Apparently they want to, it is SIPPhone/Gizmo that is hindering them.

For this reason I created a new Gmail account before trying this Gizmo/GVoice mash-up, and signed up for GVoice with this separate account.

However this still would permit Gizmo, if they are so inclined, to use your GVoice number for unintended purposes.

Now, if they really were handling the calls themselves (and just presenting your GV number as the CID) then I’d say it’s perfectly fair for them to charge their 2¢/minute. Given the fact that their solution is merely an automation of what you’re currently able to do for free by initiating a call from the Google Voice web interface, I would say that a per-minute charge is unreasonable. I could see them justifying a 2¢ per call charge for the convenience of automating the call setup but not a 2¢ per minute charge.

Sounds like scams to me.

He advised me that the calls are being routed over Gizmo’s lines, and not Google’s and this is the reason for the $.02 a minute. He also advised me that they are working on ways to address the security/privacy issue resulting from the Google log in credentials.

I will say that Michael Robertson has a long history of doing interesting and innovative projects, and I am not aware of anything that would cause me to distrust him. It was because I knew "who Gizmo was" that I signed up for the interface and gave them my password.

That said, when the post here "knocked me up aside my head" I did get to thinking about my Google Checkout info, and changed my password and disabled the service. I still plan to try Gizmo for communication with Skype users. As for Google Voice, I will wait to see what you guys figure out.

Just thought I would pass this on FWIW.

So it’s possible that they’re initially just putting text for limitations in place? or are they just inept at actually applying their own limitations?

At that rate, I’m better off with a FutureNine outbound-only trunk for $0.01/minute. Especially given the reliability issues.

I also noticed that Gizmo5 sends different DID information depending on whether the call is coming in from Google Voice or from another Gizmo5 user. For calls coming in from Google Voice, the DID is your entire 11-digit Gizmo5 number (1747XXXXXXX) whereas incoming calls from other Gizmo5 users only present 10 digits (747XXXXXXX). This can be a blessing since it means you can set different inbound routes for each… especially helpful if you need to add the Pause Before Answer delay for the GV calls.

I wonder if the traffic made them implement a call limit, or if Google is on their back.

[WM: We’re working on a stand-alone version for Asterisk. Should be ready in a few days. Don’t think Google is on their back. Sounds like they’re in the process of starting to charge for using Google’s free service. That would appear to violate Google’s TOS.]

I’m sorry, but I have yet to have 1 good single experience with Gizmo5. As far as I am concerned, they are just about worthless.

They have given ZERO reason to ever trust them with any of my paid phone services — in fact, they have given me at least 3 reasons in as many months to NEVER trust them with any phone service of importance. Sad — they could have been one of the greats.

This is smelling too much like the go-round with their "free calls to all mobile carriers!!" stint that lasted all of about 5 minutes.

Any chance of pulling some more strings with Craig Walker to see if GV is willing to interface with any other SIP services? Being able to define an asterisk server by IP or other AUTH info would be the ideal solution.

[WM: Yeah. Unlimited to 20 minutes to 3 minutes in less than 3 days. Should be down to microseconds by the weekend. 🙂 ]

The success rate is around 85% for me today for outbound calls (inbound has been at 100% reliability since I set up GV+Gizmo5 last week). The majority of my outbound calls are working properly now. I’m still getting the occasional failure where an outbound call results in an incoming call from GV, though.

I am happy with sound quality and I’m looking forward to continued improvement in service reliability. I’m not enough of a Pollyanna to believe that I’ll never see an actual pricetag attached to this service but even when that comes, I expect it to be reasonable.

It works as expected about 1/3 of the time. The other 2/3 of the time it screws up. When I dial a call, it shows that the call is going out through the Gizmo5 trunk and then I receive an inbound call from my Google Voice number. If I answer that call, it initiates the outbound call just like it does when you dial via the web interface.

I’m really curious as to why this happens intermittently. The 20-minute call limit is kind of a downer but otherwise this would be a great service if it worked consistently.

I’m using a Trixbox CE install (2.8.0) and have the Gizmo5 trunk configured as described in this post. Incoming calls work great. It’s just outbound calls via Gizmo+GV that are inconsistent.

[WM: Give them a few days. They got hammered today. I wouldn’t draw any conclusions from Day 1. Kinda like eating in a restaurant the first night they’re open.]

From their website once auth’d with a Google Voice account:

"Google Voice – Experimental Service Learn more at: http://www.gizmovoice.com

Google Voice Calling is ON

(Calls are limited to 20 minutes, service subject to change)"

This is with an outbound $ credit.

[WM: Be sure to reconfigure the FreePBX trunk using the settings in the article and complete the other steps to take advantage of Google Voice free calling. Then try again.]