Obihai Technology
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Telecommunications hardware |
| Founded | 2010 |
| Founder | Jan Fandrianto, Sam Sin |
| Fate | Acquired by Polycom in 2018; Polycom acquired by HP in 2022 |
| Headquarters | Silicon Valley, California , United States |
| Products | Analog telephone adapters compatible with SIP, XMPP, Google Voice |
Obihai Technology was a manufacturer focused on producing analog telephone adapters compatible with Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), XMPP, and Google Voice for use in Internet telephony. The company was acquired by Polycom in 2018, and later became part of HP following Polycom's acquisition in 2022. Since then, most Obihai devices have either been rebranded or phased out.
History
Established in 2010 in Silicon Valley, California by Jan Fandrianto and Sam Sin—entrepreneurs who had previously founded Komodo Technology and Sipura Technology, both of which were purchased by Cisco Systems and incorporated into its Linksys division—Obihai carried forward their expertise in VoIP hardware development. Linksys itself was sold to Belkin in 2013.
In January 2018, Polycom acquired Obihai to expand its range of communication endpoints; Polycom was subsequently acquired by HP in 2022.
Obihai ceased production of its consumer analog telephone adapters in December 2021, with official support concluding by December 2023. The OBiTALK Consumer Portal was shut down on October 31, 2024, which terminated device connectivity and ultimately disabled Google Voice integration due to expired security certificates.
Products
Obihai’s core product line consisted of analog telephone adapters designed to connect traditional push-button telephones to the Google Voice platform using either wired or wireless broadband Internet connections. These devices provided an affordable alternative to conventional landline services by enabling voice over IP communications.
The product lineup featured models such as the OBi100 (offering one FXS port for a single phone), OBi110 (equipped with one FXS and one FXO port to support one phone line plus a standard telephone line), OBi200 (with one FXS port, capability for four VoIP accounts, support for T.38, USB connectivity, and optional Wi-Fi and Bluetooth), and OBi202 (including two FXS ports, LAN interface, T.38 support, USB, and optional Wi-Fi). These units were sold unlocked and without preset configurations at major US retailers like Walmart, Newegg, and Amazon, allowing users to configure multiple VoIP service providers simultaneously.
Additionally, Obihai maintained the preconfigured OBiTALK VoIP network, which enabled direct calling between their branded devices using a **9 prefix followed by a nine-digit serial number. The company also developed the OBiON softphone application compatible with Android and iOS devices to complement their hardware offerings.
To simplify provider integration, Obihai offered a Service Provider Template supporting various providers such as Anveo and Phone Power. Earlier device models included an online wizard designed to streamline setup procedures.
Google Voice support—a significant attraction due to its cost-effectiveness—experienced interruptions when Google discontinued XMPP support in May 2014 but was restored by September that year. Later updates from Google in 2017 and 2018 caused additional service disruptions for the OBi100/110 models, which had already reached end-of-life status in 2016. Enthusiasts within the user community developed unofficial workarounds to update security certificates and sustain service despite the lack of official vendor maintenance.
The termination of the 200-series adapters in 2021 marked the end of available hardware solutions for connecting consumer-level Google Voice devices. At present, Google has no announced plans to reinstate this functionality.