100% recommend.

Over the last 2 years or so, I've paid about $400 so far: The cost of my ooma system (old) and the premier service that adds an extra line and a few other nice bells and whistles. Savings get better over time.

If I had kept AT&T home wire service, I would have paid $25/mo without long distance and fees. $25x12mox2yrs=$600. So I'm far ahead cost wise and those bells and whistles are well worth the bit of effort to move onto ooma.

I've had 2 outages that lasted more than a moment or two - when we had a blackout and when my ISP failed to do its bit. Other than that, it has been 100% for our needs.

i really want to get one of these. i live in little rock arkansas. i've checked their "porting" page and my current number can't be ported. they list numbers available in north little rock (which is across the river from LR) but no number in little rock proper. will a number from NLR work?

OOMA TELO vs MAGIC JACK PLUS

cphotodesign wrote:I bought one Ooma some time ago here, but I really didnt like it ... no numbers available for my area .. too many extras .. The new Magic Jack sounds like a better deal for $ 69 and no computer needed.

From what I've heard (no pun intended), the quality is not as good as Ooma. Consumer Reports gave Ooma its coveted top rating, although admittedly, the new Magic Jack was not yet available.

BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY ... Ooma is free for life. Magic Jack charges an annual fee of $19.95. The free first year that came with the original MagicJack is gone.

AND ... Magic Jack is no more than a dongle. All functions require a computer or phone keypad. Ooma is a multifunction unit. For example, it has answering machine functions so you can check messages without lifting your phone. More importantly, you can screen calls through the unit's speaker. I don't think there's any way to screen calls with a MagicJack (unless you attach an answering machine. But that means deactivating voicemail. If you deactivate voicemail, you won't get email notification or voicemail archiving).

AND ... the Telo can now operate wirelessly through WiFi with an optional dongle. MagicJack needs to be plugged into your router or a computer. A bonus feature of this dongle is that your Telo then becomes a wireless hub for other other things. For example, you can plug a printer or computer into the Telo.

I've been using Ooma for a couple years and have never had a problem with it. There are several computers in the house, along with 2 roku players, a sqeezebox radio and an xbox 360, and the Ooma doesn't miss a beat when they're in use. We have a 30mbps download, 5mbps upload internet plan. I don't mind paying the $12-13/mos (for premier service + taxes & fees) compared to the $55/mos I was paying verizon. We have call forwarding set to go to a mobile on network outage so it wasn't that much of an inconvenience when the router died.

We use the Motorola DECT 6.0 Digital Cordless 4 Handset Phone & Answering System, purchased from Woot with it.
http://www.woot.com/Blog/ViewEntry.aspx?Id=14894

The 2nd line is set up in the area code of a relative in another state so she can call and not have to pay long distance. The call blocking feature with the premier service is very good. I like that you can block anonymous calls. It's become a better deal for us since they added free calls to Canada last month.

While debating buying the Ooma on a prior woot, I read about obi, and wound up buying one. It is great. Obi100 is $44 on amazon and you never have to pay for a phone again! Well, as long as the Google Voice service remains free.

Current set up is great: GV let me pick a number in the area code I want, and I have set it up to ring the home line as well as my wife and my cell ph. All free, after I set it up on my GV acct. Can't beat it!

I've had the old Ooma hub and scout for about two and a half years now with absolutely no trouble at all. I have basic service, not premier and no international plan but still plenty of features. I pay zero per month, zero per year. I used to pay %50 a month to ATT so that equals a savings of $600 a year. I could not be happier with this product and company.

I got one of these two woots ago... the phone quality is great. I also picked up an Ooma Telo Handset for free by prepaying for the Premium services. The handset is great... I have full access to all the features of the Telo Base... with the added benefit of a screen.

The faxing however, still not working. I followed the directions and entered *99 for it to know I was sending a fax and for it to adjust settings, but it still failed. Since that was over the past 2 days, and I don'r send faxes often, I will play with it a little more and see if I have a fix by the next time woot! offers these.

It claims smartpost will arrive by Christmas? How?

cphotodesign wrote:The new Magic Jack sounds like a better deal for $ 69 and no computer needed.

The call quality difference between these is significant. The Ooma comes out ahead hands down. My folks have the majic jack and the quality drop is noticible.

seachongo wrote:Can I use 3-4 or more handsets with the Telo? Any one know if that is possible with Obi?
Thanks.

You can always just run it into your existing house wiring. I do this now and can have as many sets as I want.

panthiest wrote:It claims smartpost will arrive by Christmas? How?

It's not smartpost. The fancy snail means they are shipping it 2-day.

We been using Ooma for close to 8 months now and have no regrets. I have it set up in the basement next to my phone bridge which allows me to have all my 7 phones hooked up to it. About $ 3.50 per month. That saves me about $45 a month. It's a no brainier.

seachongo wrote:Can I use 3-4 or more handsets with the Telo? Any one know if that is possible with Obi?
Thanks.

I don't know anything about Obi, but I see absolutely no logical reason why you can't connect 3-4 or many more handsets. Simply buy a cordless phone system with as many handsets as you need. Then plug the base unit into the Telo. As far as Ooma is concerned, only one phone (the base) is plugged in. You'd operate the handsets as you would if the system was connected to a regular landline.

BUT ... if your question is whether you can plug in multiple phones (as opposed to handsets), the answer is most likely yes. Simply split the jack into multiple jacks with a splitter. I've seen 2 and 3 jack splitters at my Dollar Store. You can plug splitters into splitters for more jacks. See below photo for something more elegant. If you home is already rigged with multiple phone jacks, you can connect one of the jacks to your Ooma and have the signal distributed throughout the wiring. It may be as simple as using a Male-to-Male connector, or maybe you'll need to play with the wiring a bit. See connectors below.

An issue with landlines and old fashion unpowered phones is the Ringer Equivalency Number (REN). All phones have one. It indicates how much electricity is drawn from the landline jack to power the phones. The sum of the RENs from all your phones cannot exceed the REN rating of your jack. Otherwise, the unpowered phones may not ring or work. This is usually not an issue with modern phones since they generally have their own power supply.



Male-to-Male and Female-to-Female connectors

We've had ours for 6 months now and I'm satisfied. Only one hiccup in which we could make but not receive call. One call to CS fixed it.

The one downside is that setup was a PITA. Well, one step of the setup was. When I got to the point where I had to call CS to get the number assigned I was supposed to guess the 3-digit exchange to see if there were any available. Apparently the CSR couldn't look up the available numbers by zip code. We had just moved here from out of state and I barely knew the local area code let alone the exchanges. After about 15 minutes of guessing, he gave up and assigned me a number half-way across the state. So now it's a long distance call for my next door neighbor to call me. This last step was definitely below expectations.

chrisautrey wrote:The call quality difference between these is significant. The Ooma comes out ahead hands down. My folks have the majic jack and the quality drop is noticible.

He's referring to the Magic Jack Plus, which doesn't need a computer to work. The original Magic Jack often had poor quality because the computer was busy doing something else. The Plus can be plugged into your router directly, just like the Ooma. According to the Magic Jack Plus webpage, PC Magazine gave it its Editor's Choice. I still prefer the Ooma though for reasons I stated previously.

It worked great for 2 years. I could fax and calls were crystal clear. Too bad the hardware died after 2 years. The option they presented me was to buy a new device. This has been a complaint on the forums as well for those of us who were enthusiastic first adopters.

If you're going down this route, I would recommend purchasing the extended warranty to avoid the headaches with a dead device.

I ported my number to Google Voice.

geredeth wrote:As someone else stated, the new MJ doesn't seem require a computer, although I don't know if it still has hold music.

http://www.voip-info.org/wiki/view/Ooma+vs+magicJack+Plus

[...]
looks like Ooma has higher quality overall, although more higher fees.

I;m too lazy to look at the link but if I'm not mistaken. Magic Jack Plus is actually more expensive over time because there's a $19.99 annual charge. Ooma is free for life. Assuming the company survives for another 3 years, the price advantage of Ooma over MH+ will kick in then. Plus, Ooma has other features that MJ+ doesn't, like call screening (which is priceless for me).

GoSolar wrote:If you're running MJ on a standard PC that has a 300 Watt power supply you'll be burning up 7.2 kWh of electricity just to have the thing turned on. Multiply times 365 days and you get 2628 kWh for a PC to serve as your phone. Even at the cheap rate of $0.10/kWh here, that's over $262 just for electricity.

Ooma runs about 12 watts (.288kWh/day) or 105.12 kWh over the year. At 10 cents per, thats only $10.51 in electricity cost annually. WAY better than MJ on a PC.

Magic Jack Plus doesn't need a computer to work. But even if it does, your analysis isn't entirely accurate.

1) Some of us leave our computer on 24/7, so it's a non-issue.
2) A computer rated at 300 watts simply means that it can handle 300 watts max. That doesn't mean that it's always drawing 300 watts. Usage is MUCH lower when it's idle or doing low CPU-intensity things like word processing or email.
3) If power is an issue, just buy a refurbished netbook running Windows. Some Atom-based netbooks consume about 20-26 watts. The screen can be used as a digital photo frame, or even an Internet info device like the Chumby or Sony Dash.

I have Comcast high speed, but not the highest speed and my OOMA is awesome. $3.50 per month, never a regret, never a problem.

Every time I see this Woot come up, I highly recommend the device. We got out Telo soon after it launched direct from Ooma at $250. At the time, we were Vonage users and for the first month we ran with both just to be certain that we weren't making a mistake.
The only mistake was paying Vonage for another month of service! This is a great home VOIP system and while there are less expensive options like the Majic Jack, I've not seen one with the features that Ooma offers at the incredibly low prices.
Poke around thier website and check out the things you can do. Got an annyoing caller you don't want to hear from? Blacklist 'em! Want to have a second phone number for business? Set it up in your account, no additional charge! Tack on a Telo handset and you get an "instant second line" so two phones can use the same Teleo base at the same time! We even had our home alarm system connected to it (loopback at the phone box) before we went wireless with that.
This is hands down the best phone system we've owned to date.

larenm wrote:Anyone have an Obi? For $1.50 you can get 911 service with the obi and it's cheaper. I'm not sure between the two.

I don't know much about the Obi but I know that Google is continuously collecting "anonymous" data from its users. Google Voice is no different. I'm not sure I feel comfortable having Google monitor my calling habits.

Telo users can now buy a dongle that allows it to operate through WiFi. That means you can now put the Telo anywhere there is an electrical outlet, far away from the router. In addition, the Telo becomes a hub to connect other network devices such as printers, computers, video games and Blu-Ray players.

=====

http://news.consumerreports.org/electronics/2011/09/ooma-announces-telo-air-wireless-adapter-for-untethered-calling.html

Ooma announces Telo Air wireless adapter for untethered calling
Sep 14, 2011 5:00 PM

Ooma, maker of the Ooma Telo, an alternative VoIP solution, today announced a new add-on device for the Telo: the Ooma Telo Air wireless adapter. It lets you move your Telo away from the modem or router and function wirelessly anywhere within range of your home network.

The Telo Wireless Adapter, $50, also turns your Telo into a wireless bridge—meaning you can connect your other Web devices wirelessly via the Telo.

When Consumer Reports tried out the Ooma Telo earlier this year, we said, "Performance was impressive in our informal tests." And in our user survey of phone services (available to subscribers), responders judged Ooma to be an outstanding value and option to help cut telecom bills.

Ooma also announced that its Bluetooth service, previously available only to its Premier subscribers, will be available to all Ooma Telo owners. With this service, you can integrate your mobile phone and Bluetooth headset with your home-phone network and pair up to 7 devices. The Bluetooth adapter is $29.99.

I think I say it everytime Ooma is on here, but this is by far my favorite Woot of the 90 something Woots I've made.

You can use this to call international too at super cheap prices also... I have a twenty dollar credit for the past year to call my dad in Ireland it last forever as long as you call a landline... mobile phones cost more but then with Vonage you have to pay to call them at the same rate also... they are not included in the international plan. So don't even think about vonage go with this.... I have saved so much since I switched

Got mine 2 months ago, havent looked back!!

I was comparing Ooma vs Magic Jack + vs Nettalk Duo.

Ooma one time cost of $145 + monthly bill of around $4.

MagicJack Plus one time cost of $90 + yearly bill of $30. (Disadvantage only chat support)

Nettalk one time cost of $50 + yearly bill of $30(plus taxes)

If we see all this Nettalk is cheaper compared to all and call quality is same I believe.

Any comments and suggestions please.

does anyone know if it has call forwarding?

I'll join in the chorus... Ooma is recommended. We bought the Ooma Hub (the Telo's little brother) about 14 months ago, ported our home number to it 11 months ago (for $40), and now enjoy local and long distance calling for $3.50 a month.

I bought this last Christmas and the service is fantastic, especially running off of FiOS. I can't say enough good things about Ooma but it's presently on sale at Costco for $160.

don't buy it!!! your service will be out for a week and have no phone!! and if it does not work no refunds. the customer service at ooma is very very very very very very bad! i bought 2 and got screwed

Ooma Thurman was very good in the Kill Bill movies.

We bought ours last year as well. Pleased with the service. My wife and I already have cell phones each, so this was just to keep our existing "house phone" number. 3 bucks a month for taxes sure beats the 26.00 plus we were paying a month. I figure after a year, it pretty much has payed for itself. Provided the hardware keeps functioning. I tried the advanced features and really liked them. The blacklist was awesome, but I couldn't justify the additional expense. I also tested it with the free number, before porting it for a month, before finally deciding to keep it. worse case if you don't like it, and want to keep your land line, you still have the ooma number, and now have a second line, which would also be good for a second line for teenagers if you have a limited cell phone plan.

Does anyone know if these units will work with a security system such as ADT? The ADT cost for use without a phone negates the savings of the VoIP.

A tip for those who need a fax but are hesitant in buying an Ooma, sign up for myfax.com service. I have used them for over 5 years and love the service. It is $10 a month.

I currently am a Vonage customer, but their pricing is getting out of hand. My "$24.99" a month as advertised by Vonage ends up costing $35 a month with taxes etc. It is not much of a savings over plain old telephone service.

I am considering switching to Ooma myself, does anyone know if you can add specific numbers to the "blacklist"? Meaning, is the blacklist service user configurable?

Happy Holidays!

Do it, Do it, Do it. The best thing I've purchased in a long time. You break even in a few months and it feels so good to tell the phone company to cancel. Voice quality is better and NO bills. Very good piece of equipment.

In for 1. Arrival by Christmas got me.

I have the Ooma hub and scout and couldn't be happier with it. No problems in over a year, and no more phone bill! Voice clarity is fantastic.

I purchased a referb about a year ago and here's my experience. I pay about $3/month for the enhanced service. One of the best features is being able to blacklist unwanted callers (eg: telemarketers etc). I can also have voicemails sent directly to my email (forward to my Iphone) so any voicemails to my house are routed to my phone. So far so good. I have no complaints and the voice quaility is excellent. I use an old radioshack cordless which works fine with the service. I have opted to get the Ooma app for my Iphone that lets me use WiFi for my Iphone minutes...can't say this app works that great; just OK with many calls not going through (I don't know if it's an app problem or a router problem). Cheers.

From what I've read from the first 10 posts is that the Ooma is ~$4 per month, which is $48 per year. The Magic Jack is less than half of the yearly cost.

Alos, I have never heard any kinds of advertisements or experienced call restrictions. But then again I live overseas and it is not my primary phone.

That being said the Ooma still looks great.

sdc100 wrote:

BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY ... Ooma is free for life. Magic Jack charges an annual fee of $19.95. The free first year that came with the original MagicJack is gone.

However Ooma does charge taxes that run about 3.50 per month, so while no "annual fee" the annual cost is more than $40.00. So in the end the yearly cost is more with Ooma.

That said I have Ooma and love it. Never tried Magic Jack, but I would buy Ooma again since I know it works well. Still better than that $55.00 a month I was paying to the phone company for unlimited long distance.