 "Customer Support was Fantastic" | 2009-11-19 |
| - Reviewed By User: AZJ2OF5TAF2RH |
| I have had the ooma up and running for about 6 weeks now and I love it! I wanted to port my old land line phone number that I have had for over 20 years and it went very smoothly without a hitch; took about 2 1/2 weeks. Before the number ported, I was unable to really test a lot of the features as caller ID did not work, etc. The sound quality was not the greatest and had a buzzing/humming sound on the line. It was annoying so I went to the ooma forums to find the answer. Apparently there is a 3-prong grounded power supply to replace the 2-prong un-grounded supply it comes with. I called ooma customer support and they helped me troubleshoot the problem and then sent the power supply right out. In fact, they even called me a couple of days later to follow up and make sure I was taken care of which is almost unheard of anymore. I had a great experience dealing with them and found them to be very responsive to my complaint. I wonder why they don't just sell the unit with the 3-prong, grounded power supply in the first place. Since my number ported, I have been able to access all the features and it is absolutely wonderful. My favorite part was calling my phone company to cancel the service with them and say goodbye to phone bills with all kinds of mysterious charges. I love it and could not be happier that I switched. It will pay for itself in about 4 months. I am recommending this to all my friends and family. I may even purchase a couple as Christmas gifts this year. |
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| "No more phone bills" | 2009-11-16 |
| - Reviewed By crisany |
| Sound quality is excellent. A little delay between speaking and the listener hearing what you said, but you get used to it and adjust your conversation. Would recommend this product if you no longer want monthly phone bills. |
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| "Almost ex-Vonage and TW phone user" | 2009-11-15 |
| - Reviewed By -rusty |
Jumped on the new lower prices of Ooma after seeing it in the 300-400 range for the last year. My personal phone configuration is 2 lines on Time-Warner, 1 Vonage line for inbound calls from a remote number, and Google Voice number. Have eliminated one of the T-W lines ($40/mo) and will be cancelling the Vonage service ($25/mo). Am replacing roughly $800/yr with $100/yr and have more features. Upfront cost was less than $200 and they threw in a 4 GB Ipod. I like the math.
After reading the other reviews and personal bad experiences with offshore support, I was hesitant to purchase. Once set up, the devices are easy and fun to use. A couple of routine calls to support which were answered by Phillipine-based call centers went surprising well and were easy to hear and understand. Porting issues are being overseen by someone stateside who is helping manage the cutovers. Not a service I would recommend for the technically fearful but otherwise it's an incredible bargain. |
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 "BEWARE DO NOT THROW AWAY THE BOX" | 2009-11-12 |
| - Reviewed By bance |
| I was already using Skype in one of my two homes and it worked great, so I get the system for my other home, threw out the box when it arrived, and ported my number. Big mistake. The system never worked right. Ooma blamed Verizon and Verizon blamed Ooma. I was spending endless hours with tech people, so I called a halt. I couldn't return the system because I ditched the box. I was out the porting fees and my annual fees and when I decided to sell the brand new system I learned that Ooma charges $60 to the new owner and the tech people were obnoxious once I said I was leaving. So be careful. Make sure it works right. |
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| "Loving Ooma" | 2009-11-07 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3FZFY2E59217P |
| We've been using Ooma for about 2 months now on our cable internet connection, and loving it - especially the money we're saving on our newly cancelled landline service! I could go on and on about all the little features, but really to summarize I would just say that I notice no difference between using this and the landline, and that's all I care about. At the beginning we had a few issues with Ooma sounding busy when we weren't actually on the line, but haven't experienced it at all in the past month or so. We are very pleased. |
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| "Ooma core is the way to go for free phone service" | 2009-11-07 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1696898PCZDJQ |
I waited till after the ooma telo launch to make my ooma purchase, but after comparing service plans between the telo and the hub/scout I decided the old ooma core would serve me best without having to pay a cent in recurring fees. If you want the ten dollar a month premium plan then I would recommend the telo, but if you want the zero dollar a month freemium plan with full functioning caller ID and voicemail and no taxes ever then the old hub/scout core appears to be the better choice.
I've now had my ooma long enough to save $23.28 from not having to pay my November 2009 PhonePower bill. PhonePower is a great VOIP provider, so good that I felt bad breaking up with them, but they just can't compete with ooma. I've got better quality and reliability with ooma, and in ten months the ooma will have paid for itself. With a one year warranty on the ooma equipment I can't lose as long as ooma stays in business.
I also like the fact that I own my ooma equipment. I had to return the router I leased from PhonePower as part of the termination process, which entails packing it up and paying the postage to send it back. I will never have to return my ooma hub or scout (unless one of them were to break under warranty I suppose).
Ooma is a utopian type product in a world of planned obsolescence and recurring costs. In the long run it is always better to pay more up front for a long lasting optimal solution than to get suckered into a contract through the enticement of low startup and initial contract fees only to find those recurring fees rising over time. For example, I run my ooma over Verizon fiber optics (FIOS). Shortly after I got my ooma and terminated my PhonePower service, Verizon decided to raise my monthly FIOS bill by $10.00/month, and when I tried to have my plan downgraded from FIOS to DSL I was told by multiple Verizon representatives that once a home is converted to FIOS it can never be converted back to DSL, even though when I asked that same question prior to going with FIOS I was told it wouldn't be a problem switching back to copper. So, although it is technically possible to switch from FIOS to DSL, Verizon will not do it because it is not profitable for them.
I wish I could find something like ooma for my internet service, but since nothing like that seems to exist I'm on the lookout for a good high speed internet service with a rate that is locked in for life so that the ISP can't raise my rates at will after the expiration of the original contract.
So, between picking up high def TV through an antenna and running ooma on top of FIOS I essentially have a phone/TV/internet bundle for $42.99/month (soon to be $52.99/month) with every penny of that going to pay for my 5/2 Mbps (eventually going up to 10/2 Mbps) internet. That beats the daylights out of any bundle Verizon or Comcast has to offer. I'm thrilled with my free TV and phone, so if I could just lock in a low rate on my internet I'd be all set.
In summary, ooma is a rare find in this greedy world. I hope they can stay that way and remain profitable at the same time because I don't ever want to have to give up my ooma. All the phone companies I've dealt with in the past were like girls I dated but couldn't marry, but ooma is more like the wife I'm married to right now. We'll be together till death do us part. |
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