I replaced a “triple-play” FIOS package over a year ago with a cable/internet package. I still wanted to have a house phone but didn’t want to pay the high rates. I installed a ~$50 Obitalk device that connects into the existing home phone wiring to allow old phones to use voice-over-IP. I ported my phone number to Google Voice and configured the device to get phone calls from Google Voice. Basically, the house phones behave like any plain old telephone.
The setup worked well until early 2014 when Google Voice stopped supporting a specific protocol. Obitalk offered several 3rd party providers and I went with PhonePower. For roughly $40 a year, PhonePower provides both inbound and outbound calling and adds the benefit of 911 calling. Rather than port my phone number again from Google Voice to PhonePower, I simply told Google Voice to route all calls to the PhonePower number.
Unfortunately, the paid PhonePower service has been less reliable than Google Voice service. People complain the phone doesn’t ring and occassional calls will abruptly drop.
Obitalk announced renewed support for Google Voice opening the possibility of returning to a free and possibly more reliable service.
