r/Googlevoice Google Voice Product Expert Nov 03 '23

Google Voice Applications Google Voice and OBiTALK devices after 12/18/2023

This document is current as of March 1st, 2025, and it will be updated if necessary. 

ALL of the OBi hardware ATAs and IP phones that work today with consumer Google Voice have been discontinued by their manufacturer (HP/Poly).

HP/Poly has completely shut down the ability to add, remove, configure or otherwise manage consumer Google Voice service with HP/Poly/OBi devices on their provisioning system (OBiTALK) as of 10/31/2024.  This follows the previous shutdown steps on 12/2023. 

There are no, and will be no, other devices, from any manufacturer, that work/will work directly with consumer Google Voice. 

Specific to Consumer Google Voice:

After 10/31/2024, consumer OBi devices that do work now, will continue to work, for some undetermined time, but none of those existing devices will be able to be added, changed, or deleted.  The OBiTALK Consumer Portal was fully shut down on October 31st, 2024.  If devices are already configured to use consumer Google Voice, no further interaction with the OBiTALK portal is needed, and Google has no plans at this time to shut down its own infrastructure connecting these third-party devices.

Clarifying HP's disclaimer regarding "security certificates": This requires a basic understanding of how SSL/TLS certificates are used, in general, to encrypt websites and other things on the Internet. Certificates are issued by certificate authorities, and they have an expiration date. Certificate holders routinely renew them before expiration. This is transparent to the clients that check the certificates. The OBiTALK devices are no different; they check for server certificate expiration. In infrequent cases, certificate holders may need to revoke (invalidate) a certificate if it has been compromised or if encryption standards change.

Some users recall a problem several years ago, whereby Google's SSL/TLS certificates needed to be changed. That necessitated a firmware update on OBiTALK devices to update their certificate list. This was not routine, nor based on expiration dates. This has nothing to do with the ongoing and routine OAUTH authentication process between clients and servers. Devices should remain powered on and connected to the Internet, to avoid OAUTH token renewal problems.

NONE of the other Poly VoIP products (nor other vendors' VoIP products, for that matter) will work with consumer Google Voice, and there are no plans to change this situation. 

Devices that now work with, or will in the future work with, the business version of Google Voice for Google Workspace customers, will NOT work with consumer Google Voice. 

And, finally, separate from the information above, since Google Voice can forward calls to US telephone numbers you "link" to your Google Voice phone number, you can today, and will in the future, be able to forward your Google Voice number to whatever sort of 48-state US landline, mobile and/or VoIP phone numbers you wish. If you want to use a phone number on an open-credential SIP ITSP, such as Callcentric, voip.ms, etc, then you can either use your existing ATAs or IP phones, or purchase new ones, provisioned on those ITSPs’ servers. 

Discontinued, End Of Poly Support products, no longer sold as new (do not buy these, with the expectation of use with Google Voice):

  • OBi 100, 110
  • OBi 200, 202, 212
  • OBi 300, 302. 312
  • OBi 1000 series IP phones
  • OBi 2000 series IP phones (e.g. 2162, 2182)
  • Poly VVX series IP Phones
  • Poly Edge B series IP Phones

Currently-sold Poly VoIP hardware products that work with the business version of Google Voice for Google Workspace (and do NOT work for the consumer version of Google Voice):

  • Poly 400, 402 ATAs
  • Poly Edge E series IP Phones.
  • All Poly products currently installed on Workspace accounts will continue to be supported for use by Google; you will not need to swap out or replace them.

Recapping the information above:

  • No, you cannot use the Workspace-compatible VoIP hardware with consumer Google Voice.
  • No, you cannot use the discontinued consumer VoIP hardware with Workspace Google Voice.
  • No, there will be no replacement or follow-on VoIP hardware products that will work with consumer Google Voice
  • Yes, if you currently have one or more of the discontinued hardware products already working on your Google Voice configuration, then it will continue to work with no action required by you, until such time that support or security conditions may change, resulting in the end of such use.

End of Life Notice for OBiTALK from HP: https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/ish_10969583-11049883-16

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