OK, I have made many electronic purchases in my life. I probably have one of the largest universal remote collections around. I hate being the first on the block to own new technology, but I can’t stand to be the second. It is just one of my personality disorders.
Well, is Ooma a new device. Yes and No. Ooma has been around for over a year now, but their company has already gone through many changes. As far as I am concerned, all for the better.
I didn’t purchase Ooma to have ‘Free phone calls for life’, although that is how it is billed. I have (for the time being) two Vonage lines costing me about $50 per month. They give me unlimited calls around the US and Canada, and cheap overseas calls. They offer many, many features that would cost me a fortune if I was using my local/long distance carrier (but I only use a few). But now, while its only been a week with Ooma, I have to say, I will be saying Goodbye to Vonage if things keep going this smoothly.
To make the comparison’s between the two services, I decided to setup Ooma with 2 phone numbers. The first one is ‘free’, the second I am using their premium service ($100 year / $8.33 month / free for the 1st 60 days). That is a $43.64 savings over Vonage. Sure, they don’t have all the features of Vonage, but both lines have CallerID, Call Waiting, Call Forwarding and Multi Ring capabilities, Voicemail forwarding to email and cell phone text messages and some pretty slick hardware that looks pretty cool sitting on my desk.
Line #1I use for my home line. I have my cordless phone hooked to it with 5 extensions. This gives me 5 phones all running on line one. Just had to plug in the base unit into my main Ooma hub. This line also serves my Fax with a really cool device I bought on Amazon for sharing my phone with my fax. I could get a 3rd line for $4.99 per month for a dedicated fax line, but I really don’t send or receive too many faxes now a days.
If I would have gone with a 3rd line, my multi function printer (which I can’t say enough about) recognizes distinctive ring tones. I did get a 3rd line from Ooma for testing, just to see if my printer / fax would pick up when the special ring pattern came in, and it worked flawlessly. But the fax switch is paid for and doesn’t require any monthly fee’s. I also like the fact that the fax switch doesn’t ring any of my phones if it is a fax call. Pretty cool.
My second line is for my business. I work out of my home as often as I can, so a separate line is really a must. Ooma made this so easy by including a scout with the basic package. Just plugged it in, plugged in the phone cable into the back of the Ooma hub (not the standard installation, but works for me since both are in the same room) and I have a separate phone number and voice mail for the my business. I setup my AT&T cordless phone system up on that line so I could continue to use my bluetooth headset. For testing, I just forwarded my Vonage lines to my new lines. I will later, if all continues to go well, port both my Vonage numbers over to Ooma and use those numbers instead of the numbers assigned by Ooma.
Overall, I am very impressed. The call quality is fantastic compared to Vonage, and I am saving about $43 per month. Works well with my fax (although any VOIP service won’t guarantee it, but it works for me). I like the fact that I can pickup line #1 calls also on my line #2 phone. This way when I am working I can continue using my bluetooth headset even for home calls. Couldn’t do this with Vonage. And I thought having a hardware answering machine would be a waste, but it also is really cool. While it is an internet based voicemail system, you can screen your calls as messages come in and pickup if you want. Couldn’t do that with Vonage.
I am still waiting for the ‘oh, that is the problem’ with this system, but I have yet to find it. If you haven’t bought one yet do it. Click on the Ooma picture above and place your order now. Amazon normally doesn’t charge for shipping when you purchase, or even when you do a return. And for me (I live in California) no sales tax. It really is risk free! If you are thinking about doing it, leave me a comment and I can refer you. You’ll get some free international call minutes (and so will I).
Until next week…
Hey,
I am a vonage customer and am thinking about ooma. Were you able to port Vonage numbers to ooma? Was it simple? Refer me if you like, I do like me some free minutes
Thanks!
-Seth
I am in the middle of the port right now. I know other Vonage users have ported their numbers from reading other posts. It normally takes about 3 weeks. Mine should be complete in the next couple of days. While I probably wouldn’t be able to use any of the International minutes, I would be happy to refer you. I’ll send you an email if you are interested.
What is this device that you purchased from Amazon that you use with your fax and is it this device that makes it possible for your fax to work? I have not been able to make my fax work, even when dialing 99.
I actually don’t send many faxes and only have sent 2 since I got Ooma. I returned the fax switch when I realized that my fax itself could recognize distinctive ring tones. Although it does seem to fail more on Ooma then with Vonage. Not sure why. I have only had on occasion that I was unable to send. But again, I email PDF’s 90% of the time rather than faxing. I could be wrong, since again, I don’t fax much, but I thought it was *99 that you were suppose to dial first.
Refer me. I want the free international minutes! I am especially interested in porting your numbers later. Can you do that at any time even after you have signed up with Ooma and IS IT SIILL FREE with the one-year subscription to premier? Like you and Seth, it looks like I may be leaving Vonage.
Nice review. I was thinking of getting one, too. I do have one question though – does ooma ring your second line if the first one is busy? Is that sort of roll over feature available with ooma premium?
Philip, I was told it would rollover before I purchased about 8 of these devices but now that I am trying to configure it I am told that it is impossible to do rollover. It is also important to note that despite the fact that the unit will support 8 lines with appropriate amount of scouts – only two lines will work at one time.
overall I am pleased with the service but the non-rollover would have been a deal-killer for my business lines had I got the correct info from ooma in the first place. Their support is hit or miss with the answers you get. You may have to call multiple times and average the results.
Since I already ported my lines I will be keeping it for now and hoping the non-rollover will not cause huge issues..
Good luck..
We have the same problem with OOMA as Michael B. OOMA said the lines would/could rollover until we couldnt figure out how to make it work. today i still dont know how to make it work and its is effecting out business quite abit, to the point if we cannot fix it we will get rid of it and have had ooma for almost a year now. Ooma is great if you dont need rollover.
So let me get this right, I utilize google voice on the nexus one, utilising the internet to establish and get all my phone calls free to the entire earth. So you pay 530 to get the telephone, then you purchase a data only plan from a cell carrier for $30 bucks a month. Appears pretty great to me.
Thanks for the tip of *99 — 99 did not work. My OOMA has now fulfilled all my needs and I am saving a bundle on the monthly fees.
Thanks. I know what you mean about saving money. Some other carrier called me the other day talking about another plan. When I told her I am paying $8 a month for 2 lines, she was gone.