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All reviews of ooma


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read 23 reviews (21 positive) (0 negative)
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Six Month Rating

Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:


$12 per month avg ($8 to $16)

3 year trend

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Review by pandora See Profile
UPDATED: 90 days ago
member for 8.4 years, 3362 visits, last login: a few hours ago


Outland
Contract price not specified.
"Easy setup, high quality voice, fax may be supported, no monthly fees"
"Business model potentially unstable"
"A great easy to set up VOIP service with high quality sound"
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)

    My Other Reviews·Future Nine Corpor..
    ·Comcast
    2nd Update: I've now gone entirely off AT&T and to Ooma for landlines. The sound quality with Ooma is comparable to my old POTS lines. So far Ooma has delivered what it promised without any grief. I'm a 100% satisfied customer at this time. My only concern would be for the Ooma financial model. With 2 Ooma hubs, I currently have 3 lines supported by Ooma and have had no significant problems.

    Update: It has been a few months since I installed Ooma and ported one of my phone numbers to it. Reliability has been great, and sound quality even better. When my internet connection was severely degraded, Ooma sound quality was first rate.

    I mostly post about Ooma now on the Ooma forums. Support has improved. It used to take 15 or so minutes to get a live (American) at the Ooma support line, now it takes just a couple of minutes (or less). There is little need to call support as voice quality and reliability have been first rate.

    Of late good deals on Ooma core systems have been harder to find, it seems to be a very popular product. I recommend Ooma to my friends.

    Initial review: I read reviews on Amazon, and it seemed as if Ooma was providing a great service. When the price went from $219 to $200, I decided to give it a try. Amazon has a great 30 day return policy, if Ooma wasn't good, it would be easy to return.

    Setup was easy, within 5 minutes it was unboxed and connected to my network (behind my router). Activation on the website was a breeze, and I had a functioning local telephone number within two minutes of completing the online form.

    There was no credit card or social security number required to activate service. I did have to provide a street address for the E911 feature.

    Within 2 minutes of completing the form, my Ooma went from having it's indicator tab glow red (meaning something is wrong) to blue (meaning it is ready to make a call). Since that time, my Ooma hub has been doing a wonderful job.

    The Ooma core consists of a hub and scout. The hub does most of the work, the scout helps add support features which seem to mostly require the $99 per year premium service. I don't use the scout.

    I've been able to send and receive faxes of up to 8 pages via my Ooma hub. There have been no fax problems.

    Voice quality is exceptional for a VOIP service, it is almost as good as a land line.

    The only drawback is there is no fallover to an alternate phone number in the event of an internet failure. Thus if my Ooma link goes down, there is no way to have Ooma call forward to my cell phone.

    Ooma support has been helpful. They provide an 800 number, and Americans answer the phone. Wait time has varied between 6 and 15 minutes. Twice I've received a busy when calling support, and called later without a problem.

    The business model of giving free domestic calling (up to 3,000 outgoing minutes per month) with no fee may not be stable. Time will tell. Until then, Ooma is a fantastic device and provides very good service.

    Recently I added a second Ooma hub to my home network. It can make calls with no problem, both Ooma hubs work fine behind my router.

    Each hub is assigned a static LAN IP via static DHCP, similarly they are assigned highest QOS priority via their MAC. So far, so good.

    The second Ooma hub activated without any problem, it was as problem free as the first. Activation seems to take only 2-3 minutes.

    Edited to add my recent experiences with Ooma support have been outstanding. I've increased my rating of Ooma.

    Followup comments:
    chiefjim

    join:2000-11-12
    Smithtown, NY

    ooma questions

    I note you mentioned setting it up behind the router. Any advantages to doing it this way?

    Curious what happens if you get a new DHCP address when your modem resets? Or perhaps change providers?
    pandora
    Premium
    join:2001-06-01
    Outland
    ·ooma
    ·Future Nine Corpor..
    ·Comcast


    1 edit

    Re: ooma questions

    Placing the Ooma hub behind my router allowed me to put it where I wanted it physically. My modem / router are in a rarely used closet. I wanted the Ooma hub where it could be seen and used. The Ooma hub has indicators, and controls on it, which should be proximal to where people can see and interact with it.

    The Ooma hub is currently using an alternate set of phones, distinct from my normal home phones. This to permit testing. In a few weeks, I'll probably port one of my phone numbers to Ooma and it will drive my normal home phone system.

    I have set the Ooma hub to a fixed LAN address via static DHCP, using the Tomato 1.23 firmware on a Linksys WRT54GL router. The static LAN IP address is controlled by the Ooma MAC.

    My Ooma is set to highest QOS priority via its MAC.

    My PAP2T is similarly set.

    Today, I bought and activated a 2nd Ooma core (hub + scout). Both work fine behind my router, each has a LAN static IP address, each gets highest QOS service. I can call from one to the other and get very high quality (voice) calls.

    Ooma has been 100% reliable, and hasn't used much bandwidth. If my public WAN IP were to change, it wouldn't affect my Ooma devices. They would still be highest priority QOS on my LAN. Their LAN address can't change as its controlled by my router and is set to static.

    I used to have two AT&T lines, and am now planning to go to none by the end of this summer.

    Currently I have 4 VOIP connections running 24/7 on my LAN. 2 to Ooma, 2 to Future-Nine. I have moved one AT&T phone number to Future-Nine, and have one to go.
    --
    "People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use."
    chiefjim

    join:2000-11-12
    Smithtown, NY

    Re: ooma questions

    Your reply is a bit more technical than I am able to easily decipher. Is there an end benefit to connecting the hub to the router as opposed to the cable modem?

    Any consequences were I to change providers?
    pandora
    Premium
    join:2001-06-01
    Outland
    ·ooma
    ·Future Nine Corpor..
    ·Comcast

    Re: ooma questions

    I apologize.

    A reason to put the Ooma hub behind the router is to keep it proximal to the area it will be used in. My router and cable modem are in a closet remote from where I want my Ooma to be.

    Placing the Ooma behind my router, permits me the ability to have it physically where I want it.

    Additionally, I don't have to worry about Ooma being in the way of, or managing any of my LAN -> WAN traffic. Instead of sitting in the middle of everything going to and from internet, my Ooma hubs sit on the inside of my LAN only generating traffic they need to manage VOIP calls.
    --
    "People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use."
    chiefjim

    join:2000-11-12
    Smithtown, NY

    Re: ooma questions

    What happens if a power failure causes my modem to reset with a new leased IP address? Or, if I were to cancel my current provider and move to a new broadband provider?
    pandora
    Premium
    join:2001-06-01
    Outland

    Re: ooma questions

    The Ooma hub will re-establish it's VPN within a short period of time.

    HolmanGT
    Premium
    join:2001-11-20
    Saint George, UT
    ·Baja Broadband

    There is an advantage to connecting the ooma unit between the modern and router. The ooma unit has its own QoS control. When placed between the modem and the router you can be assured that ooma will get all the band width it needs. It is just a little more Plug-n-Play that way.

    Mine is also connected to my router and I did that only because when it was connected to the modem it acquired a strange IP address and I became alarmed that my ISP was also see it as a second device on their system. I have since found out hat the ooma unit will acquire an IP address and DNS address from ooma at least that is the what I believe was going on and why I saw a WAN address assigned to my ooma when connected to the modem. It is a pretty tricky little box, all designed to make your life truly P-n-P. (I don't know about you but I sure love to plug and play, feel free to take that anyway you choose)

    Short story - it works fine either way and per ooma only requires about 47 kb-ps of band width.
    chiefjim

    join:2000-11-12
    Smithtown, NY

    I've searched here, the Amazon forums, and the ooma site but one question still remains. Do you have to select porting your number on initial setup or can that be delayed?

    I'd like to know that the service met my expectations before committing my number to being ported over.
    pandora
    Premium
    join:2001-06-01
    Outland
    ·ooma
    ·Future Nine Corpor..
    ·Comcast

    Re: ooma questions

    Don't port your number at initial Ooma set up.

    Go through the Ooma set up as if you had no other phone number.

    Ooma will then assign you a new number, with no use or expectation of your old number.

    This will allow you an opportunity to test the service and see if you'd be comfortable using Ooma long term.
    --
    "People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use."
    chiefjim

    join:2000-11-12
    Smithtown, NY

    Re: ooma questions

    So then at a later date I could begin the process to port the existing number? If so, great. Nothing I read mentions that as an option. Wonder how many people like myself are on the fence wondering what if?
    pandora
    Premium
    join:2001-06-01
    Outland

    Re: ooma questions

    Yes, you would test until satisfied, then start to port whenever you'd like. Porting seems to take between 4 and 8 weeks.
    --
    "People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use."
    chiefjim

    join:2000-11-12
    Smithtown, NY

    Re: ooma questions

    Many thanks for your patience. That clears up all my issues. Now to place my order with Newegg. With any luck will be here tomorrow.
    pandora
    Premium
    join:2001-06-01
    Outland

    Re: ooma questions

    Good luck, if you have questions, ask anytime.
    chiefjim

    join:2000-11-12
    Smithtown, NY

    Re: ooma questions

    No question, just a comment. Works great! Installed behind my router. Only made a minor Qos adjustment.

    Now for the biggest challenge, deciding whether or not to port over my existing number. Decisions, decisions.....
    pandora
    Premium
    join:2001-06-01
    Outland
    ·ooma
    ·Future Nine Corpor..
    ·Comcast

    Re: ooma questions

    Take your time to test it. I've been testing for about a month. So far, it's met 100% of my needs.

    Porting can take up to 8 weeks, usually the minimum is 4. Many people get upset when a port isn't done almost instantly.
    --
    "People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use."

    BeejGA

    @bellsouth.net

    What are the pros and cons and/or possibilities of connecting this to my Brinks Alarm System?

    In the past I used ATT Callvantage, and my hubby (a licensed electrician) was able to connect the phones without issues.

    Is this the same as ATT Callvantage VoIP?

    Thanks in advance!
    pandora
    Premium
    join:2001-06-01
    Outland
    ·ooma
    ·Future Nine Corpor..
    ·Comcast

    Re: Home Alarm System

    I don't know about connecting an Ooma hub to a Brinks alarm system. The technology is VOIP, the CallVantage technology is also VOIP, however they are likely different in how they have implemented VOIP.

    If you are near a Costco, BestBuy, or other large box store that carries Ooma ... it is possible to try Ooma and see if it works for you.
    --
    "People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use."

    BeejGA

    @bellsouth.net

    Thanks for your quick response, currently Costco is offering this at a discount, and a money back guarantee. We will attempt this.

    Hubby feels confident that he will be able to hook it up like he did in the past, using ATT's VoIP. I'll keep you posted with our results.

    Again, THANKS!
    java007

    join:2003-03-02
    Abingdon, MD

    Re: Home Alarm System

    said by BeejGA :

    Thanks for your quick response, currently Costco is offering this at a discount, and a money back guarantee. We will attempt this.

    Hubby feels confident that he will be able to hook it up like he did in the past, using ATT's VoIP. I'll keep you posted with our results.

    Again, THANKS!
    Excellent tip re: Costco. Will check out the local store later this week.
    stuntman

    join:2006-03-04
    Hemet, CA

    Does anybody know if you can have your current line forwarded to the Ooma number until the Port is finished? My phone will be 'dry looped' next friday, at which point my current phone number will no longer connect to my home.. Is it possible to have the phone company (verizon) forward my phone number to the Ooma number until the porting completes??
    pandora
    Premium
    join:2001-06-01
    Outland
    ·ooma
    ·Future Nine Corpor..
    ·Comcast

    Re: Call Forwarding until ported?

    Verizon is beyond my direct experience. You must maintain and pay for your phone number until it is ported. Once ported all Telcos terminate charges.

    If you've terminated the line prior to porting, there is a very good chance the number could be lost.

    It is possible to have dry loop and POTS at the same time.
    --
    "People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use."
    stuntman

    join:2006-03-04
    Hemet, CA

    Re: Call Forwarding until ported?

    Wow.. the Verizon tech I spoke with told me I could not have both!

    What would you suggest then?? Should I cancel the dry loop that is scheduled for Friday? I'm told my dry loop will still be tied to my phone number but I'll no longer get a dial tone on that line... she seemed to think I'd need two phone lines to have both data and voice...

    My understanding was that I set up the Ooma first, then get the dry loop made... then do the Ooma port request... and that there could be a 3 week period where nobody could dial to my 'land' phone..

    I wish this wasn't so confusing!!!!!
    pandora
    Premium
    join:2001-06-01
    Outland
    ·ooma
    ·Future Nine Corpor..
    ·Comcast

    Re: Call Forwarding until ported?

    You need dry loop AND a separate bill for your regular Verizon number.

    Do NOT cancel the number or it will be lost. You must continue to pay for it.

    Let Verizon know you want both dry loop DSL plus a separate POTS (plain old telephone service) bill.

    If they can't do this, then cancel the DSL order, keep the DSL and phone bundled. Request a port of the number from Ooma, and call Ooma to let them know that after they've ported the number you want Verizon to continue DSL service as dry loop DSL.
    --
    "People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use."
    stuntman

    join:2006-03-04
    Hemet, CA

    Re: Call Forwarding until ported?

    I've never been billed for my DSL as my employer pays for it.. I only get the phone bill sent to my house.. is that the same thing?

    If I understand you correctly, I need to cancel the dry loop that Verizon is about to do as it will cause me to lose my phone number and prevent the porting? They told me that my dry loop would still be billed and tied to my current phone number.. is that only for accounting purposes?

    I'm still confused on the order I need to do this in.

    Is it..

    1) Buy Ooma
    2) Request Porting via Ooma's site

    or
    1) Have my single line split to a Dry Loop and a POTS
    2) Buy Ooma
    3) Request Number port via Ooma's site?

    So there is no truth to what the Verizon person told me about needing two rj-11 jacks and two lines in order to have both Dry Loop and POTS?

    THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!
    pandora
    Premium
    join:2001-06-01
    Outland
    ·ooma
    ·Future Nine Corpor..
    ·Comcast

    Re: Call Forwarding until ported?

    Whatever you do, you can't lose your phone number. Once you no longer pay for it, the number becomes the property of Verizon. You can't port Verizon's number.

    You must continue to pay for your voice number until it's ported.
    --
    "People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use."
    stuntman

    join:2006-03-04
    Hemet, CA

    Re: Call Forwarding until ported?

    Thank you for your help! As you made me nervous, I followed up with Verizon today and they said what they had ordered was wrong and would have caused me to lose my phone number! We reversed the order and all is back to 'normal'.. the Verizon tech today said to just apply for the port via Ooma, and the work will be done behind the scenes and I don't have to do anything other than make the request via Ooma, and verify when I get the call to port from the 3rd party verifier!

    Thanks again.. hopefully this will go smoothly!
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Review by pdxbuysell3 See Profile
Posted: 119 days ago
member for 3.5 years, 21 visits, last login: 119 days ago


Wilsonville,Clackamas,OR
Contract price not specified.
"Easy setup...excellent call quality....very reliable....can't beat the price."
"None!"
"If the company doesn't go under, this is the next best thing since sliced bread"
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)

    Got this for $199 from Costco.
    Installation and activation too 5 minutes.
    I had Viatalk for 3-4 years before this. Call quality was never great. Part of the problem was that viatalk adapted was hooked up after my router and call quality was at the mercy of Router QOS setting. For example, running torrents would freeze up Viatalk and I had to reboot the device.
    A couple of times year, they would change some setting and service would go down.
    None of those problems with OOMA til now. Device sits between the modem and router. So call quality has been excellent. Admitted that I have been using this for less than a month. But no reliability problems whatsoever till now.

    Works well with my multiphone system with base hooked to OOMA hub and other hnadsets working wirelessly.

    Excellent product!!

    Followup comments:
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Review by CloaknDagr See Profile
UPDATED: 126 days ago
member for 6.1 years, 88 visits, last login: 115 days ago


San Pedro,Los Angeles,CA
$8 per month (12 month contract)
about 1 days
"Full control of my own telephone system, very economical."
"It's VOIP, took a little tweaking to get my firewall set up for max. performance."
"Excellent, excellent, excellent."
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)

    My Other Reviews·DSL EXTREME
    I've been using my Ooma for about 3 months or a little more as I write this. I love my Ooma. I was paying AT&T about $70 a month for my previous single line business connection. Ooma charges for premier service only, you can get the basic one line service and use your own answering machine and if you do, then Ooma is free after the initial purchase of the core system which is around $200. They let you have the premier service free for 60 days and at the end of that I decided I wanted to keep it. That's $100 for 12 months or about $8.33 a month if paid annually, which I opted for.

    This gives me a private line and my business line which I ported over from AT&T. I have a two line phone at my desk and it's great having my own telephone system. I can put the business line on "do not disturb" during my non-working hours but I can still make phone calls from it at any time. I gave my private number out to friends and family which makes me reachable at any time, though if you wanted you could put that line to 'sleep' too.

    I'm not using a home router, I'm using an actual firewall appliance on my network. The Ooma devices are behind this firewall. It took a bit of tweaking and a few calls and emails to tech support both for the Ooma and the firewall to get it all dialed in for maximum performance but it was well worth it. I'm an IT consultant and a reseller for this particular firewall brand so it's great advertising for both Ooma and the firewall when I tell clients what exactly I'm talking to them on. Several of my clients are small businesses that could benefit greatly from the savings and security of this configuration.

    I guess the point I'm trying to make above is that this can be made to work even in a very secure environment. Had I known a little more about the engineering of the Ooma it would have been easier still. My only real complaint to date is that the literature and manuals are all sort of dumbed-down making it difficult to acquire in-depth technical information. While this is a negative on my part it's a serious positive for most users as setup is very simple and anyone could be talking within a few minutes of plugging this in. Even with input from tech support I ended up doing some trial and error. no big deal but I did bug my sister a lot with phone calls of the "how does this sound now" nature.

    Everything on my network is plugged into UPS's so the only thing that can take me out of service is an ISP failure of some sort. I'm on Cox so that's never been an issue for me at this location, they've never been down that I'm aware of in the 7+ years I've had the service.

    I would highly recommend this to anyone provided that you are otherwise happy with your ISP. The 'multi-ring' feature simultaneously calls my cell phone when my business number rings so if for some reason I had an Internet outage I still have communications as I get good cell coverage here. Multi-ring is part of the premier package so that's another reason among many that I don't mind paying for the premier service. I just turn my cell phone off when I'm in my office.

    I LOVE my Ooma!

    Followup comments:
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Review by Aveamantium See Profile
UPDATED: 132 days ago
member for 3.1 years, 1272 visits, last login: 1 days ago


Loveland,Larimer,CO
Contract price not specified.
"Installed in Minutes and Land Line Voice Quality"
"Business model could be an issue?"
"It Works Very Well! Get It!"
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)

    My Other Reviews·ViaTalk
    7/16/2009

    Been using ooma for almost a month now and I'm still impressed! Last time I couldn't comment on reliability and tech support so today I'm updating these topics. Though it has only been a month, reliability has been perfect. I had to call tech support once to figure out a billing issue and received a call the next day saying all had been taken care of. When calling tech support, I got through instantly and the tech was courteous and helpful.

    I decided to move the ooma hub in front of my router not because of quality issues but do to the “conditional” QOS available in the ooma hub. Though I'm running Tomato firmware on my router, which has great QOS abilities, it doesn't allow for conditional bandwidth allocation. By having the ooma hub in between my modem and router, bandwidth for the phone call is only reserved during the phone conversation meaning I get the full bandwidth (whatever it may be at that point in time as my speed varies greatly) whenever the phone is not in use.

    I have had some slight static on the non-ooma side of the conversation when using the scout and have started the troubleshooting process with the folks at ooma. However, the hubs voice quality seems to be still comparable to a landline. I think it has something to do with the way the scout communicates with the hub (HPNA) but this has not been confirmed as of yet. Once the Telo comes out in a few months, this will be a non-issue as the hub will communicate with the Telo "scout" (which will now be a standalone cordless phone) using DECT 6 technology.



    6/20/2009

    Since I just got ooma today I can't comment on all the items above (i.e. Reliability and Tech Support). However I will update later to report if these become issues or not.

    I can say that I plugged the Hub in behind my Linksys WRT54GL running Tomato and after doing the online registration I was off and running. I did install the Hub's Phone Port to my Line 1 house wiring (which powers most of my phones), and installed the Hub's Wall Port to my Line 2 house wiring (which powers the scout in the kitchen).

    The web site seems to be fairly simple and set up well... They seem to be adding features, which is a good thing as long as the voice quality doesn't suffer in the process. The only thing that I got used to with Viatalk that ooma doesn't seem to have is the ability to block based on wild cards (e.g., block 800 numbers). Hence, I did knock one off for the web site.

    I started out with Sunrocket but only had them a few months before switching to Viatalk. I was with Viatalk for three years and was fairly satisfied with them but wanted to look around for some better deals following the end of my contract. After doing some research I ended up purchasing an ooma. Now as long as the company stays in business you cant beat the price and after setting it up I can say that the voice quality seems to be superior to that of Viatalk.

    After the 60 day trial of the Premier service I'll likely port my number over from Viatalk. At that point if we really like the "Premier" services I may even spring for the $100 annual Premier service!? Only time will tell...

    Followup comments:
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Review by dbwilson See Profile
UPDATED: 146 days ago
member for 9.4 years, 2175 visits, last login: a few hours ago


Fayetteville,Fayette,GA
$8 per month (month by month)
about 1 days
"Easy setup, great call quality, prompt phone cust. support"
"None so far"
"Great value, time will tell if ooma's business model is sustainable"
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)

    Equipment cost from Amazon was $214.17 which includes hub & scout, free basic service for life of the equipment, plus 2 month trial of premier service. I subscribed to an additional year of premier for $99.99 which includes cost of port, second line w/ second VM account, call screening, plus many other bells & whistles.

    I called tech support with questions about QoS settings and spoke with US-based person with only about 10 sec. hold time. Once I had my QoS settings correct the call quality has been as good as POTS with no service interruptions since I signed up on May 14.

    I ported my number from Comcast DV - completed in 19 days on the exact day that ooma notified me it would be.

    The hub and scout have some unique features that combine the best of voice mail and answering machines, and the "Instant Second Line" feature is very convenient - these are the features that are unique to ooma. Other typical VoIP features are either included in the basic service or included in the extended features that come with premier.

    Update- more on the "Instant Second Line": The more I use this feature, the more I like it. It does more than you would expect from just a second line. Ooma has separated the line from the number. This means that the lines can operate both inbound or outbound with either number. So you can have two simultaneous calls on the primary number, or on the secondary number, or one on each number.

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Review by rs1990 See Profile
Posted: 171 days ago
member for 5.5 years, 436 visits, last login: 59 days ago


Highland,Ulster,NY
Contract price not specified.
about 5 days
"Pay once, No monthly fees, Good call quality"
"Not quite as good call quality as my cable VOIP"
"Great deal, would recommend this to anyone"
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)

    The first thing that I will say is that Ooma is such a great deal...I paid a one time $200 fee to buy the hardware and that is basically it (I say basically because I did pay $40 to port my old number over too, but I didn't have to do that). We don't use the home phone that often and the call quality is more than adequate, though not quite as good as it was with our cable company VOIP (though I believe they can achieve that just by setting their VOIP at a higher QOS than regular traffic, so it is kind of cheating).

    I was so sick of paying $40 to my cable company for their VOIP service that I decided to try Ooma out for a few months. I figured that even if it was not good enough, $200 is 5 months of cable VOIP. So, as long as I used it that long, I was still even. I ordered Ooma from Amazon and received it in a few days. The setup was a breeze, I basically just plugged it in and it worked.

    I only needed the main hub (we have a 4 handset cordless phone system), not the scout unit which would allow you to add another line upstairs for instance. After plugging the main hub into my network, I was up with a dial tone in under an hour.

    The number porting takes a bit of time (I didn't immediately sign up to do it since I wanted to test it out before canceling my cable VOIP)...a few weeks if I remember correctly. I also think that $40 is a little steep to port a number, but as I said, I didn't need to do this, it was just more convenient.

    All in all, this is a great product and I hope that their business model is good enough to allow them to stay in business. That is my biggest concern, that with no monthly fees, they will not be in business forever. I am crossing my fingers, because it is great.

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Review by soccerdad62 See Profile
UPDATED: 187 days ago
member for 4.6 years, 1084 visits, last login: a few hours ago


Saline,Washtenaw,MI
$16 per month
about 3 days
"Works well and took almost no time to set up."
"Thought it supported Google Voice, but it's my fault for not researching"
"Well worth the price...let's hope for sustainability"
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)

    Currently have Comcast Digital Voice, Vonage and ViaTalk. The one-time purchase for Ooma was appealing and my ViaTalk is due to expire, so bought it to replace VT (VT is OK, but it ranked #3 of my current services).

    I bought the Hub and Scout through Amazon for $209, which is a far cry from other prices, up to $250, that I saw elsewhere. Shipping took a couple of days.

    Set up was just a matter of plugging the Ooma hub into my router and the cordless phone into the Ooma. They seem to make a big deal out of telling you to install in front of your router for QoS, but I chose to just put it behind and it works flawlessly...another option, anyway.

    Voice quality is very good and I haven't experienced the delays others have reported. There's a Ooma tone before the dial tone that's kind of dopey, but it's benign.

    The Ooma blog and press release seemed (to me) to imply that they have a Google Voice Extension (whatever that means) to allow integration with GV. I was incorrect and was disappointed in that little blip, but tech support was pleasant and got back to me quickly.

    For anyone considering VOIP, this is worth the price without recurring charges.

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Review by pinhead3641 See Profile
UPDATED: 199 days ago
member for 5.5 years, 28 visits, last login: 120 days ago


Placentia,Orange,CA
Contract price not specified.
"No monthly fee"
"Will this company be solvent in five or ten years?"
"Goodbye, AT&T"
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)

    My Other Reviews·Time Warner Cable
    ·Dish Network
    Update 5/9/2009

    Our ISP is TWC/RoadRunner, and for whatever reason, our "10Mb/sec down, 1Mb/sec up" Turbo connection has been running at 35-55% of the advertised speeds of late. Last night I was talking with a friend-- also a TWC/RoadRunner subscriber-- on the phone, me using Ooma and he using the TWC VOIP service that he pays them for. Around 9:00 p.m., the quality of the call was so bad that I could not hear him talking for several 2-10 second intervals. The line was silent on my end, even though the call was still in progress. I don't know who to blame here... Ooma, TWC, or both. Obviously the service could be better, but I still have to admit, even if I have to avoid calling during certain peak traffic times, it beats paying AT&T $75/month.

    ==========================

    Update: 4/13/2009: Ooma had a major outage today, and our VOIP phone was down from sometime in the morning-- we noticed it around 11:00 a.m.-- until approximately 4:15 p.m. PDT.

    In fairness to Ooma, this is the first outage we've noticed. Everything has worked well since we subscribed, with the exception of this outage today. We still have our cell phones, so it was at best a minor inconvenience.

    Our number port was completed on schedule (it took 34 days from the day we activated our hub), and Ooma kept us updated throughout the process.

    I'm going to keep on using Ooma as long as they are in business. I'm even getting my non-tech-saavy parents to switch.

    ==========================

    A tech-saavy coworker tried another better-known VOIP provider-- one that spends a lot of money on TV commercials-- and said his experience couldn't have been worse. This was a few years ago, though, but it is relevant because it made me very reluctant to abandon my AT&T landline for VOIP technology.

    Recently, I read some very detailed and positive reviews of the Ooma service on one or two blogs, on Amazon.com, and also on the warehouse store Web site, and these convinced me to give it a try. I dropped just under $250 to get the Ooma hardware-- one of their hub units and a scout unit, in a bundle pack-- shipped to me. I don't know why it took Big Warehouse Store two weeks to ship it to me, as they are usually more timely, but once I had the hardware, I went through the activation steps, paid $40 to have my current number transferred from AT&T to Ooma, and another $50 for international minutes, plugged in the hardware, and was making calls in about 30 minutes.

    I was motivated to try this because we were spending $57/month on the cable modem, another $60-$65/month for satellite TV, $75/month on AT&T, and about $80/month for our cell phone service. I found myself thinking that it is simply stupid to spend around $300/month for "connectivity," or whatever you want to call it. So I started looking for some way to consolidate/bundle/cut expenses. I considered the various possibilities, and when I saw this Ooma hardware in the Big Warehouse Store monthly mailer, I thought it would be worth a try. I was on the verge of trying my ISP's VOIP service anyway, for which I believe they charge about $25/month, but I figured at that rate I'd break even with the Ooma hardware in 10-12 months, provided Ooma stays solvent.

    So even though this is just the second day that the Ooma hardware has been installed, we've been making and receiving calls (even overseas calls), and it seems everything that was promised is true... so far. We still need to wait for our number to be ported over-- supposedly it takes 3-4 weeks-- and until then we need to keep our AT&T account alive and paid up, but if everything goes smoothly, I have just one more $75/month AT&T bill to pay.

    I'll try to remember to update this review after three or four months.

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Review by joeinspirit See Profile
UPDATED: 207 days ago
member for 6.4 years, 42 visits, last login: 122 days ago


Pasadena,Los Angeles,CA
Contract price not specified.
about 1 days
"Effortless Install, Right Price, Great Quality"
"None yet."
"It just works."
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)

    I can think of few pieces of electronics that install so effortlessly. Ooma just works. It is as easy to install as a game console.

    So, after reading many reviews, and a attempt at using a skype converter box (it was crap), and looking into Vonage (which I think is a good service) I decided on Ooma.

    Today I went to frys bought ooma and installed it. The install was easy. I didn't follow directions or read the quick start guide, I just took it out, plugged it into my router, and plugged the phone in. The hub has a giant "you must activate first" sticker on it, which I did, and it started working. I do not have conventional telephone wiring here so I just plugged the "scout" device directly into the HuB, using a pigtail, so that I could attach the base of my wireless handsets in addition to my desk phone, it works just fine.

    Only thing that slightly slowed me up was that the brightness control on the ooma was turned down either by me or at the factory, so I couldn't tell it was on until I picked up the handset.

    I am actually going to need and use the premium features so will pay the $99 a year for it. I hope to try to run my business phone system off of this, after I do some beta testing, if I get the chance I will add to my review with my experience using it for business phone. If it works, I will break even on my phone bill in about 4 months, even with the premium services fee. I bought the ooma for $199. I also just tested having my 1-800 number set to forward to my ooma, and it is working fine.

    My first impression is that this is a great service, it just works, sound quality is great, no glitches yet. Now if the company can just keep afloat financially, and not have outages.

    Followup comments:
    nitzan
    Premium,VIP
    join:2008-02-27
    ·ViaTalk
    ·Comcast

    Becareful if you use it for business...

    5 Use of Equipment and Services

    * (a) Residential Use: We provide the Equipment and Services to you solely for residential use. The use of the term "unlimited" in conjunction with ooma's service offering as it appears on ooma packaging, in sponsored advertising, on the ooma Web site, and in third party marketing materials, refers to normal residential phone usage as defined herein. You agree to use the Equipment only in a manner consistent with normal residential usage patterns. You are prohibited from using the Equipment or any Services for auto-dialing, continuous, or extensive call forwarding, telemarketing (including, without limitation, charitable or political solicitation or polling), voicemail broadcasting, or fax or voicemail blasting or with regular, consistent activity that could be considered commercial or for-profit in nature ("Prohibited Use"). You agree we have the right to terminate your service if we conclude you are using the service for a Prohibited Use. In addition you agree that any usage of more than 3,000 minutes for outbound calling per month will be deemed dispositive proof of Prohibited Use. In the event you engage in Prohibited Use, ooma reserves the right to terminate service without notice or, at ooma's sole discretion, to charge you at a rate of 1.9 cents/min for calls that exceed the 3,000-minute per month outbound calling limitation. This rate may be modified on our Web site from time to time.
    I bet the package on the box doesn't say "residential use only", does it?
    joeinspirit

    join:2003-06-25
    Pasadena, CA
    ·ooma

    Re: Becareful if you use it for business...

    I interpret the TOS to define "residential use" as residential use patterns relating to call volume and specific activities (auto-dialing, blasting, etc).

    "[Or] with regular consistent activity that could be considered commercial or for-profit in nature" is ambiguous at best.

    Nowhere does it say you cannot send and accept business calls using the line.
    nitzan
    Premium,VIP
    join:2008-02-27
    ·ViaTalk
    ·Comcast

    Re: Becareful if you use it for business...

    "We provide the Equipment and Services to you solely for residential use" sounds pretty clear to me.

    They probably won't do anything if you make 500 minutes a month - but if you go 2000-3000 expect to be disconnected eventually.
    pandora
    Premium
    join:2001-06-01
    Outland
    ·ooma
    ·Future Nine Corpor..
    ·Comcast

    Re: Becareful if you use it for business...

    Hi Nitzan,

    I saw this from BobbyB on the Amazon.com forum about the 3,000 minutes.

    »www.amazon.com/review/R1VPSFWD45···OE6CRDXI

    Pilchard is correct, in the almost two years the product has been on the market, no one has ever been terminated or charged for going over 3000 outbound calling minutes. The main reason we added that clause was to discourage use by telemarketers or commercial users. If you'd like to learn more, you can check out »www.ooma.com/faq#16 or you can dig through (look for my user ID) the thread "3000 minutes" on the Amazon.com ooma Product page.
    --
    "People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use."
    joeinspirit

    join:2003-06-25
    Pasadena, CA
    ·ooma

    Thanks for the link pandora, interesting.

    Nitzan,

    I hear what you are saying, and in some sense, the sentence you quote is clear, on the other hand that sentence doesn't give us a definition of "residential use". What I'm saying is that when trying to dispositivly interpret the clause, the paragraph should be read as a whole. After that sentence they spend the rest of the paragraph arguably defining "residential use", and ultimately I would contend that it is defined as usage pasterns, stated in lay terms.

    Much of Paragraph 5(a) focuses on use pasterns which would cause a high volume of outbound calling, especially those mentioned explicitly i.e. blasting, polling, auto-dialing, etc. Now this may be delving to much into contract law but I would argue that the clause would be interpreted as a whole, and strictly construed. A similar type of holding was recently found in Poseidon Dev., Inc. v Woodland Lane Estates, LLC (2007) 152 CA4th 1106. Following the reasoning in Poseidon if the user "agree[s] to use the Equipment only in a manner consistent with normal residential usage patterns." The user has in no way agreed to refrain from conduct business calls en blanc. The user has only agreed to the pastern restriction.

    Just some thoughts. Anyway, at least in my case my office will fall below 3,000 minutes, so it should be a non-issue.

    Regards,

    Joe
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Review by lohertz See Profile
Posted: 222 days ago
member for 224 days, 1 visits, last login: 222 days ago


Plano,Kendall,IL
Contract price not specified.
about 1 days
"Free Calling to Anywhere in the US"
"Company is in Early Stage of Growth,"
"Superior Value, Excellent Forum Community, Company will to work with customers"
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)

    I've had Ooma for a couple of months now and couldn't be more pleased. The company is in early stages but vigorously work to correct problems and push out updates.

    Did experience an outage this week, but came back online after a day. Not a complaint, but an inconvenience. A lot of ideas move through the forums and they actually get used by the company.

    They actual listen to their customers, what a relief. Forum community is great and I am active in it.

    Call quality has been excellent for me. I have AT&T DSL 1.5M/384K and it works well. My VoIP experience mainly comes from my working environment and Ooma is comparable to that. (Polycom and Cisco phones)

    I didn't opt for premier, but may when the daughter gets older...LOL

    Very, Very happy. Would Recommend

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