Ooma Core VoIP Phone System
by ooma
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List Price: Our Price: $170.00 You Save: $79.99 (32%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Ooma Core VoIP Phone System
Customer Review: What am I going to do with $25 extra a month?
Summary: 5 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Before I was even offered this product, I kept looking through the small grouping of reviews here and asked myself, "do all of these people work for Ooma?" Needless to say, I was a bit skeptical of this newfound device and its promise, echoed by the reviewers here, that you'd have sound quality better than your landline, with no monthly bills and tons of extras. So, when I got my box and eagerly set it up in an attempt to sneer in a review about how wrong everyone was, I found myself shocked. This thing ain't bad at all!
Setting up is a complete breeze that took all of five minutes, as advertised. Basically, you go to the ooma site, create an account, pair up the Ooma hub's information to your account, decide whether to port over your phone number or choose a new one and you're pretty much done. As far as actual set-up is concerned, you just use an enclosed ethernet cord to run from your modem to the device, then from your device to your router and you're done with that portion. You'll also need to plug in the hub into your wall outlet, then the phone into your hub. It sounds more complex on paper than in actuality, and there's plenty of pictures for those not tech-savvy.
The way it works is that you have to have either the hub or the scout for each phone. Here is where you could potentially spend more money than you anticipate because each receive will need to have a scout, which costs extra money. One way to work around this (and the way mine is set up) is by using a cordless phone. I have two cordless phones, with a hub and a scout, and I only need to plug in the cordless phone hub into the ooma hub for both phones to work.
I've tested the ooma, keeping my original phone line, for almost a month and I am content with the sound quality. Originally, I was a bit miffed at the sound quality. There was a pronounced echo of my voice flying back at me that the first time I heard it, I stopped talking. This is a problem I've heard some people deal with, with other VoIP services. However, I was able to fix it by changing the upload speed in the settings menu of the device; this completely fixed the problem and I haven't had an issue since.
One problem I do have with the device is the (for lack of better title) "ooma sound" that happens when you turn on the phone or when someone connects with it. It makes this brief swirling sound that transforms into the ring tone when you pick up. That itself isn't annoying. But when someone else picks up, the sound comes back and a couple times that's happened, I had to repeat myself to the caller. It's also a bit distracting to be trying to greet the person/ask a question when the sound starts. I haven't discovered a way to turn it off.
EDIT: According to a helpful commenter below, I have discovered that you can turn off the "ooma sound" by calling the ooma support line. Will be checking this out, but that definitely takes away one of my big complaints!
Another issue that isn't unique to ooma but VoIP in general is that if you lose internet connection or if something causes your connection to degrade, you will lose voice quality or, in the case of no internet, lose your phone service. Additionally, you need to have broadband internet; my internet provider provides me with speeds up to 15 MB/s and, for me, I have had absolutely no issues. But I can't say if that will be true with slower speeds.
That said, there are some really nice features, not taking into consideration the "standard" ones like caller ID, etc. For instance, you can log into your ooma lounge to listen to your voice messages or call from a separate phone to hear them, delete them, etc. An even cooler feature, for me, is the ability to set up a text message service or email service that will send a text to your cell phone or an email to your email account that lists the phone number, the fact you have a voice message and information on how to access your phone from away. It's a cool feature that many probably won't use, but it just adds to the user-friendliness of the system.
And, of course, the best feature that is the main reason to look to ooma: no monthly phone bill. This is one of those items where the $250 is a steal. With my phone bill of $25 a month, in ten months you'll have paid for the device. Everything after that is just gravy. The Ooma really surprised me. I went in with a cynical frame of mind, expecting the reviews to be blowing smoke, but I'm coming out of it with the plans on canceling my phone service this week. I can't think of any better praise than that.
Customer Review: 8+ Months of use and Loving It. Details below
Summary: 5 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
01/20/2009
QUICK NOTE: Jason M. Page has a great review above my review...you should read it also.
UPDATED 12/17/2008
We dropped DSL and moved OOMA's to Cable Modem Service...
ORIGINAL REVIEW:
Hello All,
I bought an OOMA about 8+ months ago with one scout (added a 2nd system later on). Here is our setup.
1. NO LANDLINE required.
2. Using with Cable Broadband on Comcast.
3. Two OOMA Hubs (personal and business) and 2 OOMA Scouts.
4. 2 x 2 Line Panasonic Cordless system to use dual line capabilities.
5. Wired into home wiring so as to avoid unsightly clutter of hardware.
FIRST SYSTEM (Personal Use):
The OOMA hub is plugged in to our Apple Extreme Basetation, out of sight out of mind. Gave the OOMA internet access through the router and voila...phone service is live. NO land line is required. I know OOMA says you can use your existing land line, but it is not a necessity to use this system. They will issue you a new number or port your number over if you do not have or want a land line.
We took line one of the OOMA hub (marked home) and wired it into our home wiring (line 1 - our home is wired for 2 lines)....again very easy and no problem - the phones in the house starting working at once.
Challenge - we have a 2line phone system - so how can you use OOMA with a two line system and use the 2 line features of OOMA.
Since line one was wired and working we needed to get line 2 wired. I took the line 2 out of the ooma hub (marked WALL), wired into home wiring (line 2 jack in the basement), and used the ooma scout to complete the phone line network this system creates.
Line one was already going into the panasonic, so the scout now allowed us to plug in line 2. Voila - 2 lines on a 2 line system with one scout and one telephone number. Its like call waiting on steroids.
NOTE: You can also get multiple numbers with different ring patterns to make this more effective.
The panasonic system has 4 handsets - so now no matter where we are we have a 2 line phone system without the need for more scouts.
The scout itself does everything the OOMA hub does in a small package....so its easy to put in the kitchen and or bedroom and have it look somewhat decent.
SECOND SYSTEM:
Simply used near a telephone in the basement/home office...no fancy setup...works great with a 2 line Panasonic System.
I hope this helps you in deciding to purchase this system. Please let it be known that I am a consumer...not affiliated with OOMA....I simply LOVE this product. I no longer have monthly bills and thus we have recovered the cost of this system already.
UPDATE 12/17/08
Still going strong. WE now have two ooma hubs and two scouts at home. One for personal use and one for business. Works great...no complaints yet. Our broadband is now all cable - about 10-12mbps down (comcast) and 1.5mbps up...sometimes more on down/up in burst mode.
OOMA has also added a bunch of new features for people on the premier plan...ie. community black lists. Basically a GREAT feature.....they have created a blacklist that is shared by all members so that we can all contribute to block useless telemarketing calls etc.....you send them directly to voicemail or block them all together. AWESOME!.
People have emailed me and asked if this system works for faxing....I dont know that I can answer that since I have not really tried sending/receiving faxes with it. Please do chime in and let us all know if it works.
I have also had questions about what I think of OOMA and the business model...while I do not know the specifics, I am not afraid of using it as there seems to be enough people contacting me about purchasing it...I feel that it will be around long enough for everyone to recover the cost of the system.
If you have specific questions, feel free to ask me via email at tchachra@yahoo.com. I will try and help....and just to be clear..I am not affiliated with OOMA at all....just a consumer via AMAZON!
QUICK NOTE: (THANKS DAVE)
It is important to understand that you should disconnect the wiring from the local telephone company coming into your house before you wire any VOIP device into your home wiring. Basically the phone company wiring carries current into your house and OOMA also outputs some level of current to your phone lines....too much could cause an issue.
Customer Review: Does what it says, and does it well!
Summary: 5 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
My Ooma is the "core system", which included the hub and a Scout unit. Both devices are very nice looking, a clean design that looks good in any room/decor. Plus they are not big at all, the hub being the size of a small book, and the Scout being about the size of a Blackberry device. The buttons are backlit when activated with a soft pinkish/red light.
What's in the box:
* Ooma hub and AC adapter
* Ooma Scout and AC adapter
* CAT5 cable
* Phone cables
* User manual and installation guide
My setup is:
The Ooma unit and Oooma Scout.
Panasonic DECT 6.0 phones - TG9334T
Verizon DSL.
NetGear 11B router and Westell DSL modem.
Why am I telling you about my carrier setup? I'll get to that in a minute.
What I like about Ooma...it took me just minutes to set it up, plugging it into my router and DSL modem, and another phone jack in another room for the Scout. Set up was a breeze and all of the ports are clearly labeled (Wall, Phone, Modem, Home, Power) About all you need to provide are an internet connection and a phone handset. After the simple setup, I was able to pick a phone number on Ooma's website and start using the system immediately. I also like the sound quality. Although I've never had VOIP at home, I use it at work. I found the Ooma to be clear and crisp, just as good as my landline. I used the same handsets so I could evaluate apples and apples.
Also, it's nice to pay once for the Ooma hardware, and as long as you have an internet connection (which you are paying for anyway) and don't plan to buy any international calling service from Ooma, well then your VOIP phone service is essentially free! That's hard to beat. I don't use Ooma for international calls but the rates on their site appeared very competitive. You do have to pre-pay for international minutes.
You may be curious how you know when the Ooma line is ringing as opposed to your landline, if you are using similar/same phone handsets. Simple, Ooma has its own ringtone.
I also love the built-in features such as caller ID, call-waiting, and voicemail, things your phone company charges you extra for.
As far as other function features your phone line might support, such as faxing, Ooma makes no guarantee faxing will work, which is because faxing does not always work well on VOIP, so its a technology issue, not a product issue. In my case, it did work, just by hooking up my printer/fax as I already used it, on a splitter with a phone I have an HP all-in-one that's a few years old, a 2400 model, and the faxing worked fine on Ooma after several faxes, incoming and outgoing.
Calls to 4-1-1 apparently generate a charge to you from Ooma. That is what it says in my user manual; I haven't tried to call 4-1-1 yet.
A note in general - I still have a landline. If you are going to shut off your landline and replace it with Ooma, just keep in mind the simple rule about VOIP - its on a PC/internet system - so if you lose power to your home or your internet connection, you can lose your phone service until power is restored. So if you are shutting your landline make sure you have cell phones and/or a UPS backup for your PC, router, etc.
Ooma also offers something they advertise as "Instant Second Line". The Ooma unit is able to handle this second line, but you'd have to pay Ooma for it.
Now, back to why I mentioned my carrier specs, and the one thing I am leery about with Ooma. Resources. Namely your internet resources. The unit needs only 256kbps upload speed to operate, although Ooma recommends at least 384kbps. Doesn't sound unreasonable, but you need to understand that the Ooma hub is essentially a gateway, so like many "peer to peer" concepts, your bandwidth gets used to route other users' data (in this case Ooma calls). Your system can become what is known as a supernode, such as the concept used by Skype for VOIP or LimeWire for P2P Data Sharing. I do want to stress I have just started using Ooma and haven't seen any impact to my bandwidth, but you do need to understand the infrastructure and how your bandwidth could be used.
All in all, this is an exciting product which works as advertised and I consider it a stable device and system. After your initial purchase you have free phone service, with the only other costs being the optional calls to Information, international calls, and/or a second line (Ooma Premier). I like it - a lot.
Customer Review: Overall very pleased with Ooma after 2 months!
Summary: 5 Stars
I spent a lot of time reading reviews about Ooma, and reading the forum pages on Ooma's website before and after purchasing Ooma. The general impression I received was that the vast majority of people are very satisfied, and the problems mostly had to do with poor customer service, or people that didn't do all their homework before buying. And now after two months of using the service, plus ordering a 2nd Ooma system for my business, I can say that I would rate the product 4 3/4 stars (nothing is flawlessly perfect, but overall I had to go with the 5 star over the 4). And incidentally, it is very interesting to me to see that 2/3rds of the ratings here are 5 stars.
We ordered our first Ooma system for our home. It took about 4 weeks for the number to be ported. Not only are we not paying a phone bill now, but yesterday Qwest even sent us a refund check! One nice thing I recently thought of is that Ooma works transparently: in other words, once it is fully up and running, you don't even think of your phone system as different at all. Everything just works!
I'll try to list some of the COOL features that are better than our previous phone company (besides no phone bill!):
1. The hub and scout system working like an answering machine. We will get home, and see the "play" button blinking red, and all we have to do is push it to retrieve messages. Before, we had the blinking light on our phone, and had to call in to get our message (no answering machine)
2. When listening to messages, if you don't want to listen to the whole thing, we just push the "trash" icon to instantly delete it. Before, we had to listen to the whole thing before having the option to delete.
3. Missed calls are emailed to us, so if we are away from home, we simply log into Ooma lounge to hear them.
4. Calling outside the country very cheap. So far, we've only called Canada, and I think it is something like 1.5 cents/minute.
The cool things I look forward to using at work with the premiere service are:
1. multi-ring; for when I'm away from my office, and the phone will ring to my cell phone simultaneously--and I can choose to answer or let it go to voicemail.
2. community blacklist, and other spam controls.
One of the cool future-features is some kind of auto forwarding of calls when the system detects the internet is down.
As for voice quality, I have noticed that it is not perfect, but it is as good or better than our previous phone company. The thing that seems to make the most difference are the types of phones people are using. Sometimes I will hear a little crackle, or a slight echo, or a slight delay. This seems to happen a little more when talking long distance, or calling to a cell phone. And like I say, it really isn't much different than our previous phone company. And in general, I simply don't notice it, as I guess I am used to a few imperfections here and there from every phone system I've ever used!
As for setup, one thing that caused a little trouble was my NOT understanding that if you have DSL, you have to make sure to have your phone company put it on its OWN LINE (different than the phone line) before you port your number. Otherwise, when the phone company cancels your phone line, it will cancel your DSL as well! Fortunately, I read about this before our port was completed. But next, I didn't realize that with the DSL being on a new line, I ALSO needed to reset my router for the new DSL! The phone company started our new DSL on a Thursday, then canceled the old DSL Friday, so we didn't know about resetting our router until we were without internet service!! So the thing to do, is not only disassociate your DSL from your phone line, but as soon as it happens, get on the phone with your DSL provider, and get your DSL modem setup for the new service. I hope this makes sense. For us, it meant about 2 days with no internet. Maybe for some, the phone company automatically updates the DSL modem, so you don't have to be without internet for a few days!
Lastly, while it's good to read about all the complaints, and bad experiences people have with any product, remember that for every one complaint, there are probably hundreds of people with no complaints! After we worked out these few glitches, we hardly even go to the forums for help, and we have no need for customer service, because it just works! And we are saving approx. $40/month (it will be paid for in about 5 months!).
Good luck to all.
Mike
Customer Review: Finally comfortable dumping the land-line.
Summary: 5 Stars
Like most people, we mostly use our cell phones for communications. There are a few exceptions and thus we've hung onto our land line for longer than totally necessary. The land line provided a way to fax and for my wife's parents to call our son. Keeping the rarely used land line was $25 per month, and that was basically for an incoming phone line. Outgoing calls were too expensive, and thus reserved for the cells. ooma replaces our land line and still allows us the reasons we had a land line, but at $99/year (we opted for the premium service because of the added value).
My order arrived 3 days after ordering from Amazon. Supersaver shipping was, for once, super fast.
The box contains the ooma hub, ooma scout, cat-5 cables, telephone cables, power cables, and two sets of directions. The directions look like they walk you thorough the setup, I really didn't read them as I just hooked it up - basically, if you know anything about telephones, modems, and routers, you can connect the system without reading the directions.
Next, before you plug it in, you go online and sign up. The process takes about 5 minutes. You can do the entire thing without giving them a credit card or other billing information. Nice. Only your physical address is needed so 911 will know where to send the ambulance or police. If you want to port a telephone number (move it to ooma), you can pay $40 for the service, or opt for the $99/year premium service which includes the porting. See below about porting process.
Once you complete the registration, you plug in the ooma and turn it on. The little light at the top blinks red, and then turns a nice cool blue. Once it turns blue, you are good to go. Plug in your telephone, and you are making calls.
I have 1.5m/750kbs FIOS and it works great. Calls are clear, no noise, echos, static, etc. Very happy with quality. Calls around the country have been clear and easy. Pick up phone and dial. No problems.
I added $10 to my account for international long distance. Called the United Kingdom and spoke for 30 minutes. Cost: $0.98 including taxes. ooma will tell you what your balance is and how many minutes that equates to when you make an international call. Easy to add minutes online in the ooma lounge.
I opted to purchase the premium service to get free porting. You can pay the annual fee for premium and save the $40 porting fee or just pay to port. After completing the online signup, I received a confirmation email. You confirm the information, and then about a week later, ooma sends you another email with an approximate date for porting. Then they send you another with a confirmed date. You need to keep the line being ported until the port or risk loosing the number when you cancel the other line. About 3 weeks to do the porting.
I haven't experienced any negatives thus far, but see the fax limitation of about 5 pages to be a problem (send) but the fax is really for receipt and emergency sending of a signature or something.
A real problem is the potential to lose the phone if the power is out - that is going to be a bit of a worry.
The ooma hub and scout are just great and we are very happy with our purchase.
**UPDATE**
We've had our ooma service for about 5 months now and we continue to be very happy with the quality of service. ooma changed their TOS in the Fall of 2009, raising the price of premier to $120/year and also adding an annual fee for those who don't subscribe to premier to recover their FCC fees ($12/year). For 99% of the calls, there are no issues. Pick up the phone, dial, ring, & talk. There were a few times when the call wouldn't go through, but that used to happen on the old AT&T service as well. I just redial it it goes through. A few times I did hear some "digital" qualities to the conversation, and just called back and that resolved the issue.
The porting of our old number took 3 weeks, as promised, and ooma kept us in the loop the entire time. We got emails before, the day of, and just after it happened to let us know it had been done. We lost our landline service in the morning, and it was ringing on the ooma just after lunch.
I like being able to use the home phone for outgoing calls for a change. I now have all my friends and family call me at home first to avoid having to use the mobile minutes and the extra radiation.
Overall, 100% satisfied to have ooma as my phone system.