Author Topic: What's the word on Ooma, people of the planet?  (Read 7789 times)

RapmasterD

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What's the word on Ooma, people of the planet?
« on: September 08, 2014, 05:24:45 PM »
We use our landline for about 200-400 minutes of calls per month. On the table is our ditching it altogether. But with a payback of about six months, the Ooma looks appealing. We have an Apple AirPort Extreme and the AT&T DSL Router thingie.

Thooughts? Thank you!

MikeBear

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Re: What's the word on Ooma, people of the planet?
« Reply #1 on: September 08, 2014, 05:29:44 PM »
We dropped our landline and went Ooma about 5 months ago. Not only that, but due to my local area, they couldn't port our old phone number we had for 25 years. So, we went with a new number.

No problems at all. We went from paying around $40 a month, to $3.79 for taxes and such for Ooma. The money we are saving is going right into the stash.

CowboyAndIndian

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Re: What's the word on Ooma, people of the planet?
« Reply #2 on: September 08, 2014, 05:49:16 PM »
How is the quality? Does it compare with a land line?

I would like to give up my expensive land line also.

RapmasterD

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Re: What's the word on Ooma, people of the planet?
« Reply #3 on: September 08, 2014, 05:55:33 PM »
Thanks MikeBear. I'm also interested in hearing about call quality. I believe our phone number is movable.

Daley

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Re: What's the word on Ooma, people of the planet?
« Reply #4 on: September 08, 2014, 06:19:22 PM »
When you factor the cost of the device plus the cost of the taxes, and then compare the service received for the money, Ooma falls apart as a frugal option. There's cheaper and better VoIP options for the money that provide far greater service listed in the guide, most all of them just as easy to set up.

pipercat

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Re: What's the word on Ooma, people of the planet?
« Reply #5 on: September 08, 2014, 07:06:23 PM »
We got Ooma back in May, and it has already paid for itself.  The call quality is mostly the same as before, but there are a couple of small glitches.  When someone calls, I often find myself saying "hello" a few times before they hear me, so there is a slight delay.  I also notice that during the course of the conversation, there may be a delay or echo.  Of course, I notice it most when I talk to my mom, so maybe it's more about my mom than Ooma!

To be honest, I don't think I would want to have a lengthy heart-to-heart conversation using Ooma.  The sound quality just isn't solid.  Nevertheless, I have no regrets about getting it.  Most phone calls these days are relatively short, so it suits our needs just fine.

Just to add, we have little to no cell reception in our house, so we weren't willing to get rid of the land line altogether.  The phone number transferred easily for us.

Jellyfish

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Re: What's the word on Ooma, people of the planet?
« Reply #6 on: September 08, 2014, 07:19:00 PM »
How is the quality? Does it compare with a land line?


I bought my Ooma Telo on Amazon for $125 and discontinued Comcast phone line.  My monthly Ooma cost is approx $5.50. The call quality is acceptable but not the same as Comcast VOIP or land line. There is an occasional echo on the line, but the other person on the line doesn't seem to hear, just me. Overall, still worth the switch.

HawkeyeNFO

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Re: What's the word on Ooma, people of the planet?
« Reply #7 on: September 08, 2014, 07:26:35 PM »
Bought the older Ooma in 2009, and love it.  One of the best purchases ever.  If you can still find the old kind like I have (a silver box instead of the black one sold today), then I'd say jump on it, as you not even have to pay taxes.  I have paid zero for phone service since buying the Ooma.  IP Daley may be correct above about finding a cheaper option, but I tried some others, and the reliability and call quality didn't even come close to the Ooma.  Even if you can't find the tax-free version, I still highly recommend it.

MikeBear

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Re: What's the word on Ooma, people of the planet?
« Reply #8 on: September 08, 2014, 08:01:35 PM »
Thanks MikeBear. I'm also interested in hearing about call quality. I believe our phone number is movable.

My call quality is comparable to what I had before with the regular old POTS phone line. I have Charter internet, 30/4 service. There might be some cheaper ways to go, but there's no easier way, and $3.79 a month for a company that won't vanish in a year is worth it to me. I paid $99 for their router device from a Slickdeals deal. That's a savings of over $36 per month or more for me, so it's all paid for itself already, and I no longer have to deal with my jerk landline phone company.
« Last Edit: September 08, 2014, 08:40:02 PM by MikeBear »

RapmasterD

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Re: What's the word on Ooma, people of the planet?
« Reply #9 on: September 08, 2014, 09:15:11 PM »
Thanks for all the info, everybody. Yeah, these days perhaps it's more accurate to compare this type of service with cell phone audio quality since that's where so much calling takes place. Again, thank you.

rementis

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Re: What's the word on Ooma, people of the planet?
« Reply #10 on: September 15, 2014, 04:40:48 PM »
I have had Ooma for years, it's awesome.  $3.50 a month (taxes) for unlimited nationwide.

CCCA

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Re: What's the word on Ooma, people of the planet?
« Reply #11 on: September 25, 2014, 01:51:59 PM »
We have had Ooma since 2010.  Before that we'd been paying $25/month for our phone line so buying the Ooma paid back in a few months.  We pay around $4/month in fees/taxes.  Since my wife and I are on pay as you go cell phone plans (where we pay between 4-10c/min for voice calls) having Ooma at home is nice so we can do most of our talking on the phone at home.

One feature that'd be great if it was regular as opposed to a Premier service is the call screening, where like a traditional answering machine, you can hear the person leaving a message and decide if you want to pick it up.  Since we don't want to pay $99/year for this feature we use a regular answering machine.  But it'd be nice to use the Ooma instead since we'd be able to check our VM online instead of using the clunky answering machine interface.


uspsfanalan

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Re: What's the word on Ooma, people of the planet?
« Reply #12 on: October 08, 2014, 09:03:59 AM »
I just got Ooma a few weeks ago and it's been great so far. I had been using google voice but calls kept dropping and the quality wasn't very good.

RapmasterD

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Re: What's the word on Ooma, people of the planet?
« Reply #13 on: October 08, 2014, 12:04:10 PM »
Three more positive endorsements since my last post -- thank you!

eostache

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Re: What's the word on Ooma, people of the planet?
« Reply #14 on: October 08, 2014, 03:28:42 PM »
We've had an Obi100 ($40 amazon) and Google Voice (free) for almost 2 years now. GV can be a little glitchy at times but for *FREE* I'm quite happy with it.

matimeo

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Re: What's the word on Ooma, people of the planet?
« Reply #15 on: November 26, 2014, 11:38:47 PM »
In my opinion, the Obi100 + Google Voice is a better option. Cheap, then free and has worked flawlessly for me for several years. Tons of great features with Google  voice and with a few tricks integrates really well with your cell phone. Google voice really is the ultimate telecommunications solution for the savy.

couponvan

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Re: What's the word on Ooma, people of the planet?
« Reply #16 on: December 05, 2014, 03:47:28 PM »
We got Ooma in January (Xmas gift), and prior we had VOIP. There is no difference in quality as far as I can tell.  $4.76 for taxes here per month.  Our VOIP was through WOW in a bundled service, but we switched to Comcast internet only, so that change in service provider may be part of it.

GardenFun

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Re: What's the word on Ooma, people of the planet?
« Reply #17 on: December 07, 2014, 07:38:41 AM »
We've had Ooma for 2 years.  As another poster said, the only problem I have is with my parent's phone sporadically.  I also think it is their phone b/c they live in the country and the lines are not reliable. 

Overall, we are happy with the quality and the price ($3.79/mo).  If there are other options in your area, research them too but Ooma should be in the discussion.