jeremysw7 wrote:Impossible to win a Woot Bucket of Candycorn in crapshoot. Two obstacles always come at the same time for me in either level 1 or if I am lucky by level four they always do. This is ridiculous.

The Crapshoot was for the Box of Cobwebs during the 2010 anniversary sale. Now it's just a game. There's nothing to win.

I almost bought one of these to take over the home telephone service until I found the OBI. Its a VOIP device like the ooma but it works with google voice. $40 at Amazon for the VOIP only unit and works even better than the skype box I had before (which also required a 24/7 running computer). Set it up via in internal web page and done. No computer needed after setup.

Just offering an alternative that I KNOW is a great and cheaper product.

http://obihai.com/

Google voice allows free calling to the US and Canada for NO CHARGE. After a month and a half of use I have yet to have a call with a noticable delay which was quite frequent with Skype and I have heard ooma has also...

JonPowell wrote:How does this compare to NetTalk?
http://www.nettalk.com/

Yes, I'd also like to know. I was about to take the plunge with NetTalk when this came up on Woot. What does the extra cost for Ooma buy me?

mdickinson wrote:So I have Google Voice, and an Obi110:
http://obihai.com/what-is.html

Which allows me to make unlimited calls to the US and Canada - for free:
http://obihai.com/googlevoice.html
as well as low-cost international calls
http://www.google.com/chat/voice/compare.html

The Obi110 was $49.95 at Amazon.
http://amzn.com/B0045RMEPI

Could someone tell me what the Ooma does that makes it worth paying twice as much for the box, PLUS an extra $48/year ($4/month instead of $0/month)?

I cannot for the life of me figure out the attraction of the Ooma when the ObiHAI plus Google Voice provides exactly the same functionality and the savings is $249 over the first three years alone.

I looked at that option before I went with Ooma. I've had GV since before Google bought it from Grand Central. The main concern was that this scheme depends on GV being free, which potentially ends in January (except for active duty military). I've also read that Obi won't work when gmail is open, which I guess could be avoided by setting up separate google accounts for GV and gmail. GV reserves the right to listen in on your conversations (granted, it's not a person -- a machine looking for keywords). Ooma support seems better. 911 is part of the Ooma monthly fee, and you would have to set up an account with another provider (for a fee) to use Obi. An advantage to Obi is that if Ooma goes out of business, you're out of luck, but an Obi can be used with any SIP if GV becomes impractical.

I have never posted in this forum but must share my frustration with this product. We switched from Vonage to Ooma because of the low monthly price. Yes, we saved a lot of money but have suffered because of the terrible quailty and service of Ooma. No problems when we had Vonage but Ooma's calls get dropped and sound is scratchy. Have tried all of their tweeks from their website but nothing has improved.

It i$ well worth what we $pent on it. We have $aved a good $ized bun¢h of ¢a$h.

i purchsed this form OOMA directly. I couldn't fax at all. No help from OOMA at all. I swtiched back to cable company service.

One of the best purchases I have ever made. I am saving over $78 a month in phone bills and the service is equal to if not better than my old land line. Being able to log-on to your account from any location and see phone call history is very nice. Blocking of numbers can be done with the click of a mouse. I have had no issues with faxing or making 911 calls.

I gotta ask the question since i dont believe anyone else has asked it.

WHY WHY WHY get this or any other telephone service if we already have a cellular phone that gives free national calls? we have ATT cells and unlimited minutes plus TONS of rollover minutes

aykim86 wrote:Absolutely not. I bought two of these unit the last two times they were featured on Woot and I was really hoping they would work as a fax line. Turns out, they're not.

When I send and receive only a few pages, it works okay with my Brother all in one but when it comes to over 4 pages, it always cuts out, sending or receiving. I tried it as a fax on another HP fax machine I have and it doesn't even work at all.

I called Ooma Tech Support and they also stated that Ooma fax is not reliable.

Even though the Ooma doesn't work as a fax line, $140 is a great price for unlimited calling with all the features. I pay about $3.50 a month for taxes which is $40 cheaper than what I was paying. I still have to pay $40 for the fax line, but I guess you can't have it all

parctoow wrote:Got it. Love it.

Same here!

uclabru1 wrote:Does anyone know if you can use a fax machine with this? Is it just a regular phone port?

I use my fax machine with the ooma, I have only faxed 1-2 pages at a time,I never had to fax more than 2 so don't know if it works for more pages.

We've used ours for over a year now, with the Premium service.

Pros:

1. Cheap, high clarity voice service. We use a cable internet connection and people are amazed when we tell them we're using a VOIP service.
   
   
2. Love getting e-mails with voice messages forwarded to both of us in the household.
   
   
3. Great to be able to forward calls using any internet connected terminal. This is really nice if you, for whatever reason, discover you want to forward to a different number.
   
   
4. Ooma's new wireless adapter makes it easy to place the base unit anywhere in the house where there is a wireless connection.
   
   
5. Community Black List has eliminated 90% of our unwanted spam phone calls.
   

1. Did not work well with our home fax machine. It would work sometimes, but you had to dial *9 first, and it didn't always work.
   
   
2. If you have your home phone service bundled with other services like television or internet service, be sure that canceling your telephone service will really have a positive effect on the amount you actually pay to your service provider. In our case, when we canceled our digital phone service with our cable provider (Comcast), our total bill actually increased because we had such a great, older bundled package with them for phone, internet, and television. Because of the problems with our fax,we finally just gave up and added a phone line with Comcast because the bundled extra line was the same total price as what we were already paying. We ended up with no real net savings in the long run, but we gained an additional, dedicated fax line, and all of the services that Ooma has.
   
   
3. Did not work with our ADT home alarm system until an ADT technician re-programmed their system. The tech knew just what to do, and changed the system almost immediately. Because we had been and ADT customer for so long, they did it for no charge. However, be aware that ADT typically would have a service charge associated with that sort of re-programming visit.
   

• If you have cable internet service, but a traditional POTS telephone line, this is a no brainer. You'll save a ton by canceling your phone service.
  
  
• If you have DSL through your traditional phone line, you might save a little, provided your carrier offers a "naked" DSL line without any voice service on it at a cheaper price than what you are paying.
  
  
• If you're currently using bundled services with a cable company, you may or may not ultimately save money. Be sure to call your provider and ask what the impact of unbundling your telephone line will be on your bill, and be prepared for the rep to be ill informed. We were originally told our bill would be lower by $16.00 a month. That didn't happen.
  

We've had ours for about 4 months now. Well worth the money and ours is a refurb.

I bought the wireless adapter to put the Telo in a more central location. It's wonderful.

Ooma will block telemarketers if you choose. They have a list of them that you can subscribe to on their website. You just check a box or enable it, IIRC.

They also roll out newer options every now and then. So, this box has lots of potential for new features and upgrades.

I found that it will easily connect to your router and much easier than most other of my devices. And it's very stable. I can't tell any difference in voice quality between this and our Charter VOIP service.

I opted for the Premier service which is about $10-$13/month.

Faxing is easy, just press *99 and then the fax number.

starmanbackwards wrote:I gotta ask the question since i dont believe anyone else has asked it.

WHY WHY WHY get this or any other telephone service if we already have a cellular phone that gives free national calls? we have ATT cells and unlimited minutes plus TONS of rollover minutes

Much better quality with Ooma than my cell

I got this over a year ago, and have been very happy with it. You need to pay about $4 a month in taxes, but otherwise, I haven't had to pay anything. Kept our old home phone number, no problems with missed calls/outages/etc. I recommend it to anyone who has a reliable internet connection and wants to keep their home phone number.

KATANARYDA wrote:

So guys tell me, why should I buy this when I'm completely happy with magicjack?

You should not buy this. On the other side of the coin, I am completely happy with Ooma, so will not be buying magicjack. With something like this, there can be two right answers.

Ooma is great! My husband and I live in South Korea and this device is perfect for us to keep in touch with our families and friends back home. It allows us to have a US based number for them to call instead of messing with being in the right place at the right time with Skype, etc. We were able to port our number from Vonage and now pay $4 a month instead of $30. We now receive emails whenever we get a voicemail similar to Vonage. I love that feature!

The only draw backs I see are
1. International calls are not included so if you plan to make many international calls this may not be the device for you.
2. Vonage had call forwarding that could even forward to international numbers (it was perfect to forward to our cellphones in Korea)

All-in-all, I highly recommend it. It is saving us quite a bit of money!

pkonold wrote:Are faxes reliable with this? Faxes are the only holding me back from dumping my current phone service.

Faxes work perfectly fine. We love it. I work from home and rely on this for calls and faxes for $3.50 a month. It is a no brainer.

Would this work with a Wireless Internet connection?

Just my two cents on Magicjack, which we have used for almost three years now. We run it on a thin client and have had no voice quality issues for a long time now. Voice mail is included and is also sent to your email address. The new magicjack does not even need to be connected to a computer; it is more expensive, but far less than Ooma.

Has anyone 'upgraded' from the Hub/Scout to this Telo model? I am happy with my Hub (don't use the Scout), but I'm wondering if there are any advantages to going with the new model.

Also, I was fortunate to get on board with OOMA more than two years ago. I don't have to pay the taxes and took advantage of a deal paying about $200 for lifetime Premier services. I was wondering if these would jeopardized by moving up to the Telo?

I think the many pluses of having an OOMA have been covered. I've enjoyed excellent quality calls, saved so much money and been able to keep pesky unwanted calls at bay.

Two small problems though:

1. Several months ago there was an OOMA wide outage for a day or so. You would have thought the world was coming to an end, but they fixed it as quick as they could. Of course, there were many rumors about OOMA going belly up, but they are going strong now. It was a little unsettling, though, that day.

2. I have a Verizon dry loop in my condo so I can get DLS for my OOMA. No land line as such. The downer is I am limited with the dry loop to Verizon's slowest speed DSL which is fine for the OOMA, but I wish I could do better for everything else with a faster speed. I cannot get FIOS in my condo, so I am stuck with slow DSL. I guess that is the tradeoff for having the OOMA and saving the landline cost.

hydin wrote:Got one a few months back. It's decent. Voice quality depends on the level of speed and jitter with your high speed internet.

To be completely honest, it kinda sucks, BUT that is with the fact I acknowledge that my high speed internet has some issues as well.

Still, 3$ and some change for a "landline" phone isn't bad. Beats the hell outta the magicjack I used before.

Only issue I had was they didn't have any numbers available in my town/area, so I had to go with a number that's from a neighboring city that's a bit bigger.

Still, even with all that, I would say buy it if you need a cheap landline style phone.

Can you comment more about how this is better than the Magic Jack? I have the MJ and I am having an issue I believe I may have caused; but it is a network issue and I imagine this would obviate that because I think it sits before the router.

starmanbackwards wrote:I gotta ask the question since i dont believe anyone else has asked it.

WHY WHY WHY get this or any other telephone service if we already have a cellular phone that gives free national calls? we have ATT cells and unlimited minutes plus TONS of rollover minutes

Since you asked, cell phone service at our home is spotty at best and so we have to have another telephone service. Also, cell phone service does not transmit your address to 911.

Magic Jack is only $40 and very portable

Lifehacker did a recent user poll of VoIP services and Ooma came out on top.

http://lifehacker.com/5848002/five-best-ways-to-use-a-regular-phone-for-internet-calls

Dumped Vonage after another price hike for one of these last time they came up and have not regretted it yet.

What's the Google Voice Feature in the Premier service?

Also, how do I check if they have numbers in my local area?

wigleypg wrote:I just called Vonage and told them I would switch to Ooma and they halved my rate and waived the plan change fee. Thanks Woot!

for how long?

dcrepeau wrote:Would this work with a Wireless Internet connection?

No, you have to plug this into either a router or a modem. It cannot pick up a wireless signal.

Thumbs up here..purchased refurb in June from Woot. Website is very good, set up was easy and I ditched Vonage after 12 years of ever-increasing 'federally-mandated state-required' "fees". Service is equivalent to Vonage..cheesy VOIP service that is sometimes indistinguishable from excellent land-line all the way down to an intergalactic cell connection.

What no one has mentioned is that the Ooma box injects the "Ooma Chime" (a little jingle) into your ear when you pick up the phone to make a call...a kind of advertisement, a reminder that you are using Ooma. The chime dissolves gently to the traditional dial-tone, and lasts no more than 3 seconds. I do not find it objectionable. Thought I'd mention it since no one else has.

I don't want 'free' service of any kind, because eventually it won't be free. I'm paying $3.75/month to Ooma for the basic service, as that is all I need.

I do not fax, and can offer no insight with respect to Ooma in that regard, however as I read this forum, I wonder, "You are faxing?"

You are Faxing? You're FAXING? Heads-Up! We're fully 10 years into the 21st Century! Perhaps you are wondering why you haven't received a Western Union Telegram in the past few years?!? And let me guess: You are having trouble finding Whale Oil for your desk lamp at Costco, right?!?

Whaddaya say you ditch the fax machine, save the paper and spare the whales? Buy an Ooma.

It sounds great not having to pay for a landline, BUT, I've discovered our home security system has to have a landline in order to call for help if needed. The system could be converted to call on cell, but it costs quite a lot to make the change.

gsbuck wrote:It sounds great not having to pay for a landline, BUT, I've discovered our home security system has to have a landline in order to call for help if needed. The system could be converted to call on cell, but it costs quite a lot to make the change.

I plugged the box right into a wall phone jack and get phone service all over the house. I suspect this would work the same way. The down side is that you have no service if the power or internet go out while your alarm system probably has a battery backup and most traditional land lines will work when the power is out.

brickleigher wrote:"I do not fax, and can offer no insight with respect to Ooma in that regard, however as I read this forum, I wonder, "You are faxing?"

You are Faxing? You're FAXING? Heads-Up! We're fully 10 years into the 21st Century!"

I agree with you but many of us must do business with businesses that for some reason MUST fax orders, etc. and require FAXED responses. Sigh.

aykim86 wrote:Absolutely not. I bought two of these unit the last two times they were featured on Woot and I was really hoping they would work as a fax line. Turns out, they're not.

When I send and receive only a few pages, it works okay with my Brother all in one but when it comes to over 4 pages, it always cuts out, sending or receiving. I tried it as a fax on another HP fax machine I have and it doesn't even work at all.

I called Ooma Tech Support and they also stated that Ooma fax is not reliable.

Even though the Ooma doesn't work as a fax line, $140 is a great price for unlimited calling with all the features. I pay about $3.50 a month for taxes which is $40 cheaper than what I was paying. I still have to pay $40 for the fax line, but I guess you can't have it all

Fax machines are basically non-digital creatures and ooma/other internet phone services are digital. They don't play well. Usually have to slow the fax machine down and hope it works. Usually will for a page or two but even then expect printed line distortions etc.

Been using an Ooma hub for 3.5 years now. Completely happy with it. It came with the Scout which I never had to use. I just used a splitter to send the signal to my other phone jacks. I never ported my old phone #. I had the # for 28 years and figured it was about time to let someone else have it.

mdcecilio wrote:Lifehacker did a recent user poll of VoIP services and Ooma came out on top.

http://lifehacker.com/5848002/five-best-ways-to-use-a-regular-phone-for-internet-calls

Dumped Vonage after another price hike for one of these last time they came up and have not regretted it yet.

Skype came in first, Ooma came in second. They were the first in the list of services, but if you read the poll, they had the second number of votes. But I did order the Ooma from this Woot.

If you have a home security system it may not be compatable with the Ooma Telo. In some areas 911 can be problamatic. And FAX machines need a land line. Other than that... GO FOR IT! Might even be worth it to you to have basic land line plus Ooma if you do a lot of FAXing.

starmanbackwards wrote:I gotta ask the question since i dont believe anyone else has asked it.

WHY WHY WHY get this or any other telephone service if we already have a cellular phone that gives free national calls? we have ATT cells and unlimited minutes plus TONS of rollover minutes

I have weak cell coverage at home, so Ooma means no dropped calls. I also prefer "traditional" wireless handsets in most of my rooms, so I don't have to hunt down my cell, or carry it around when I'm at home. It works too w/Google Voice, and I'm able to fax as well (though I know many users have fax probs w/Ooma. In my case Ooma means convenience.

If you're the only one in your household, and you have unlimited minutes, don't experience dropped calls, and aren't worried about radiating your brain cells, then Ooma probably isn't for you.

Will this work with my local ADT alarm system?