How does this compare to NetTalk and their NetTalk duo device and service?

aferg1 wrote:What happens after (or during) 2012 - does the [Obihai] Obi110 become obsolete or un-updatable?

No. 2012 is the year of the Rapture, so you won't need telecom service any more.

Just wanted to chime in and say that I've had this for about 1 1/2 yrs. Even took it to the Olympics with me while I was there for 1 MONTH so I could still use my own USA home number while in Canada! I use it mainly as a fax line at home but it works GREAT! Their tech support is good too if you have any problems. I paid 200.00 for mine. It's a GREAT deal and no need to have a land line phone bill anymore.

For those of you with Vonage that are happy with it except for the price, just call them to cancel saying you are switching to Ooma and they will offer you a much better rate if you'll stick with them.

Much is made of the fact that although the service is advertised as free, there is still a monthly charge. You really can't blame Ooma for this. These are governmental regulatory charges and taxes. Ooma doesn't keep a cent of it. You see similar charges on cellphones and other VOIP services, and even your landline. So yes, the service is free.

We've had the same landline phone number since 1979. You can pay to have your number ported to Ooma. It was a must here for wife approval. We kept our number with the switch to Ooma.

dgingerich wrote:Because I get next to no cell signal in my house. I don't want to have to go outside to make or receive calls, but this works great with my cable internet.

You can get a cell booster for about this same price or less depending on the strength booster your looking for.

I bought me a VoIP phone for about $40 and use my internet to place calls.

crashnburn wrote:well you don't need 2. with the obi you have to have one, and so does at least one other person you'd be calling. so that makes it $100 instead of $50. personally, i think the ooma is worth the extra price to avoid the hassle. i'm in for one

Wrong.

One Obi can be used with Google Voice. No monthly fee. $50.

Obi HowTo Video Explains: http://bit.ly/nje9hv

Another issue that comes up is why some Ooma customers don't pay any fees, period. These are early adopters who registered their units with the company before the government forced them to collect fees. Because Ooma had promised these users that they'll never pay anything, they kept their promise by paying the fees for this limited group for the life of the unit. As far as I know, this issue does not apply to this new Ooma Telo, only the older white Ooma Hub. All Telos are manufactured after the fees were instituted. As for the Hub, it's not when you bought it, but when it was first registered. For example, I bought my Hub from Woot last year but I have to pay the fees. However, you may find pre-registered Hubs on eBay that were registered before the fees came into effect.

gdarland wrote:I looked at the Obi1110. Isn't there a phone line or cable connection involved somewhere? In other words, you're still paying someone for something at some point, no? Seriously...I don't know. Set me straight. tia

You could setup your Google voice number on Obi, so you do not need another phone number.

However, to get a Google voice number, you have to provide a physical (cellphone/ landline) number. You could remove this physical number from Google Voice later and your Obi will still work.

this is freeky... I Was just searching for deals on an ooma for my parents. I already got one and figure i'll pick up one more for them.

In summary woot... GET OUT OF MY HEAD!

I have the older Ooma Hub and I love it. I also love it more than the Telo because it has nice large modular buttons. The Telo has more features though i.e the ability to create a second line with their special headset. The Ooma has great sound quality that actually surpasses my landline, possibly because of the compression and enhancement algorithms. The voicemail is also very nice.

Please note that only Premier users will get email notification with voice attachments. Voicemail archiving is important to me for legal reasons. Basic users will have to manually go to their website but you can still save the emails into a file.

Also, I believe that people subscribing to their $9.95 Premier service can get one of several bonuses, i.e. a free Ooma headset or to have a phone number ported over for free (there is normally a $40 charge, I think).

aferg1 wrote:First line of Amazon's description:

"Works with Google Voice for FREE calls to the USA and Canada to 2012 - Great international rates too!"

What happens after (or during) 2012 - does the Obi110 become obsolete or un-updatable?

You could ask the same question about Ooma. What happens when the company shuts down? There is always a risk, isn't it? And the risk seems to be greater for Ooma, considering it's upfront cost. Plus, in Obi, you could setup other SIP as well.

stevenlee212 wrote:This may be a off-beat question , but why would anyone really need a home telephone if everyone in the household has a cell phone ?? The only calls i get at home are from people just trying to sell me great deals etc.....

I got the Ooma Hub about 6 months ago and love it. Love the $3.50 per month, too! But we had an established land line for 20 years that the kids' schools have, and frankly, I prefer not to get all calls to my cell phone. I use a bluetooth while driving, and prefer not to receive calls (directly in my ear) from people other than my kids and close friends and family. I also list my Ooma number on all the online purchases, wherever it is required.

KarenMarie wrote:Please be patient with me...

I had verizon for $40 per month +tax and etc.
I had IDT for long distance $7 +tax and etc.

My phone never rang - except for telemarketers occasionally. So, I canceled it.

My daughter and grandchildren live in the UK, we in the USA. We tried Skype and it was awful. *AWFUL* We looked at Vonage and it would have cost us almost as much as having the land line.

My husband is pissed off bcuz he cannot call our kids or grandkids in the UK...

Will someone please tell me how this will work for me and why I want this one?

I would really appreciate it.

thank you!!

Just in case anyone decides to reply to me...

We have verizon cell phones.
the kids live in the UK, we in the USA.

thanks.

Awesome, I was just about to buy one from Amazon for $200. Love this Woot deal! Ive been wanting one of these for a long time!

I have a regular land line and OOMA premium with 2 lines I am a retired transmission engineer from BellSouth Tel & Tel and I am very picky on sound quality. I had Vonage and it was not good quality most of the time. Echo, hollow sounding, and volume all over the place. OOMA is as good or better than my land line. It is cheaper by a long shot than Vonage.

KarenMarie wrote:Just in case anyone decides to reply to me...

We have verizon cell phones.
the kids live in the UK, we in the USA.

thanks.

Its pretty straightforward. You connect Ooma to your internet router/ modem and also to any normal phone handset. You get a US phone number using which you could make and receive calls as long as your router is on. You could buy two Oomas and send one to your kids in UK. They will end up having a US number in their UK home. Hence they could use Ooma to call you or any other US telephone number for $ 3.50/ month.

I've made this comment before on the Ooma services, and I think it's worth repeating when considering this purchase:

You pay no monthly fees for the calls that you make with the Ooma service. Ooma has never been a profitable company, it has always operated in the red. It has always relied on venture capital to keep in business. There is a risk that they may not get more investment and the service could fall over.

That said, in the last seven years, the company has never failed to get reinvestment, and all of this previous investors are very happy with the company's performance, and stand behind the product. Good will apparently CAN get you far.

If you own this product for more than seven months, then it will have paid for itself. After that, you're in the gravy. Good luck!

crashnburn wrote:well you don't need 2. with the obi you have to have one, and so does at least one other person you'd be calling. so that makes it $100 instead of $50. personally, i think the ooma is worth the extra price to avoid the hassle. i'm in for one

You don't need 2. 1 obihai 100 or 110 plus google voice equals free calls to regular US and Canada numbers. The people you call don't need an Obihai.

CharlesP2009 wrote:Woot deleted my comment it seems. I was expressing my disappointment as to the lack of a Woot-Off but instead I'll say that this VoIP thing is a fine product for those that want to setup a VoIP.

I myself find regular telephone lines to be more reliable (though that could be my crummy Internet provider more so than the device).

The biggest positive is that the call quality is fantastic when talking with other VoIP people.

Whats a phone line?

I am definitely kicking my Vonage out by the end of this month. I am going to replace it with either Obi or Ooma. I have read about both but am not able to make up my mind. Did anyone else out here faced the same dilemma? Could you let me know what did you decide and why?

Have had mine for 2.5 years now. Worked great in the US...and in Taiwan (as a US based phone)! Talk to my family for well over an hour every week. One of the best investments I have ever made. Especially as I have the original hub version with zero fees. But if it ever dies, I wouldn't think twice to buy the latest version even if I had to shell out for the taxes every month. It just works that well and is a bargain too!

KarenMarie wrote:Please be patient with me...

I had verizon for $40 per month +tax and etc.
I had IDT for long distance $7 +tax and etc.

My phone never rang - except for telemarketers occasionally. So, I canceled it.

My daughter and grandchildren live in the UK, we in the USA. We tried Skype and it was awful. *AWFUL* We looked at Vonage and it would have cost us almost as much as having the land line.

My husband is pissed off bcuz he cannot call our kids or grandkids in the UK...

Will someone please tell me how this will work for me and why I want this one?

I would really appreciate it.

thank you!!

I can only give you a semi-intelligent reply since I don't so international calling. With the Ooma, you can make calls to the UK for a very low price. If their domestic service is any indication, call quality will be very clear and the service will be no different than calling on a landline. You can't say that about every Internet phone service. According to Ooma's website, you have 3 options for calling the UK. The Standard Rate is 3 cents/min. If you use their Bulk Rate plan ($9.99/mth), it's only 1 cent/min. The 1000 Minutes fot $9.99/mth plan is probably best.

I don't have personal experience with this but many people have said that they take their Ooma when they travel. They install the Ooma at their destination, i.e. a hotel, and voila, people can call them as if they're at home. Installation is nothing more than plugging it into the ethernet jack. You'll have more problems finding a power converter. You'll need Internet service, of course, but that shouldn't be a problem in the UK. So if you plan to take long trips to the UK (or anywhere else), this is a nice setup to have.

As for Skype, have you tried their paid service? I don't use Skype but a friend uses it regularly to talk to his girlfriend in S. Korea. They're both wealthy so they have access to the best services yet they choose Skype.

Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.

prosperouscheat wrote:For those of you with Vonage that are happy with it except for the price, just call them to cancel saying you are switching to Ooma and they will offer you a much better rate if you'll stick with them.

I did that. Got half-price service for a year ($12.50/mo). After taxes and fees I wast paying in the neighborhood of $18. Still ~$4/mo more than Ooma Premier.

Around the time I signed up for Vonage in early 2007, they were hit with several patent infringement lawsuits. In the end, they ended up settling and not too long after, the fees went up and an "Intellectual Property fee" found its way into my bill. I wasn't happy and that along with the other fees were the main reason I cancelled with Vonage.

stevenlee212 wrote:This may be a off-beat question , but why would anyone really need a home telephone if everyone in the household has a cell phone ?? The only calls i get at home are from people just trying to sell me great deals etc.....

One reason, already mentioned, is signal quality. Boosters aren't a cure-all. Rural areas, canyons, apartments/condos surrounded by lots of steel, places where the signal bounces around and follow multiple paths (which cause mutual interference).... It's a wonder we can actually talk, sometimes!

Another reason (I think) is rate plans, where you're paying per minute on your cell phone and not on your land line.

Yet another is large-scale emergencies. A flood, prairie fire, earthquake, whatever, gets people calling in and out asking if everybody's okay, saying it's going to take a couple of extra hours to drive home, and so on.

Cell service will max out before land lines will, so your home will be incommunicado if you only have cell phones.

Those are the reasons I usually give.

-- Ed

agemineye wrote:Its pretty straightforward. You connect Ooma to your internet router/ modem and also to any normal phone handset. You get a US phone number using which you could make and receive calls as long as your router is on. You could buy two Oomas and send one to your kids in UK. They will end up having a US number in their UK home. Hence they could use Ooma to call you or any other US telephone number for $ 3.50/ month.

Can this be carried to any country while traveling and used as a US number?

KarenMarie wrote:
My daughter and grandchildren live in the UK, we in the USA. We tried Skype and it was awful. *AWFUL* We looked at Vonage and it would have cost us almost as much as having the land line.

My husband is pissed off bcuz he cannot call our kids or grandkids in the UK...

You're a grandma and you say, "pissed off"?!?!

Cool!

Best Devise I ever purchased. My phone bill for local and long distance is under $3.00 per month. You can add extras which are great for $9.99 per month. Any way you add it up it is a winner.

kamnet wrote:I've made this comment before on the Ooma services, and I think it's worth repeating when considering this purchase:

You pay no monthly fees for the calls that you make with the Ooma service. Ooma has never been a profitable company, it has always operated in the red. It has always relied on venture capital to keep in business. There is a risk that they may not get more investment and the service could fall over.

That said, in the last seven years, the company has never failed to get reinvestment, and all of this previous investors are very happy with the company's performance, and stand behind the product. Good will apparently CAN get you far.

If you own this product for more than seven months, then it will have paid for itself. After that, you're in the gravy. Good luck!

Yes that's a constant worry for me too. The landscape is changing. There are a lot more VoIP devices now than previous years. Furthermore, fewer and fewer people want a home phone, choosing instead to use a cellphone exclusively. Lastly, younger people like multimedia, so the videophone (which has been around since the 1950's) is finally taking off -- although it now takes place on smartphones, computers and tablets. Telecommunication services with no video option will slowly fall out of favor. These factors don't bode well for Ooma.

But your right, a few months use and you will easily make up for the initial cost. Our landline here in NYC costs $40 without any calls (or caller ID or voicemail. They cost about $8 each). That means we'll recoup our investment in 3 months.

ivanivanovich wrote:Those are the reasons I usually give.

Note, however, that the actual explanation has more to do with being too lazy to change the number and service we've had at the house for 50 (actual, count 'em) years....

--Ed

I live in San Francisco and SHanghai about 1/2 the time in each place. Anyone try this in China where the great firewall makes things a little different that in HK or Taiwan (i won't go politics here)... often I cannot access bank sites also because USA based companies
won't accept login attempts or access from China.

Is there a minimum network speed? I pay At&T for 1.o Mbps and was grandfathered in for 12.95/month, but have been noticing that At&T has slowed me to 0.5 Mbps...

last question... has anyone tried leaving the ooma unit in the USA and then use the skype for ipad/iphone or skype for android application to access the ooma application? (again same chinese firewall issue)

I went from Vonage to an Ooma Hub to an Obihai 110. Hands down the Obihai is the best of the bunch. If you're not paying for the "Primere" Ooma service, they cripple the device so that it will not interop with Google Voice and that's NOT cool. Ooma's website sucks IMHO.

agemineye wrote:Its pretty straightforward. You connect Ooma to your internet router/ modem and also to any normal phone handset. You get a US phone number using which you could make and receive calls as long as your router is on. You could buy two Oomas and send one to your kids in UK. They will end up having a US number in their UK home. Hence they could use Ooma to call you or any other US telephone number for $ 3.50/ month.

---what if I don't have a US phone number anymore? I gave up the land line about 5 months ago and have nothing but the cell phone left. Does that count?---

sdc100 wrote:
As for Skype, have you tried their paid service? I don't use Skype but a friend uses it regularly to talk to his girlfriend in S. Korea. They're both wealthy so they have access to the best services yet they choose Skype.
Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.

---No, you were quite helpful... I never tried SKYPE paid service. That was my next choice before seeing this. I have their free service which is ok thru the computer... I even hooked up a bluetooth so I could clean house while talking. But the husband... he is an analogue guy in a digital world and can barely find the ON button on a computer, never mind log on to SKYPE and figure out bluetooth. I am not sure if I can hook a normal cordless phone into the router with SKYPE or with this?... that is important. The husband needs to be able to pick up and dial a 'normal' phone. SKYPE thru the Verizon cell phone is the worst thing I have ever tried. Alexander Graham would turn over for the awfulness!! ---

sdc100 wrote:You're a grandma and you say, "pissed off"?!?!
Cool!

---If you think that is cool.. You would be tickled pink to know.. Erm, better not say. My daughter is always telling me to act my age. ---

agemineye wrote:I am definitely kicking my Vonage out by the end of this month. I am going to replace it with either Obi or Ooma. I have read about both but am not able to make up my mind. Did anyone else out here faced the same dilemma? Could you let me know what did you decide and why?

I don't know anything about Obi but I can say that the Ooma is incredibly easy to set up and use. Basically, it's completely transparent and you'll be using your phone without knowing that it's no longer a landline. The only difference is that the dialtone is preceded by a little tune (which you can adjust). I don't know about the Telo but the Hub sits there like a regular answering machine. It blinks when there is a message recorded and you can even screen calls.

The Obi sounds pretty powerful, but also very complicated.

salisali wrote:Can this be carried to any country while traveling and used as a US number?

Yes, I believe so. I have Vonage right now (which I am kicking out) and that works as a US number in any country as long as you have an internet connection. I do not have Ooma right now but am sure that all VOIPs work just as Vonage. So you get a US number (you might have to first register the device in US, not sure about this) and then you could carry it anywhere in the world. The post by 'alextse' (scroll up) talks about him/ her using Ooma in Taiwan, with a US number. So it is local US number which you can carry around anywhere in the world.

KarenMarie wrote:
---what if I don't have a US phone number anymore? I gave up the land line about 5 months ago and have nothing but the cell phone left. Does that count?---

Ooma will generate you a list of available phone numbers based on some criteria. For example, although I live in NYC, I can ask for a Hollywood, CA number.

Alternatively, you can have your Verizon cellphone number ported over to the Ooma for $40 (or get it free if you subscribe to their Premier service).

KarenMarie wrote:---If you think that is cool.. You would be tickled pink to know.. Erm, better not say. My daughter is always telling me to act my age. ---

Technically you just need a US number to setup a Google voice number. It can be a public phone/ friends number. Google gives you an automated call to verify this number the first time. Once you have verified this number, you could delete it. So, you do need a live number (at least for 5 minutes) which you could access for setting up Google voice for the first time.

sdc100 wrote:I don't know anything about Obi but I can say that the Ooma is incredibly easy to set up and use. Basically, it's completely transparent and you'll be using your phone without knowing that it's no longer a landline. The only difference is that the dialtone is preceded by a little tune (which you can adjust). I don't know about the Telo but the Hub sits there like a regular answering machine. It blinks when there is a message recorded and you can even screen calls.

The Obi sounds pretty powerful, but also very complicated.

Thanks sdc100. Actually Obi is pretty easy to setup as well. You could do it on their website. Just enter your Google id and password and there you go. My concern is with the existence of Ooma and the tariff that Google will come up with in 2012.

Okay, here's a big question from a newbie. I have to have AT&T to get DSL so I guess i have to at least keep my basic service or pay for the dry DSL version. Assuming I keep my basic service, let's say I attach this to my router and phone, when I make a call, how does the phone differentiate between whether I'm calling long distance using Ooma or AT&T, or is everything through Ooma at that point?
Also, if I call a family member, will it show a new # I picked when setting up Ooma or my landline #? Will calls placed to me at both numbers still get answered through my Uniden answering machine?
I'm just wondering how both phone numbers work at the same time and when you call long distance, it knows to go through Ooma and not ripoff AT&T.
Thanks for any info.