GVMate: VoIP Phone Adapter with Google Voice and New Google Hangouts. $0/Year Free Phone Service. Model GVMateATA. usb|skype|sip|obi|100|obihai|obi|200|magic|jack|plus|ooma|gmail|ata|gvjack|app

This item won't work properly even if your computer awakes.I cancelled my Vonage account because I thought I was going to be able to use this item to use my land line phone, but unfortunately it's not working. Whenever my laptop monitor goes to sleep (not the computer), the phone won't ring when somebody calls me. I would received a notification on my cell phone from my Gmail account stating that I missed a call. I can always here some notification from all other messengers that I use when my laptop monitor goes to sleep, but not this one.Even though my monthly electricity bills would increase by at least $7 (which is what I paid at Vonage), I changed the power option to never goes to sleep. Everything went well for one day. Today 12/27/2013, I missed a bunch of phone calls from employers again. I tried to dial out, but it's not working. I tried to sign out and sign in again. Still not working.Also, because you have to create a different Gmail accounts in order to use this thing, there's no way to use Hangouts. You won't have access to the list of your contacts anymore on Hangouts.I give it a 2 stars because of the prompt response from the technical support. I contacted them when I tried to set it up and they answered within a few minutes. Otherwise, I would give the lowest rating that I could.

I bought this to replace an Obi100, which had served me well until Google abandoned the communications protocol the Obi relied upon. I spent hours working on the installation, and here are some tips I'd like to pass on.(1) If you are replacing the Obi ### or other "router bridge" type device, be sure to fully disconnect the gear to be replaced. (I left it in place except for the phone feed, and it continued to tie-up the router and confused things badly.)(2) the settings in Control Panel/Sound are very touchy. The gvmate app install creates a new "PhoneJack" entries in both the Playback and Recording tabs. These need to be set at the "Default Communications Device", but your regular Speakers and Microphone options need to be set to as the "Default Device"; or you will get no speaker or mike capability using anything except your phone.(3) the gvmate instructions insist it is vital to create a whole new Google account with Google Voice. This might be true if you use hangouts and other Google features on a smart phone in addition to your PC, but otherwise their caution is unnecessary and a real headache.Good luck with this. I finally got mine installed and I believe it will work well, but I'll update this review with further info if warranted.UPDATE (a couple days later): persons I'm talking to using this device report the sound quality on their end is poor and somewhat garbled. The installation write-up states you need 1 mbps bandwidth on both download and upload. My service is adequate on the download side, but only .27 mbps on upload. I believe this explains my callers' problems. I need to look into solutions to my problem, which may include returning this device. I did not have this problem using the Obi100, which works via a router connection rather than relying on my PC, with the same internet service. Apparently that technology is more forgiving...My advice to persons considering this device is to take very seriously the 1 mbps speed requirement on both uploads and downloads.

Wasted money. Support requests via email go unanswered. The device only works for a single user environment. If you have multiple users (spouse, kids, co-workers, etc) DO NOT buy this device. It shuts down when a non-administrator is logged in. The software seems to be the weak area, not the device itself. I am very disappointed.

The first thing you need to ask is what your requirements are. For me:* Wired Ethernet access - WiFi calling on my mobile is a but shaky.* Good voice quality* Cordless* Speakerphone* Goes to sleep when I doIt's this last bit that may be make or break for people since the GVMate needs a computer to be on to receive calls. I've tried Bluetooth handsets, but Bluetooth just doesn't seem to be overly reliable. I've tried a USB cordless handset from ZTE, but was very unhappy with voice quality. The big benefit of the GVMate is that it does one thing - provides a POTS line interface to Hangouts. I can choose the quality of the phone I attach to it, having a poor experience with a $15 VTech phone I ended up with a Panasonic KX-TG6841B and it works very well. Well enough that I have my work number forwarded to my Google Voice number now.Pros:*I* can choose the phone features I attach to the device.Voice quality is decent - other solutions netted me complaints about being "in a tunnel" or "far away" - but for the most part I get no complaints with the GVMate+Panasonic solution.Incoming calls ring my mobile, my computer, and my phone.It behaves just like a USB audio device, it's easier for me to route output to the phone than it is for me to grab my headphones for a short YouTube video. I can also route call audio to my desktop speakers if I just want to listen into a call with better audio than my phone can provide.Plenty of debug settings to get things working on your phone.Customer support is excellent, I made a feature request and within half an hour I had been given a release date. I'd normally give this product a 4-star review, but my support experience handily bumped it up to 5.Cons:Security. I don't like that it has access to my GMail account but the way it works is through a custom browser. This provides robustness across the constant onslaught of changes Google makes, but does need access to my Google account.Using my phone's keypad is a bit hit or miss. Pound never seemed to work on either phone I tried it with but I could use my keyboard to log into a conference bridge.It's a bit kludgy from a software perspective. When Hangouts rings it can take a while for the OS to move memory around and get things working, sometimes when I pick up it will keep ringing instead of registering that I've answered, dialing is often easier to initiate from my PC than from the phone. Much of this was fixed by upping my system memory, but occasional glitches persist.Use with other services is limited, but possible. For example, I can route the audio to the phone with Skype, but an incoming Skype call won't ring the phone.