Google Voice and OBI300 combo doesn't work anymore, I am aware of that.
I was wondering if anyone knew other tools to get similar free home phone service?
I don't think there is but wanted to check
Great & timely query - thanks for posting it !!
I too am eager to hear of any reasonable alternative(s).
Is this third party firmware no longer working?
A Reddit user has compiled a guide that might be helpful:
None of which I'm aware.
You could forward your GV number to a target number obtained from Anveo, Callcentric, VoIP.ms etc. Callcentric offers numbers with unlimited inbound calls in certain area codes for $1/month. Since your GV number would be forwarded to the target number the area code of the target number isn't particularly important.
Outbound calls are more problematic in terms of cost (relatively cheap but not free). It's possible to spoof your GV number as outbound caller ID.
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Well its weird because now my family says it works for them and just tested it...
But this is well known knowledge: https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/ish_10969583-11049883-16 or even https://www.obitalk.com/
I dont think I have ever done anything with it since like 2017... would that mean we are grandfathered somehow?
But I do appreciate the info and will definitely look into that when it stops working
Obi300 ever working with the consumer verison of Google Voice is news to me. I always thought the latest Obi devices that worked was the 200 series.
Anybody who configured their Obi before late 2024 should still have functioning system. However should Google ever make a change on how the device needs to connect to Voice, then the era of Obi + Google Voice will be over. As far as I know, 3rd-party firmware is not going to change that.
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Wouldn't it be easier to just use a cell phone connected via WiFi? I have GV on my android phone and it works just fine.
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JVV - it was probably a 100 or 200, I forget the exact model. I guess I just have a hard time wrapping my head around the portal no longer being accessible and parts of it being taken down but it still works completely. I guess the only way I can get it is if it's like... OBitalk was just more of a setup process but it's all Google voice once it's set up
PEW - My family is very much not tech savvy at all, but that's probably what I'll do once this integration completely ends is I'll just move the Google voice number from one of my accounts to theirs and they can just log in on their cell phone.
That's exactly it, as far as I know. The site was an interface for setting up a configuration which was then loaded onto the OBI, essentially. It was always possible (but less convenient) to connect to the OBI locally and set it up that way, if you knew what you were doing. There was the OBITalk service for calling OBI to OBI, I think, which may have been through their servers.
I've been using my old home phone # with my OBi200 ever since I ported it into GV in 2015. It's worked flawlessly ever since.
While previously set up OBi decides will continue working with their respective GV #s, unfortunately, setting up a new OBi device is no longer easy, as official setup support has ended.
There is a relatively low cost alternative, at least compared to traditional landlines.
In January, my 90 year old parents got a used unlocked ZTE WF723CC Wireless Home Phone Base for $35 from eBay, and ported their home phone # to a Good2Go Mobile $5/30 days, paid $60/360 days, UT&T&1GB+Unlimited 128Kbps, plus international calling to 60+ countries, SIM card. They put the SIM card in the WF723CC, plugged the WF723CC into one of their home phone jacks, which powers all the phone jacks in their house, and they just continued using their old home phones. This solution replaced their $60/mo AT&T landline. Needless to say, they were pretty happy going from $60/mo to $60/YEAR for their home phone service!
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Thank you for sharing that. Sounds awesome 
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Wow - Thanks Boz !!
Best alternative I've seen so far.
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