Keep your current phone number for a one-time charge, or get a new number in any area code for free
Requires high-speed fixed-line internet connection, minimum 180 Kbps upstream, and a telephone
Optional Ooma Premier service ($10/month) lets you block anonymous calls, forward calls to your mobile, call Canada for free, and connect to your home’s Nest system
Condition: Refurbished Warranty:1 Year Ooma Estimated Delivery: 5/27 - 5/29
- Today: $75, Current Telo + Bluetooth adapter, 90 day Mediocre warranty - 3/20/2015: $65, Prior model Telo Classic + Wireless adapter, 1 year Ooma warranty - 1/9/2015: $80, Current Telo + Bluetooth adapter, 90 day Mediocre warranty
The Bluetooth adapter allows you to pair your mobile phone. The Wireless adapter allows you to move the Ooma Telo box away from your router. I am not aware of significant advantages of the new Telo model vs. the Classic model for the average user.
IMHO, the best deal above was the $65 Telo Classic. There are many reasons to have a land line and Ooma is great.
I've been using an Ooma for a number of years.. works great. Family doesn't notice the difference over the old land line.
Recently went back on premier ($99/year) for the junk call filter. Since they added nomorobo, junk calls are noticeably reduced. (I dropped premier for a year or so because their junk call filter didn't seem to make a difference)
I can even send/receive faxes over the Ooma using AT&T Uverse. (didn't work with Time Warner Cable internet)
@TCayer Time Warner is a collection of legacy headends... there's a lot of differences. I tried the fax codes, nothing worked, wasn't important, heck their Internet wasn't reliable anyway..
This thing looks big and bulky to be placed on a desk. Oh well, I've been looking for a reason to get rid of this picture frame of my wife on my nightstand by our bed. Now there's a 50% chance I can open my eyes in the morning and have a moment of serenity with the world.
I've got one. This price is good. All the good stuff they say about it is true. All the bad stuff they say about it is false. I'm super cheap so I only pay the $3.50 or whatever the pass-along Federal fee is. There was an outage recently. It sucked. I've had way suckier outages with much more expensive copper-wire services.
Man, I hate ooma. It just really sucked for us. Their phone sucks terribly. Maybe if you use the ooma box with a regular phone it wouldn't be so bad. But I just am just not interested in this brand remotely anymore. My wife and I both have iPhones now and simply do not desire or need another line.
I just started using Ooma from a precious Meh purchase of an Ooma Telo and I love it! Installation was simple, although I did have a problem at first only find out that the included ethernet cable was defective. I also love the features that a mere $9.99 a month adds with their premium package, such as their ability to block telemarketers which was a BIG part of choosing Ooma since 80% of the calls I received daily were robocalls. Now it's surpringly quite when I only receive calls from people I know! Also online customer service was helpful and answered the few questions I had promptly. Buy one!
Over 1.2 million hot wifi spots on Long Island N.Y. (OPTIMUM CABLE COMPANY) that i can access..theres a company named "GroOVe IP Lite" that will provide a number to you for free..Another words you pay zero to call anywheres in the country..Sorry Meh stayed up two nights in a row with money to spend , but cant tonite for this item, but ty anyway you guys rock .!!!!! :)
I can't understand why anyone would ever need a landline of any type when cell phones are $30/mo or cheaper for unlimited these days on networks with coverage basically everywhere. This is the most meh offering in quite some time.
@Portlis Because when you are on conference calls all day, the cell phone quality sucks in comparison. I get random disconnects and the good companies like Verizon and AT&T do not have unlimited plans for $30.
@cengland0 Cricket is AT&T's network for $20-35/mo depending on how many lines you have. Unlimited talk/text. PagePlus is Verizon for only a tiny bit more. Anyone on Verizon or AT&T proper might as well be flushing money down the toilet each month instead.
@Portlis I'm not an expert in this field but my understanding is that Cricket buys left-over bandwidth but AT&T maintains priority. So if there is no bandwidth available at the time because the AT&T customers are using it, your voice and internet quality will suffer.
Also, you still will not get the same quality of voice using your cell phone as you can get from Ooma. You can also hookup a fax machine to Ooma.
@Portlis we live on the side of a giant hill and get terrible cell service. So I have to use Skype or some other voip system to make phone calls for work.
@nadroj True but they were a separate company that used CDMA until AT&T acquired them. Now it supports GSM after the acquisition.
Generic products are usually created by name brand manufacturers too but that does not mean the generic version has the same quality. I know for a fact when I was in retail that our company produced the same electronics under another name. If you took them apart, you could see that the generic product did not have all the components populated on the circuit board.
I would agree if Cricket works on all AT&T locked phones and has the exact same quality service if you bought the service from AT&T, then it would only make sense to use the cheaper service. I do believe Cricket is Prepaid and AT&T is post paid though.
And yes, their service is compatible with all AT&T locked phones (as well as any unlocked devices, of course, though LTE support varies). Cricket happens to be my current carrier in a long line of different prepaid providers.
I really want to put to rest the concern about bandwidth being prioritised for non-prepaid customers; in several years on both AT&T and T-Mobile networks I haven't had issues with voice calls, and only rarely are data rates noticeably slower in busy areas.
The throttling after hitting the data limit sucks a lot (kills streaming audio/video), but pretty much no carrier in the US offers truly unlimited data.
@Portlis Well I guess that means this product isn't for you. Just for fun, assume one doesn't use cell services often (data, text), you could with Ooma and a prepaid pay far less than $30 a month and have unlimited phone service at home, and enough phone service for when you are away.
@Portlis Cell phones die. Kids home alone. Can't find cell phone. Dropped cell in toilet, pool, puddle, etc. Left cell on roof of car. No cell service at home. Want to call cell to see where you put it. 911 location service may not work with cell. It's $3.83 per month for a land line with unlimited long distance. Two additional phone numbers one of which you can make another area code so if you have relatives in another state they can call a local number. (You KNOW Grandma still has the phone company, right?)
I just realized something. My Ooma sent me a referral code that I can give out to people to save them $40 off a new unit. That code ends on 5/15 (tomorrow).
Would it be inappropriate to give out on this site since it's the same product meh is trying to sell? It can be used by a maximum of 5 people and those people would get a brand new unit directly from Ooma for $89.99.
Ooma's terms of the code says, "Referral codes may not be posted in public forums or deal sites. " I would have to send a link via email anyway.
If a meh staff member asks me not to give out any code links, I will honor that request.
@darkzrobe I haven't given out any codes yet. I am waiting for a user to ask specifically for it before I post any additional info. It is also giving a chance for a staff member to ask me not to share if they so desire.
@cengland0 I suspect there are hundreds of us with those referral codes to offer up if Meh really wants to get into that game. Full Disclosure: those codes reward the giver $20 each time up to $100. FWIW, Woot bans referral codes. @JonT.
I pay $7.75/month for all the features plus taxes plus SIP access to VoIPo.com with no outages last 2 years. Blocks robocalls, forwards to mobile, standards based. Really happy. Ooma would cost me $14.65 a month. Meh.
@ooglek We love Ooma but I keep an eye open to alternatives. VoIPo looks interesting but I'd need to do a lot of due diligence to get me to move. It does look like several of the Ooma features that require their $10/month Premier package are included in the standard VoIPo service, like free existing phone number port, calls to Canada, even 60 min of free Int'l calling to some countries. But to get the price down to $8/month you have to sign a 2-yr contract and who knows what happens after that?
@RedOak True, the 2 year contract is something you are betting on. I've been a customer since 2009 and have experienced only two outages, both less than 6 hours long and more than 4 years ago, and one was inbound call failures (I could call out). Outside of that I've had no problems in 6 years. And VoIPo is a flat $3/month for taxes/fees. Month-to-Month -- Ooma wins on cost. 1 year and 2 year contract -- VoIPo wins easily. I love not having to pay monthly. And I'm pretty sure they'd give you a pro-rated refund if you decided to quit (check with them first). So really, for me, no downside. Great service, free hardware, unlimited calling, Robocall and Telemarketer blocking, the service is pretty great for the money.
I have one of the older Ooma devices. I have it wired back into the house wiring so all the jacks work. I LOVE this thing, but what I love more is the price!
I've done the same as Renee4183 -- had Ooma Telo plugged into my house phone lines for several years. Service fantastic, in an area with iffy cell coverage. Basic "free" service (actually $4 / month for taxes / fees) is a no-brainer, and Premier ($10 / month) for a pile of extra features is worthwhile for us. Highly recommended at this price.
@mellowirishgent No. It's safer to assume that the meh community is so happy with the Ooma that they already bought from previous sales that they don't need to buy another one.
@mellowirishgent Or those who want it already have it. Google Oooma - it appears the folks who disliked it had crappy unreliable Internet connections - and that would be a problem with any VoIP telephone service.
Get an Obihai OBI100 for $40. Configure with Google Voice account. Plug in old phone. Never spend a penny making domestic calls from your new "land line". I've had this setup for years. It use to be hack-ish, but now Google Voice is officially supported. It makes no sense to pay anyone anything for domestic voip service when google is free.
@jareza Might be OK for geeks, but for folks who want simple and don't want to deal with three vendors (the OBi box, the Google VoIP provider, and the $20/yr 3rd party E911 provider), Ooma makes a lot more sense @ 3-4 bucks a month.
@jareza Can you port your old number to google? Will google work if you dial 911 and can't talk? Can you get a second phone number in another are code so granny can call a local number from her home down in Florida?
@TCayer Porting your number to google https://support.google.com/voice/answer/1065667?hl=en,: Ooma as well as Obi use E911 service, so yeah, it will work, and regarding your area code, you can choose your area code also, and add as many lines... for free, soo yeah, I have no idea what the intention of your questions were, but I would make a more informed post next time...
@jareza from your Google number porting link: "Things to keep in mind about transferring numbers: Corporate, landline, and VoIP numbers can't be transferred. VoIP numbers include those used by Vonage, Skype, RingCentral, SendHub, Line2 and other telephone service providers."
@RedOak This is turning to a Mine is bigger than yours thing... Theres numerous post on the internet that show how to transfer any number, just get a gohpne from ATT, tranfer to that cell, then transfer your cell number to google, when theres a will, theres a way.... but its simple math here, 40 buck plus nothing a month, VS 75 plus 3 or 4 bucks a month.??? for me its a no brainer, but to each their own
@RedOak one other thing, ooma is locked to ooma service, if you want to ditch them you will be stuck with a paperweight, the obi is unlocked... just saying
I have no idea what you mean by geeks.... I sent one to my 65 year old father, sent him this video
and thats it, we were speaking 5 minutes later using our obis. If by geek you mean someone who knows how to surf the web... then... there are a lot of geeks in the world. Just saying. BTW the E911 provider is optional, but if you want to set up the e911 then just hit the button "set E911" on the obihai page. and its 15 dollars a year, not 20. Im ghost like swayze, peace yall!
There are lots of reasons that I don't like Ooma, but what gets under my skin most of all is the creepy, geeky, potmarked faced guy from the old essurance commercials that Ooma uses in their TV spots. Any company that would subject me to watching that freak, even for a few seconds, deserves to go belly up and have their products liquidated on some junk deal site.
Does this do anything that Google Hangouts doesn't already do for free? I already don't use my cell phone carrier through my sim card because I get much better reception using VOIP (cable internet connection) with Hangouts. And Hangouts already works with any device I'd want to use -- cell phone, tablet, desktop w/ headset, etc.
@narfcake you could very well be right. But I don't remotely trust them as a brand anymore. If they're content to sell me a crap phone how can I trust them? And ultimately their business model is junk anyway. People in the long run are not going to pay extra to have a "landline" when their cell works just fine — no matter how cheap it is. Who really needs this?
@daveJay "Who really needs this?" I do. I work from home and I'm on conference calls for a large portion of my day. A cellphone doesn't have the same quality. The other people on the call can tell when someone joins with a cellphone. It's horrible in comparison and the person usually apologizes for their bad connection. They also end up abruptly leaving the conference and having to rejoin.
I suppose if you only use your phone to call your wife to let her know you're on the way home, then you probably don't need this.
@TerriblyHuang You don't carry it around with you. You connect it to your network and then to your phone wiring in your house. Suddenly all the phones in your house has service.
If you want to carry a phone around with you, you can connect up any number of cordless phones to the system. I use a DECT 6 phone and it works flawlessly with Ooma.
@daveJay As far as I know, you don't connect Skype up to a regular phone so you will need to use a microphone and speaker through your computer. Have you ever been on a conference call with 30 or more people where someone is using Skype? I can imagine from my individual Skype connections that the sound quality would sound echoey unless you use a headset microphone.
Go to meeting is not free. As best I can tell, the cheapest price is $39/month if you pay for an entire year in advance.
Look, if you're fine using your current services for all your needs, then you don't need Ooma. For those of us that wanted a replacement for our POTS line at an affordable price, this is a good solution.
@daveJay yes, I will attest Ooma is far "more reliable than Skype". We use both and their reliability and consistency of quality are not even close.
'Not sure why you feel the need to trash something you personally might not need – and might not have even used yourself. Do you also dump on people who drive cars because they "should be using public transportation"? There are plenty of good reasons to still maintain a landline.
@cengland0 True. It's a good replacement for a POTS line. But wouldn't you say the need for a POTS line is getting smaller every day with the rise of cellphones?
@daveJay The actual Ooma service might be great, but I wouldn't know because I used it with their junky handset which I wrongly assumed would give me the best experience.
@daveJay Depends on what your communication needs are. You could use walkie talkies for free without any monthly service if you want but that doesn't mean it's the best solution for everything.
For those people that have an office at home and want to separate their work and home life, having a separate number for business calls can be enough to use POTS, VOIP, or Ooma. If you are on conference calls all day, that's another reason. if you want a higher quality voice call than what you get from your wireless company, Ooma might be an option. If you're on conference calls for a large portion of your day, use a Fax machine, or have an alarm system, you may need a POTS or similar line.
There are many reasons to have one and your lifestyle and/or job may not benefit from it but I assure you there are people that will need it and the proof is in the quantities that they sell each time it is offered.
@cengland0 Good point. Having a separate work number I think is probably the most compelling reason to have something like this. But I still feel like the writing is on the wall and in 10 years stationary phones that aren't "mobile" will be substantially fewer and farther between. What will bring us there is a lowering of cost and reliability for cell phones. My sister still uses a "landline" (actually an Ooma competitor, not sure who though). And the reason is because they're thrifty and don't want to pay a lot in monthly cell phone bills – they use prepaid phones for mobile needs. So once mobile is more affordable, I think we'll see the need for landlines drop significantly.
@daveJay but you trashed the 'business model' and the need for a landline. Meh was not selling the handset and you did not clearly indicate you were reviewing the handset.
@RedOak I said I didn't trust the brand because they sold me a crap phone. You're right that I should have been more specific that I was referring to the handset, not the receiver.
@daveJay I agree with you that Ooma's business model cannot be sustained if all customers just got their free service. They must rely heavily on people subscribing to their premier service at $10/month and their voicemail to text for $5/month. I use Google Voice for those services for free with my Ooma but if everyone did that, Ooma would go out of business.
POTS lines will be here to stay for several more decades until all call centers go away and customers must use the Internet for support.
Can you imagine calling your credit card company and the associate answering the call on a cell phone and then saying they are sorry for the call disconnect but their battery just died?
@cengland0 Ha! GOod point. I guess I'm thinking more for the consumer/prosumer market, the enterprise market will always have needs that go beyond what most people need.
@daveJay I'll happily enjoy their service in the meantime. Going on 3 years for the original box.
Perhaps there are other reasons but I can think of only a single reason to use Ooma's handset rather than the excellent Panasonic Link-to-cell models - that would be if you hate tapping *1 on a non-Ooma handset to dial outbound on the second line.
@RedOak I tried to determine how long I've had my service but it looks like Ooma doesn't keep infinite history for billing or calls. The only guess I have is where it says, "Warranty Expired on 10/24/2011." So I must have had it in 2010 but I know I replaced my unit after a lightning strike so it's probably even before that. I'm not grandfathered into the totally free plan and do have to pay the taxes so I'm not one of the early adopters.
I bought this from a recommendation and it works great. Call quality is as good as POTS! Better than my cell. Good price, like (actually cannot tell from new) new condition.
Specs
Condition: Refurbished
Warranty: 1 Year Ooma
Estimated Delivery: 5/27 - 5/29
What’s in the Box?
1x Ooma Telo
1x Bluetooth adapter
1x Ethernet cable
1x AC adapter
1x Quick Start Guide
Pictures
Ooma Telo
What’s included
Back view
Step 1 of being a billionaire: cut costs
Price Check
$129.99 List, $129.00 at Amazon for the Telo (New)
$29.99 List, $29.95 at Amazon for the Bluetooth adapter
Find a relevant price comparison? Please share it in a comment in this thread
Warranty
90 days
Estimated Delivery
Wednesday, May 11 - Monday, May 16
no way I'm first
@somf69 nope- no way.
@shata way
This was offered on 1/9/2015 for $80 and 3/20/2015 for $65.
https://meh.com/deals/ooma-telo-air-classic-with-wireless-adapter-refurbished-
https://meh.com/deals/ooma-telo-bundle--refurbished-
Comparison of Meh deals:
- Today: $75, Current Telo + Bluetooth adapter, 90 day Mediocre warranty
- 3/20/2015: $65, Prior model Telo Classic + Wireless adapter, 1 year Ooma warranty
- 1/9/2015: $80, Current Telo + Bluetooth adapter, 90 day Mediocre warranty
The Bluetooth adapter allows you to pair your mobile phone.
The Wireless adapter allows you to move the Ooma Telo box away from your router.
I am not aware of significant advantages of the new Telo model vs. the Classic model for the average user.
IMHO, the best deal above was the $65 Telo Classic. There are many reasons to have a land line and Ooma is great.
I've been using an Ooma for a number of years.. works great. Family doesn't notice the difference over the old land line.
Recently went back on premier ($99/year) for the junk call filter. Since they added nomorobo, junk calls are noticeably reduced. (I dropped premier for a year or so because their junk call filter didn't seem to make a difference)
I can even send/receive faxes over the Ooma using AT&T Uverse. (didn't work with Time Warner Cable internet)
@rmeden I had TW and now have FIOS, but have been able to fax with both. (Don't do it often) I think I had to dial a prefix for it to work.
@TCayer Time Warner is a collection of legacy headends... there's a lot of differences. I tried the fax codes, nothing worked, wasn't important, heck their Internet wasn't reliable anyway..
This thing looks big and bulky to be placed on a desk. Oh well, I've been looking for a reason to get rid of this picture frame of my wife on my nightstand by our bed. Now there's a 50% chance I can open my eyes in the morning and have a moment of serenity with the world.
@KevinTJ I use my Ooma for work, but don't keep in on my desk. I have it with my modem and a small phone on my desk.
Oo-meh.
I've got one. This price is good. All the good stuff they say about it is true. All the bad stuff they say about it is false. I'm super cheap so I only pay the $3.50 or whatever the pass-along Federal fee is. There was an outage recently. It sucked. I've had way suckier outages with much more expensive copper-wire services.
Recommended. Also makes a great gift.
@getkind I agree, I forgot when I bought a refurbished model here but mine works great!
Man, I hate ooma. It just really sucked for us. Their phone sucks terribly. Maybe if you use the ooma box with a regular phone it wouldn't be so bad. But I just am just not interested in this brand remotely anymore. My wife and I both have iPhones now and simply do not desire or need another line.
@daveJay cool story bro
@daveJay How else did you use your Ooma if it wasn't with a regular phone?
@rmeden we used it with the wireless phone that ooma sells to use with it. And it's battery was terrible. It never worked reliably.
If I had to do it again I'd buy a regular landline phone non ooma brand to use with it
@daveJay Seems to be that the issue was really with the cordless phone, not Ooma's VOIP service ...
I just started using Ooma from a precious Meh purchase of an Ooma Telo and I love it! Installation was simple, although I did have a problem at first only find out that the included ethernet cable was defective. I also love the features that a mere $9.99 a month adds with their premium package, such as their ability to block telemarketers which was a BIG part of choosing Ooma since 80% of the calls I received daily were robocalls. Now it's surpringly quite when I only receive calls from people I know! Also online customer service was helpful and answered the few questions I had promptly. Buy one!
Over 1.2 million hot wifi spots on Long Island N.Y. (OPTIMUM CABLE COMPANY) that i can access..theres a company named "GroOVe IP Lite" that will provide a number to you for free..Another words you pay zero to call anywheres in the country..Sorry Meh stayed up two nights in a row with money to spend , but cant tonite for this item, but ty anyway you guys rock .!!!!! :)
I can't understand why anyone would ever need a landline of any type when cell phones are $30/mo or cheaper for unlimited these days on networks with coverage basically everywhere. This is the most meh offering in quite some time.
@Portlis Because when you are on conference calls all day, the cell phone quality sucks in comparison. I get random disconnects and the good companies like Verizon and AT&T do not have unlimited plans for $30.
..When im home i call anywhere in the country on Skype for less then 10 cents a day clear as a bell
@cengland0 Cricket is AT&T's network for $20-35/mo depending on how many lines you have. Unlimited talk/text. PagePlus is Verizon for only a tiny bit more. Anyone on Verizon or AT&T proper might as well be flushing money down the toilet each month instead.
@Portlis I'm not an expert in this field but my understanding is that Cricket buys left-over bandwidth but AT&T maintains priority. So if there is no bandwidth available at the time because the AT&T customers are using it, your voice and internet quality will suffer.
Also, you still will not get the same quality of voice using your cell phone as you can get from Ooma. You can also hookup a fax machine to Ooma.
@cengland0 I believe Cricket is a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T.
@Portlis we live on the side of a giant hill and get terrible cell service. So I have to use Skype or some other voip system to make phone calls for work.
@nadroj True but they were a separate company that used CDMA until AT&T acquired them. Now it supports GSM after the acquisition.
Generic products are usually created by name brand manufacturers too but that does not mean the generic version has the same quality. I know for a fact when I was in retail that our company produced the same electronics under another name. If you took them apart, you could see that the generic product did not have all the components populated on the circuit board.
I would agree if Cricket works on all AT&T locked phones and has the exact same quality service if you bought the service from AT&T, then it would only make sense to use the cheaper service. I do believe Cricket is Prepaid and AT&T is post paid though.
@cengland0 Cricket isn't prepaid. It's just AT&T service that's significantly cheaper with potentially throttled data service (still plenty fast).
@Portlis Uh, Cricket's service plans are all prepaid, flat-rate:
https://www.cricketwireless.com/cell-phone-plans
And yes, their service is compatible with all AT&T locked phones (as well as any unlocked devices, of course, though LTE support varies). Cricket happens to be my current carrier in a long line of different prepaid providers.
I really want to put to rest the concern about bandwidth being prioritised for non-prepaid customers; in several years on both AT&T and T-Mobile networks I haven't had issues with voice calls, and only rarely are data rates noticeably slower in busy areas.
The throttling after hitting the data limit sucks a lot (kills streaming audio/video), but pretty much no carrier in the US offers truly unlimited data.
@Portlis home security systems?
@Portlis you said "with coverage basically everywhere". But not so much in places like Vt (e.g. 05040).
@Portlis Well I guess that means this product isn't for you. Just for fun, assume one doesn't use cell services often (data, text), you could with Ooma and a prepaid pay far less than $30 a month and have unlimited phone service at home, and enough phone service for when you are away.
@Portlis I'd rather pay $4.80 than $30 per month and have no need for a cell.
@Portlis Cell phones die. Kids home alone. Can't find cell phone. Dropped cell in toilet, pool, puddle, etc. Left cell on roof of car. No cell service at home. Want to call cell to see where you put it. 911 location service may not work with cell. It's $3.83 per month for a land line with unlimited long distance. Two additional phone numbers one of which you can make another area code so if you have relatives in another state they can call a local number. (You KNOW Grandma still has the phone company, right?)
Canceling VMP subscription in 3... 2... 1... Gone!
@loonloon22 buh bye
@loonloon22 Four minutes later, I still see a VMP badge next to you ID.
@loonloon22 Thank you for the announcement. We will have your seat on Flounce Air ready when you arrive.
I'd order one, but the maintenance looks intense
If only it was an Ooma Theremin.
@Fish_Kungfu you two'd make beautiful music together?
I'm using Nettalk and paid for 5 years, it works out to about $20/year. Might not be as good as Ooma, but we hardly use the home phone anyway.
Come on now meh, how do you expect AT&T to stay in business selling this crap?
@SteveOOO that's no moon!
Proprietary VOIP? Meh.
Obihai FTW.
@sdb i'm with you, though your obihai likely has some sort of MRC attached to it, no?
Needs a warranty from the manufacturer for that kind of money. Sorry Ooma.
Mehgeddaboudit!
I just realized something. My Ooma sent me a referral code that I can give out to people to save them $40 off a new unit. That code ends on 5/15 (tomorrow).
Would it be inappropriate to give out on this site since it's the same product meh is trying to sell? It can be used by a maximum of 5 people and those people would get a brand new unit directly from Ooma for $89.99.
Ooma's terms of the code says, "Referral codes may not be posted in public forums or deal sites. " I would have to send a link via email anyway.
If a meh staff member asks me not to give out any code links, I will honor that request.
@cengland0 Same here, if you use up your five they have been bugging me to give out mine.
@darkzrobe I haven't given out any codes yet. I am waiting for a user to ask specifically for it before I post any additional info. It is also giving a chance for a staff member to ask me not to share if they so desire.
@cengland0 I suspect there are hundreds of us with those referral codes to offer up if Meh really wants to get into that game. Full Disclosure: those codes reward the giver $20 each time up to $100. FWIW, Woot bans referral codes. @JonT.
@RedOak Makes sense. O well, figured it was worth a try.
ooh ooh ooh vonage redux wow. The price is pretty good though.
the hotline to the USSR shouldn't have a bat on it.
I pay $7.75/month for all the features plus taxes plus SIP access to VoIPo.com with no outages last 2 years. Blocks robocalls, forwards to mobile, standards based. Really happy. Ooma would cost me $14.65 a month. Meh.
@ooglek We love Ooma but I keep an eye open to alternatives. VoIPo looks interesting but I'd need to do a lot of due diligence to get me to move. It does look like several of the Ooma features that require their $10/month Premier package are included in the standard VoIPo service, like free existing phone number port, calls to Canada, even 60 min of free Int'l calling to some countries. But to get the price down to $8/month you have to sign a 2-yr contract and who knows what happens after that?
@RedOak True, the 2 year contract is something you are betting on. I've been a customer since 2009 and have experienced only two outages, both less than 6 hours long and more than 4 years ago, and one was inbound call failures (I could call out). Outside of that I've had no problems in 6 years. And VoIPo is a flat $3/month for taxes/fees. Month-to-Month -- Ooma wins on cost. 1 year and 2 year contract -- VoIPo wins easily. I love not having to pay monthly. And I'm pretty sure they'd give you a pro-rated refund if you decided to quit (check with them first). So really, for me, no downside. Great service, free hardware, unlimited calling, Robocall and Telemarketer blocking, the service is pretty great for the money.
I have one of the older Ooma devices. I have it wired back into the house wiring so all the jacks work. I LOVE this thing, but what I love more is the price!
I've done the same as Renee4183 -- had Ooma Telo plugged into my house phone lines for several years. Service fantastic, in an area with iffy cell coverage. Basic "free" service (actually $4 / month for taxes / fees) is a no-brainer, and Premier ($10 / month) for a pile of extra features is worthwhile for us. Highly recommended at this price.
Well they have sold a whopppping 42 units is it safe to say the Meh. community is displeased with this item ?
@mellowirishgent No. It's safer to assume that the meh community is so happy with the Ooma that they already bought from previous sales that they don't need to buy another one.
@cengland0 Based on the previous comments im saying thats total B.S
@mellowirishgent Or those who want it already have it. Google Oooma - it appears the folks who disliked it had crappy unreliable Internet connections - and that would be a problem with any VoIP telephone service.
@RedOak Anyone know how many Meh. sold last time just wondering now ?
@mellowirishgent 421
@RedOak OK ty for that info based on then mr Cengalnd0 is most likely correct and i am wrong ..so sorry i always admit when im proven wrong ...:)
@mellowirishgent @RedOak is partially correct. Meh sold 309 on 1/9 and then 421 more on 3/20 for a grand total of 730
@cengland0 I simply answered the question "last time".
@RedOak Like i said i stand corrected but maybe a 3rd time was overkill
Get an Obihai OBI100 for $40. Configure with Google Voice account. Plug in old phone. Never spend a penny making domestic calls from your new "land line". I've had this setup for years. It use to be hack-ish, but now Google Voice is officially supported. It makes no sense to pay anyone anything for domestic voip service when google is free.
Get this
http://www.amazon.com/OBi100-Telephone-Adapter-Service-Bridge/dp/B004LO098O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1431611453&sr=8-1&keywords=obihai+100
Sign up for google voice (free)
Set it.
Forget it
NEVER pay a CENT for calls to and from US and Canada
Works really great!
@jareza Might be OK for geeks, but for folks who want simple and don't want to deal with three vendors (the OBi box, the Google VoIP provider, and the $20/yr 3rd party E911 provider), Ooma makes a lot more sense @ 3-4 bucks a month.
@jareza Can you port your old number to google? Will google work if you dial 911 and can't talk? Can you get a second phone number in another are code so granny can call a local number from her home down in Florida?
@TCayer Porting your number to google https://support.google.com/voice/answer/1065667?hl=en,: Ooma as well as Obi use E911 service, so yeah, it will work, and regarding your area code, you can choose your area code also, and add as many lines... for free, soo yeah, I have no idea what the intention of your questions were, but I would make a more informed post next time...
@jareza from your Google number porting link:
"Things to keep in mind about transferring numbers: Corporate, landline, and VoIP numbers can't be transferred. VoIP numbers include those used by Vonage, Skype, RingCentral, SendHub, Line2 and other telephone service providers."
@RedOak This is turning to a Mine is bigger than yours thing... Theres numerous post on the internet that show how to transfer any number, just get a gohpne from ATT, tranfer to that cell, then transfer your cell number to google, when theres a will, theres a way.... but its simple math here, 40 buck plus nothing a month, VS 75 plus 3 or 4 bucks a month.??? for me its a no brainer, but to each their own
@RedOak one other thing, ooma is locked to ooma service, if you want to ditch them you will be stuck with a paperweight, the obi is unlocked... just saying
I have no idea what you mean by geeks.... I sent one to my 65 year old father, sent him this video
and thats it, we were speaking 5 minutes later using our obis.
If by geek you mean someone who knows how to surf the web... then... there are a lot of geeks in the world.
Just saying.
BTW the E911 provider is optional, but if you want to set up the e911 then just hit the button "set E911" on the obihai page.
and its 15 dollars a year, not 20.
Im ghost like swayze, peace yall!
There are lots of reasons that I don't like Ooma, but what gets under my skin most of all is the creepy, geeky, potmarked faced guy from the old essurance commercials that Ooma uses in their TV spots. Any company that would subject me to watching that freak, even for a few seconds, deserves to go belly up and have their products liquidated on some junk deal site.
Does this do anything that Google Hangouts doesn't already do for free? I already don't use my cell phone carrier through my sim card because I get much better reception using VOIP (cable internet connection) with Hangouts. And Hangouts already works with any device I'd want to use -- cell phone, tablet, desktop w/ headset, etc.
No Georgia Red. . . for that alone, meh.
Obi110/100 + Google Voice = FREE home phone
Have had it for 5 Years now - who talks on the phone anymore?
Doesn't look like this really flew off the shelves. Only 88 sold x_x
@narfcake you could very well be right. But I don't remotely trust them as a brand anymore. If they're content to sell me a crap phone how can I trust them? And ultimately their business model is junk anyway. People in the long run are not going to pay extra to have a "landline" when their cell works just fine — no matter how cheap it is. Who really needs this?
@daveJay "Who really needs this?" I do. I work from home and I'm on conference calls for a large portion of my day. A cellphone doesn't have the same quality. The other people on the call can tell when someone joins with a cellphone. It's horrible in comparison and the person usually apologizes for their bad connection. They also end up abruptly leaving the conference and having to rejoin.
I suppose if you only use your phone to call your wife to let her know you're on the way home, then you probably don't need this.
@cengland0 this gadget seems kind of bulky to carry this around with you.
@TerriblyHuang You don't carry it around with you. You connect it to your network and then to your phone wiring in your house. Suddenly all the phones in your house has service.
If you want to carry a phone around with you, you can connect up any number of cordless phones to the system. I use a DECT 6 phone and it works flawlessly with Ooma.
@cengland0 oh. I use a VoIP app at home.
@cengland0 are you saying this is more reliable for you than Skype or go to meeting? Cause it uses the same Internet as both of those services.
@daveJay As far as I know, you don't connect Skype up to a regular phone so you will need to use a microphone and speaker through your computer. Have you ever been on a conference call with 30 or more people where someone is using Skype? I can imagine from my individual Skype connections that the sound quality would sound echoey unless you use a headset microphone.
Go to meeting is not free. As best I can tell, the cheapest price is $39/month if you pay for an entire year in advance.
Look, if you're fine using your current services for all your needs, then you don't need Ooma. For those of us that wanted a replacement for our POTS line at an affordable price, this is a good solution.
@daveJay yes, I will attest Ooma is far "more reliable than Skype". We use both and their reliability and consistency of quality are not even close.
'Not sure why you feel the need to trash something you personally might not need – and might not have even used yourself. Do you also dump on people who drive cars because they "should be using public transportation"? There are plenty of good reasons to still maintain a landline.
@cengland0 True. It's a good replacement for a POTS line. But wouldn't you say the need for a POTS line is getting smaller every day with the rise of cellphones?
@RedOak I'm not trashing on it because I don't personally need it. I'm trashing on the company for putting out a crap phone : http://www.amazon.com/Ooma-Telo-Cordless-Handset-100-0200-301/dp/B002O3W4LO
@daveJay The actual Ooma service might be great, but I wouldn't know because I used it with their junky handset which I wrongly assumed would give me the best experience.
@daveJay Depends on what your communication needs are. You could use walkie talkies for free without any monthly service if you want but that doesn't mean it's the best solution for everything.
For those people that have an office at home and want to separate their work and home life, having a separate number for business calls can be enough to use POTS, VOIP, or Ooma. If you are on conference calls all day, that's another reason. if you want a higher quality voice call than what you get from your wireless company, Ooma might be an option. If you're on conference calls for a large portion of your day, use a Fax machine, or have an alarm system, you may need a POTS or similar line.
There are many reasons to have one and your lifestyle and/or job may not benefit from it but I assure you there are people that will need it and the proof is in the quantities that they sell each time it is offered.
@cengland0 Good point. Having a separate work number I think is probably the most compelling reason to have something like this. But I still feel like the writing is on the wall and in 10 years stationary phones that aren't "mobile" will be substantially fewer and farther between. What will bring us there is a lowering of cost and reliability for cell phones. My sister still uses a "landline" (actually an Ooma competitor, not sure who though). And the reason is because they're thrifty and don't want to pay a lot in monthly cell phone bills – they use prepaid phones for mobile needs. So once mobile is more affordable, I think we'll see the need for landlines drop significantly.
@daveJay but you trashed the 'business model' and the need for a landline. Meh was not selling the handset and you did not clearly indicate you were reviewing the handset.
@RedOak I said I didn't trust the brand because they sold me a crap phone. You're right that I should have been more specific that I was referring to the handset, not the receiver.
@RedOak And I stand by my opinion that the business model is not sustainable in the long term
@daveJay I agree with you that Ooma's business model cannot be sustained if all customers just got their free service. They must rely heavily on people subscribing to their premier service at $10/month and their voicemail to text for $5/month. I use Google Voice for those services for free with my Ooma but if everyone did that, Ooma would go out of business.
POTS lines will be here to stay for several more decades until all call centers go away and customers must use the Internet for support.
Can you imagine calling your credit card company and the associate answering the call on a cell phone and then saying they are sorry for the call disconnect but their battery just died?
@cengland0 Ha! GOod point. I guess I'm thinking more for the consumer/prosumer market, the enterprise market will always have needs that go beyond what most people need.
@daveJay I'll happily enjoy their service in the meantime. Going on 3 years for the original box.
Perhaps there are other reasons but I can think of only a single reason to use Ooma's handset rather than the excellent Panasonic Link-to-cell models - that would be if you hate tapping *1 on a non-Ooma handset to dial outbound on the second line.
@RedOak I tried to determine how long I've had my service but it looks like Ooma doesn't keep infinite history for billing or calls. The only guess I have is where it says, "Warranty Expired on 10/24/2011." So I must have had it in 2010 but I know I replaced my unit after a lightning strike so it's probably even before that. I'm not grandfathered into the totally free plan and do have to pay the taxes so I'm not one of the early adopters.
I bought this from a recommendation and it works great. Call quality is as good as POTS! Better than my cell. Good price, like (actually cannot tell from new) new condition.