My Review of the Budget Slimming Ooma VOIP System
A Review of the Ooma Core VOIP System
It’s been a month since I made the switch from Verizon Wireless and no land-line to using a combination of the Ooma Core VoIP
What is an Ooma?
Ooma is basically a VOIP hardware system with no monthly service fees. Essentially:
- You buy the Ooma system.
- You hook it up to a high-speed internet connection.
- You plug Ooma into your regular land-line phone and use it without paying any service fees.
The Cost of Ooma
Ooma started out at around $400, but has steadily dropped in price since. I purchased it for $230 from Amazon,
- free calling to anywhere in the U.S.
- call waiting
- voicemail
- caller ID
- a new number (you can also port old numbers if you choose, but it costs $39.99)
- voicemail can be heard online
- no PC required
- one year warranty
Ooma Premier Service Option
Additionally, you can purchase enhanced services for your Ooma unit. I haven’t done this and I’m really happy with the basic bundle, but should I need a second line (perhaps for a home business,) it seems to be a great deal. Ooma Premier costs $9.99/mo. or $119.99/year, which gets you:
- A second phone line
- Free phone number port (normally $39.99) – if you sign up for a year
- A number of higher end personal and business features, including: 3 way conferencing, send to voicemail, voicemail forwarding, privacy, and personalization features.
Installing your Ooma Device
When the Ooma first arrived, I was a little intimidated. There was a 50+ page (mostly text) instruction manual. When it comes down to it, there can be different set-ups based on how your phone and internet lines are wired. For most people, the set-up is going to be very easy:
- Run a wire from your modem to your Ooma.
- Run a phone wire from your Ooma to your landline phone.
- Go online, choose a number, and activate your Ooma unit.
It’s really that simple.
How Does it Perform?
I haven’t run into any problems with the service. All calls are crystal clear – as good or better than a land line. Inbound and outbound calls have always worked. The voicemail service is great. This is one of those rare times when you purchase something that you have high hopes for and it actually exceeds your expectations.
Final Thoughts on the Ooma Telo VOIP:
I think the Ooma is great for anyone in one of the following three situations:
1. Those who want any sort of VOIP/landline phone. You won’t be able to beat the price (it basically pays for itself in under a year).
2. Those looking to cut their cell phone bills by cutting their minutes.
3. Those starting a home business who may need the flexibility of multiple lines.
My only remaining hesitation is that Ooma is running a different type of business model that relies heavily on the hardware purchases. Let’s hope that they are around for a while and never decide to start charging for their service out of business need.
Ooma Discussion:
- Do you have Ooma? Let’s see your review!
- What would your hesitations be to buying the Ooma?
- Any questions on the Ooma?
I don’t have an Ooma, but a friend of mine does, and it works great. Better than Vonage. I like having one primary cell phone, but if I ever decided to go back to a landline to cut my cell minutes, I’d probably make the jump.
I’ve always planned on going that route or just going exclusively with the cell phone. It’ll be interesting to watch the future of “main” phones. I know a ton of people (my sister and her fiance) who don’t even have a “main” phone anymore. If someone wants to contact them, then one would just call one of their cells.
Btw, did you ever get that new dog? I’ve been considering a dog for quite some time, though currently my housing arrangement wouldn’t be ideal.
@ Shaun – Yep, I did get a new dog. Posts to come soon. =)
Comments on ooma telo???
I love Ooma. I have three homes, and have it in each location. Sound is great. and have eliminated three phone bills. Totally free calling all over U.S. Voice mail is great, and the calls to all locations are forwarded to my cell.. I have never missed any calls. Each unit paid for itself in 6 months. And no monthly bills like with vonage or cable VOIP providers.. This one is free after you buy the box, but with a ROI of 6 months, this is a no brainer..
Buy one, and see… Love, Love, Love Ooma
Joe, the limit of 3,000 minutes is for outgoing calls. You may check the Terms of Service of another major traditional VoIP service provider where it also states a limit of number of minutes for “unlimited calling” (they also collect a monthly fee whereas ooma does not have any monthly charges for domestic calls). A major cable VoIP provider even mentions that “they reserve the right to limit or block any usage as deemed necessary to prevent harm to its network, fraud or abuse”, guess how much is considered as abuse? All service providers need to have legal terms to deal with actual abusers and to be clear ooma has never canceled a customer account for such reasons so far.
All,
I just picked up my Ooma yesterday. Installed easily and sounds great. I contacted customer support to ask about their premier service and was surprised that I was actually speaking to a rep in less than a minute. I had heard stories about bad support but also had seen many great comments at the various big box retailers. I’ve been with Vonage for over two years and they are raising their prices steadily. I was on the low plan at 25 bucks a month.
An additional reason to buy this is because of the future features Ooma is planning to have. Since it runs a Linux OS, they are going to be adding spam engines, firewalls, and so forth. This device surely is not your typical VoIP. Some of the individuals that started the company came out of companies like Cisco, Lucent, Nortel, and so forth.
The web interface is pretty good and getting better. I like the fact that I can have a text message sent to my phone when a VM comes in. The premier plan gives you more features plus you also get your phone porting included in the price should you desire to go that route.
I plan on running it as long as I can. If the company folds after a year, I will have recouped my investment in about 10 months. If it doesn’t fold, I’m won’t be getting a monthly bill and I’ll be real happy.
As far as the 3000 minute limit, I’m not to sure how many people will hit it unless you run a small business. With vonage, I was using 53 minutes a month since most of my calls go to my cell phone. The core reason I have the “landline” is because of my home security alarm, otherwise, it would be out the door. BTW, it works fine with most alarm systems.
cheers.
Does anyone know if OOma can make 911 emergency calls?
I initially had looked into Skype until I found out that Skype cannot do so….my elderly parents frequently visit and I need to be able to use 911…
Thanks
From the ooma faq
8. Do you support 911 calls?
Yes. ooma provides E911 service where supported. We will collect your address when you register your ooma device online, and send it to emergency response personnel when you dial 911. Since ooma works over your Internet connection, you will need to call from a mobile phone if your Internet connection is down. If you’re concerned about relying on your Internet for phone service, we’ve built the ooma system to work with a landline back-up. In this case, your 911 calls will always be routed over your landline.
I’m confused about requirements for OOMA: isn’t it necessary
to have DSL? If so, then a connection with a server is
required, right? And so, OOMA cannot stand along, but must
be hooked up to a service you DO pay for?
I live in the country where cellphone service is spotty. The OOMA system works great for me. While I am at home I forward my cell to OOMA and never miss a call. It can also ring both the cell and the OOMA.
Hello,
On 2006, I changed to Vonage and that was a great step, talking about billing, saving a alot. after paying about $60 to AT&T. the bill goes down to $33 average includes taxes and afew internac. calls. 10 min.
7 months ago i canceled Vonage and I got Ooma at Frys Electronic, this is the best change i’ve ever made. The price $233 final price. and it has paid already by it self.
so what i can let you know, that the service is great. I do not have any landline, The system Ooma works great whitout it.
The only problem i have got is sending and receiving fax. I don’t know if is because a Multifunction Canon mx300. the machine looks fine but Ooma seems to have missing the compatibilities with analog signal or something like that.
I will rate the next 3 services by my tech knoledge:
#1 Vonage – In/Out calls clear (noise 15% sometimes), Fax-ok, Features alot, cust.serv-ok
#2 Ooma – In/Out calls clear (noise 20% sometimes), Fax-No good, Features just afew 5 or 6 for free(more paid), cust.serv-ok
#3 MagicJack In/Out calls clear (noise 20% sometimes), Fax-NO, Features less tahn Vonage/More than Ooma , cust.serv-No good. online only
So i hope some info helpful for anyone..
thanks…ULIZ
I have 2 phone numbers at the house. Each one has multiple cordless units. Will ooma work for me? From what I’ve read, ooma offers a 2nd line with the premium service. Sounds more cost effective to purchase a 2nd ooma. Is this the way to go? thx
In regards to Ooma fax capabilities, Omar needs to read the help section on the Ooma web site. Ooma does not claim that its service is 100% fax compatable, but if you follow their directions i.e. by using the prefix *99 in front of the phone number, it usually works.
I am still confused. I am looking to eliminate my home phone bill but it says that you have to hook up ooma to your home phone line. Do you still have to keep your home phone to use ooma?
@ George – It seems like using two Ooma’s would work if you had multiple modems or one modem with multiple connections to plug them in to.
@ Tom – You don’t have to hook it up to a ‘phone line’, but you do need to plug a ‘phone’ into the system – it could be any old phone that you have.
Thanks for the reply. Sounds like I can connect two oomas to a hub. I’ve heard there’s a cost associated with keeping the old phone numbers. Is that true? thanks again.
I do not know what you mean by any old phone, I would hook up the phone that I would be using but can I cancell my phone service I have now before hooking up ooma?
@ George – If you want to port your old #, there is a one-time fee of $39. New numbers are free.
If I install the Ooma, what happens to the handsets(3)which are plugged into the A.C wall receptacles,will they still work?.
I presently have “Triple Play”(T.V.,internet & phone)from my cable company. I would like to dump the phone service & save a few bucks.
Thank You
P.S. I am a retired senior who does not make many phone calls, is the newer Ooma the way to go, or stick with the older model?. I live in an apartment.
Tom, you are confused. OOMA replaces your current phone carrier (Verizon, etc.)but not your phone lines. You will need a high-speed Internet connection as you do with all VOIP services. If you have the connection, simply buy the OOMA unit and connect your phones that you are using now to the OOMA hub. It’s that simple.
John, yes the handsets will still work. The main handset, which is now plugged into your current service, is simply plugged into the OOMA hub.
I’m still a little confused about OOMA. I currently have A, T & T for DSL and regular telephone service. If I get OOMA, I understand that I will still need to pay A, T & T for my DSL service but what about my regular telephone line? Will I still need to pay the monthly fee for that line? If not then does OOMA work over a telephone line that I am not paying for any longer? How can that be?
Thanks,
Dennis
Dennis:
You would cancel your telephone line charge/service only and keep your DSL, the OOMA will now be commuicating all your calls over the DSL connection to the Internet, once you plug in your existing phone(s) to it. These systems can even use your existing house or appartment phone wiring if you have Cable Internet, by 1st disconnecting your phone box (usually outside your house), then plugging in your OOMA box to an existing wall jack. There also may be a way to do this with DSL, but never tried or looked into that option.
Happy Calling…
i have an wireless internet modem with charter communication, can i still use ooma with my internet now?
Couple points:
If you are not technically savvy, you should not be investing in this because you need to be able to depend on your phone service. If you have to ask the difference between this and a land-line, you shouldn’t get it. Also, please be aware that they have the option to start charging you at anytime to use the service; and actually from a business standpoint, once they are established there is no good reason for them not to do this. You are paying for the hardware up front, so they make a profit on that, but beyond that you as a customer actually COST them money to maintain. Also if your hardware breaks, you have to buy new equipment again, which minimizes your savings in the long run.
My question is what does the ooma do to your down/up load speeds.
Vongage digs into as well as packet8 because they are pluged in inline with the cable modem/router. When I was using my magicjack at my other house the was no change in down/up speed because it plugs in the USB port od your puter.
Try running speakeasy while the ooma phone is idle, then on-hook and they try it with out the ooma hookup at all. It has to impact these speeds…..Thanks
I have two landlines, each has an answering machine in a remote room. I also have remote phones that answer both lines (2 line cordless phones). My main phone is a 2 line phone plugged into a wall jack in the kitchen. If I purchase the two line Ooma, where do I plug it in? Will all of the other phones still work as before?
If I understand all this correctly- I buy the Ooma unit @ whatever price and I will NEVER have a bill a monthly bill again. How can that be? I have DSL & a regular landline, I get rid of the landline and keep the DSL. Thats(DSL)the ONLY BILL I will EVER have right And still have the regular phone. I also understand that if I keep the current phone company # I pay a onetime fee of $39.99. I am I getting this all correct?
Just go to ooma.com, they explain nicely for you:) Looking to get one, my buddy had one for 10 months now and works perfectly. For those who don’t seem to understand, no you don’t need a “phone line”, you just simply plug the phone into ooma, which would be the “wall jack”
With Vonage the biggest advantage for many customers who have families outside of US (Africa, Asia or Europe) or happen to do business in those countries is that calls to many countries is free. This is hard to beat. Again this may not be of concern who don’t need to call outside of US, but for those who do, International calls can be expensive, especially if calling to Asia. This is the single biggest reason why I am with Vonage.
I looked into those and then realized that it depends how much you use it. I had Vonage for about 4 years when I cancelled it because I only used about 100 minutes a month. Therefore, Ooma didn’t make much sense for me considering the cost (over a year its still $.33/minute). So … I did a lot of research and found Callcentric.com. They offer a landline number for $1.95 per month and charges only 1.9 cents per minute. So I spend about $46.20 per year using my 100 minutes a month. It would take almost 9 years to pay for the Ooma if I had bought that.
No comment just a question. I’ve read that the (voicemail forwarding) cost’s an additional fee. What about just straight forwarding from the Ooma # to a cell phone? So is call forwarding from Ooma # to a cell phone free?
Thanks
My biggest concern of OOMA is the company stability. I am not sure how the company can survive financially with just selling hardware only. Without any additional continuous flow of revenue, unless majority of the customers sign up for premier services, it is difficult to continue business. Personally, I am happy without premier service. I do not know how many need premier service because it is not a “must to have service” for all. It is not that I have a problem with their business model of NO phone bills monthly. Of course there are are about $12 annual taxes. That is OK. For those who do not care about transfering their existing phone numbers it is not a problem, if the company folds up for any reason. It is just some consolation for those who think if the company survies at least 10 months after they buy OOMA they can get their investment back. Ofcourse it gives some comfort. But please believe me that my gretest concern is if the company closes like SUN ROCKET VOIP without informing customers, then I will loose my existing phone number which I have been using since 30 years. May be it is not a killing issue for some to loose existing phone number. But, for me it is only just a concern. If OOMA promisses to customers, that it will inform customers atleast 2 months ahead if it has financial problems, then I feel comfortble about OOMA. But, normally that it is not a business practice.
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