Having a telephone other than your cell phone can be handy. If you find yourself needing one, you might as well choose a solution with no monthly cost!
The OBi200 by Polycom provides everything you need for a home phone or office through Google Voice. For a one-time purchase of about $50, this little box has provided me with years of free phone service, and a few other benefits, as well.
So, What Is It?
Voice over IP (VoIP) is a technology that, essentially, provides digital phone service. Typically, a VoIP device requires specialized hardware or phones to function. But the OBi VoIP box bridges this digital technology with standard analog devices, like phones and fax machines.
Google Voice provides the digital phone service for free. This means you can use any standard phone connected to the telephone jack on the OBi to make local and long-distance calls at no cost. You can also connect the telephone jack OBi to any telephone jack in your home with a standard phone cable. This effectively activates a dial tone on every phone jack in your home!
There are two OBi VoIP boxes, and they can both connect directly to your internet router through an ethernet cable or Wi-Fi with an optional adapter. Both devices bridge digital phone service to a standard phone or fax machine.
Both OBi VoIP devices have a USB port that can extend the capabilities of the device. For example, the proprietary OBiWiFi adapter uses this port to provide Wi-Fi internet connection capability. This is particularly handy if you can’t easily connect the OBi directly to the router with an actual network cable.
The OBi VoIP devices also support advanced call features, such as call forwarding, caller ID, call waiting, three-way calling, caller ID blocking, anonymous call block, automatic callback, repeat dialing, message waiting, speed dialing, and many more.
A side benefit of Google Voice is you can configure it to ring one or more additional phone numbers simultaneously. When someone calls your Google Voice number, any phone physically attached to the OBi rings, as does any other phone number you’ve set up. This means you can have one phone number that rings both your home (the OBi) and cell phones, so anyone can easily reach you, any time.
The E911 Emergency Services
Enhanced 911 (E911) service is available for an annual fee (usually around $20 to $25). I’ve had Anveo E911 service on my OBi device for years. It worked flawlessly the one time I had to use it for a medical emergency.
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Source : Get Free Home Phone Service with an Inexpensive OBi200 VoIP Box
