatibility with Obi devices and Google Voice. Some or all of this document may not be applicable after that time. (http://blog.obihai.com/2013/10/important-message-about-google-voice.html)

Update 9/11/2014 - Obi + Google Voice now supported again!

http://blog.obihai.com/2014/09/google-voice-and-obihai-update.html

In Part 1 of this series, we configured a YATE server. In Part 2, we configured the OBi202 to forward Google Voice calls to the YATE server. If you've followed these instructions and tested at each point along the way, your system is now set up so that when someone calls your Google Voice number, the call goes from Google Chat to OBi202 to YATE to OBi202 to the corded or cordless phone(s) attached to the OBi202. However, there still is no caller ID name information.

In this third and final part in the series, we will use a script on the YATE server to add caller ID name information to Google Voice calls that go through YATE. The final script that I provided implements the following features:

Custom Caller ID Names with Google Voice, OBi202, OpenCNAM and YATE (part 2 of 3)

In this series: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

If you are not already aware, Google will be making changes in May, 2014 that will break compatibility with Obi devices and Google Voice. Some or all of this document may not be applicable after that time. (http://blog.obihai.com/2013/10/important-message-about-google-voice.html)

Update 9/11/2014 - Obi + Google Voice now supported again!

http://blog.obihai.com/2014/09/google-voice-and-obihai-update.html

In Part 1 of this series, we installed and configured a YATE server on a Linux server. To continue the setup, we will now configure the OBi202 to forward all calls destined for your Google Voice number on to the YATE server.

This procedure is very similar to the first part of this excellent blog post which describes the analogous setup for an Asterisk server. If you are not that familiar with the OBi202 configuration system, you may find that blog helpful since there are screen captures there.

Custom Caller ID Names with Google Voice, OBi202, OpenCNAM and YATE (part 1 of 3)

In this series: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

If you are not already aware, Google will be making changes in May, 2014 that will break compatibility with Obi devices and Google Voice. Some or all of this document may not be applicable after that time. (http://blog.obihai.com/2013/10/important-message-about-google-voice.html)

Update 9/11/2014 - Obi + Google Voice now supported again!

http://blog.obihai.com/2014/09/google-voice-and-obihai-update.html

Introduction

When using Google Voice as your primary phone with the OBi202, incoming caller ID consists only of a number, but not a name. In a previous post I described one way around this, which was to subscribe to another VOIP service that offers CNAM and then forward your Google Voice there. This method is reasonably easy to configure, but I wanted more.

Inspired by the idea in this forum post I set out to install my own SIP server and write my own caller ID name lookup module. The idea behind this is that the incoming Google Voice call will be initially handled by the OBi202 (via Google Chat which is turned on), forwarded by the OBi202 to a VOIP server that I run for caller ID CNAM data to be added, and then forwarded back to the OBi202 to ring the attached phone(s).

Caller ID Names with Google Voice, Anveo, and OBi202

The OBi202 VOIP Phone Adapter is an easy-to-use appliance that allows your traditional corded or cordless telephone to be used with Google Voice (and other VOIP services). Using this device, I was able to replace our traditional land line -- we still have our cordless and corded telephones, they still have a dial tone, and we still can dial 911. Plus we now have free, unlimited long distance to the US and Canada.

It is straightforward to configure the OBi202 for use with Google Voice, but there is one problem. Although the caller ID shows the number of the caller, it does not show the name. That was a big deal for some in our household. This document presents a straightforward way around this limitation. By forwarding Google Voice calls to an OBi-compatible VOIP service that does have caller ID and offers unlimited incoming calls for a low flat fee, we can achieve our caller ID needs for around $2-$3 per month.