Be aware that Ooma changed their Terms & Conditions / Features / Pricing for the Telo and that Voicemail is no longer included in the Telo base package (VM is only in Premier for Telo users). Telo users will also pay a $11.75 / year "regulatory recovery" fee starting 12 months after purchase.
macroman said: why aren't there any deals on the 'old' ooma core+hub?It will be interesting to see if that happens.
With the new T&C changes, the "old" hub+scout package is the ONLY Ooma base package that still comes with comes with VM and is exempt from the regulatory recovery fee.
raider73 said: Would this thing still work if you're bandwidth is constantly used to the max via bittorrent applications. I doubt it but would like to know.
I will work PERFECTLY for sure IF you put OOMA between your modem and your router as OOMA recommends. I have a 10mb connection, had bittorrent maxed out, and it simply grabbed the bandwidth it wanted whenever I picked up the phone, and gave it immediately back when I hung up.
I can't recommend OOMA highly enough. I have the traditional Hub/Scout combo.
Good luck
ja97net
Member
posted: Oct. 3, 2009 @ 1:19p
macroman said: why aren't there any deals on the 'old' ooma core+hub?
Well, Ooma Hub & Scout has dropped in price at BestBuy to $219.99. The Ooma Telo was priced $249.99 unless there is a sale I didn't see. Need to update the title.
I bought the hub and scout and threw in the 10% off coupon from Movers Guide that has been posted. The cashier guy seemed new, the coupon did not scan, and after punching the coupon upc in did not drop the price, but one of the managers were called over and he pushed it through. YMMV. $219.99 - 10% = 197.99 plus tax. Bonus, easy return to B&M if it doesn't work out.
MrFresh said: Be aware that Ooma changed their Terms & Conditions / Features / Pricing for the Telo and that Voicemail is no longer included in the Telo base package (VM is only in Premier for Telo users). Telo users will also pay a $11.75 / year "regulatory recovery" fee starting 12 months after purchase.
zapjb said: MrFresh said: Be aware that Ooma changed their Terms & Conditions / Features / Pricing for the Telo and that Voicemail is no longer included in the Telo base package (VM is only in Premier for Telo users). Telo users will also pay a $11.75 / year "regulatory recovery" fee starting 12 months after purchase.
I have tried them all and I see no advantage of this over the Magic Jack. At $200+, that would take 10 years of Magic Jack usage to earn it back. Unless someone from Ooma is going to come and cook my dinner once a week, I will pass.
upchucked said: I have tried them all and I see no advantage of this over the Magic Jack. At $200+, that would take 10 years of Magic Jack usage to earn it back. Unless someone from Ooma is going to come and cook my dinner once a week, I will pass. Hope you have factored the cost of running a PC or a smaller version of it 24/7 for you math.
Upchucked, you're not comparing apples to apples. Magic Jack requires your computer to be on to send/receive calls. Ooma is a dedicated switch that is always on (no need to turn your computer on).
srturner47
Member
posted: Oct. 3, 2009 @ 3:27p
In addition, Ooma call quality is fantastic, whereas I've heard mixed reviews of Magic Jack call quality. And although they say they technically don't support faxes, they work perfectly for me with Ooma. I've never had a fax fail with Ooma when connected directly to the hub (won't work with the scout -- I've tried!) and entering *99 before fax number. Much better than Magic Jack IMHO. And frankly, the ability to fax is huge -- I'm not aware of any VOIP provider that faxes work with unless you buy expensive VOIP fax machines (well over $1000 for these fax machines!).
My only complaint is that Ooma does not support DTMF. Basically, this means that you can't use remote operation with your answering machine. I've heard that Telo may have support for DTMF, and if it does, that would make the lack of free Voicemail with Telo less of an issue. Check and confirm that Telo supports DTMF before you buy it, or you'll probably need to get premier for voicemail that can be accessed from anywhere.
I've researched Magic Jack vs. ooma. Magic Jack is a nice voip item, but I wouldn't rely on it as a primary telephone. ooma is closer to a primary land line. No other hardware needed. Just plug the box into your modem and you are good to go. Magic Jack charges a yearly fee, which until the change in the TOS, put ooma ahead. Would need to rebalance the prices now that there's a $12 fee yearly for non-premium users. That's closer to the $20/year Magic Jack charges. There's no ability to port your telephone number to Magic Jack (as of yet, they keep promising - the reason I didn't go with Magic Jack).
That said, ooma's voice quality is apparently superior, but I can't say for sure one way or another. I was able to pick up a hub & scout from Amazon for $190 (shipped, no tax). Amazon is supposed to credit me back another $30 after keeping it 30 days. So next week I'm supposed to have a $30 credit at Amazon. $160 for a very nice system (and we are grandfathered with no annual regulatory fee and lower monthly if you want premier (which I did op for to save on porting charge and liked the instant "extra line" option. VERY happy with my ooma experience.
raider73 said: Would this thing still work if you're bandwidth is constantly used to the max via bittorrent applications. I doubt it but would like to know.
If you setup the ooma ahead of your router, it is going to limit downloads when needed for voip. So the answer is: it will work. From what I read, it was noticeable when you watch downloads, but it only takes what it needs, I saw numbers ranging from 350 to 500kb/sec. You can put the ooma behind the router and set the priority in the router for whatever you want (assuming your router will allow that type of setting and you can figure it out). Either way, any voip is going to use bandwidth and slow torrents, but depending on how you set it up, you will have telephone service.
EcoTony said: raider73 said: Would this thing still work if you're bandwidth is constantly used to the max via bittorrent applications. I doubt it but would like to know.
If you setup the ooma ahead of your router, it is going to limit downloads when needed for voip. So the answer is: it will work. From what I read, it was noticeable when you watch downloads, but it only takes what it needs, I saw numbers ranging from 350 to 500kb/sec. You can put the ooma behind the router and set the priority in the router for whatever you want (assuming your router will allow that type of setting and you can figure it out). Either way, any voip is going to use bandwidth and slow torrents, but depending on how you set it up, you will have telephone service.
Most decent routers have QoS capability, which will prioritize ATA adapters; mine does it automatically.
I don't think anyone has mentioned, at least for the Amazon Telo, you don't get a Scout to go along with the Hub. I'm assuming the BB product is the same.
I think Since the telo came out that the hub and scout will not have voicemail unless you get the premiere service. I got a hub and scout 2 days before the telo came out and got grandfathered in but I think if you buy a hub now you will have to pay for premiere to keep voicemail.
I think Since the telo came out that the hub and scout will not have voicemail unless you get the premiere service. I got a hub and scout 2 days before the telo came out and got grandfathered in but I think if you buy a hub now you will have to pay for premiere to keep voicemail.
It looks like (from the Amaz0n page) that you get a "free" HD handset if you buy a year of Premier for $99 - along with the "free" number port.
I don't care about any of the features - I'm only giving out my Google Voice number now. GV has all the features I need for free (at least or now...). And as soon as I get an Ooma, I'm going to dump Vonage.
"If you want to add a bundle of enhanced calling features that will get your home phone service firing on all cylinders, you can add Ooma Premier to your service for $9.99/month or $119.99/year."
You'd think they'd make the yearly price CHEAPER than the monthly price x 12 .. LOL
evilwon
Tired Member
posted: Oct. 4, 2009 @ 12:46a
Make sure to check out and see if there are local numbers available - if that is of importance to you. I'd be jumping on the switch, but everyone I know with a traditional land line would be making a long distance call to reach out and touch me.
I spoke with CS yesterday. If you are an existing customer (pre-Oct), you can swap your hub for a Telo and still be bound by the old TOS. No extra fees.
volcs said: It looks like (from the Amaz0n page) that you get a "free" HD handset if you buy a year of Premier for $99 - along with the "free" number port.
I don't care about any of the features - I'm only giving out my Google Voice number now. GV has all the features I need for free (at least or now...). And as soon as I get an Ooma, I'm going to dump Vonage.
Just to clarify what I wrote above - found this on the Ooma boards:
For new Ooma customers, here are highlights of our new Terms and Conditions:
* 5,000 total minutes per month of residential domestic calling
* Ooma Premier monthly subscriptions are $9.99/month
* Ooma Premier annual subscriptions are $119.99/year. This now includes either one free number port ($39.99 value) or a free Ooma Telo Handset ($49.99 value)
* $11.75/year Regulatory Recovery Fee in Years 2 and beyond to cover taxes, regulatory fees and other costs
* Voicemail is now bundled with Ooma Premier
* 60-days of free Ooma Care telephone support. Thereafter, non-Premier customers receive free email support and may purchase Ooma Care telephone support for $39.99/year
if they charge for these services how are they any better than Vonage tmobile etc...i thought the thing that made them a fatwallet deal to begin with was a one time purchase of a device and free lifetime phone service with amenities.
volcs said: volcs said: It looks like (from the Amaz0n page) that you get a "free" HD handset if you buy a year of Premier for $99 - along with the "free" number port.
I don't care about any of the features - I'm only giving out my Google Voice number now. GV has all the features I need for free (at least or now...). And as soon as I get an Ooma, I'm going to dump Vonage.
Just to clarify what I wrote above - found this on the Ooma boards:
For new Ooma customers, here are highlights of our new Terms and Conditions:
* 5,000 total minutes per month of residential domestic calling
* Ooma Premier monthly subscriptions are $9.99/month
* Ooma Premier annual subscriptions are $119.99/year. This now includes either one free number port ($39.99 value) or a free Ooma Telo Handset
($49.99 value)
* $11.75/year Regulatory Recovery Fee in Years 2 and beyond to cover taxes, regulatory fees and other costs
* Voicemail is now bundled with Ooma Premier
* 60-days of free Ooma Care telephone support. Thereafter, non-Premier customers receive free email support and may purchase Ooma Care telephone
support for $39.99/year
Since this isn't without a monthly fee, and requires a fairly large investment in equipment upfront, other than getting more minutes per $, what exactly is the benefit of this VOIP over say the Vonage(or similar provider's) $24.95 unlimited ? I'm really not familiar with Ooma but I see Ooma deals all the time. I'm curious what advantages are there that make this so popular ?
Current Ooma Core Users a. No changes to your current feature set including voice mail. b. No annual regulatory recovery fee will be charged. Current Ooma Premier Users a. No changes to your current feature set. b. No annual regulatory recovery fee will be charged. c. If you are paying monthly for Premier, your monthly price will change to $9.99 from $12.99. d. If you wish to buy an additional year of Premier at $99.99, you have until 12/31/09. Current Ooma Premier Trial Users a. No changes to your current feature set. b. No annual regulatory recovery fee will be charged. c. If you want to purchase an annual Ooma Premier subscription, you can do so until 12/31/09 at $99.99, after that the price will go up by $20 to $119.99. New or Unactivated Ooma Hub/Scout Combinations a. No changes to your promised feature set, includes voicemail and a 60 day Premier Trial. b. If you want to purchase an annual Ooma Premier subscription, you can do so until 12/31/09 at $99.99, after that the price will go up by $20 to $119.99 c. No regulatory recovery fee will be charged
I purchased the Hub/Scout combination from Amazon last month and can confirm that this morning my Premiere Membership option has been reduced to $99 from the $120 it was yesterday. Of course, after a year it will increase again.
I am satisfied that this is now a fair deal for me...they did not promise premiere service would NEVER go up...but they should maintain the option they promised when you buy the hardware for at least a year.
dmylrea
Member
posted: Oct. 4, 2009 @ 8:23a
Two questions-- 1) is there any call quality difference between the hub/scout OOMA and the new OOMA Telo? and 2) Back when I bought mine from costco (months ago, but still have not activated), they quoted something like 3 weeks to port a number. Has that changed? What are other users seeing for number porting times?
pp65us is right; NO CHANGE IN TOS if you buy Hub&Scout now, you will be grandfathered in old service including getting free voicemail for life.
deshwashi
Addicted Member
posted: Oct. 4, 2009 @ 8:48a
can anyone who uses OOMA clarify a technical detail- can I connect this to the router and a phone jack and still use the other phone jacks in the home for the same line or to do that do I need a hub for each phone jack in the home. TIA
muerte33
Addicted Member
posted: Oct. 4, 2009 @ 8:53a
I don't understand, why is this a better deal than the $99 Nettalk device/lifetime service? http://www.nettalk.com/ Use Google Voice for voicemail?
deshwashi said: can anyone who uses OOMA clarify a technical detail- can I connect this to the router and a phone jack and still use the other phone jacks in the home for the same line or to do that do I need a hub for each phone jack in the home. TIA If you connect to a phone jack, I do not think can use your existing land line anymore. If you directly connect your new phone to Ooma, you still can keep your current land line.
if you use ooma with google voice you pretty much get all of the premiere features for free.
Skipping 108 Messages...
skyemerald
New Member
posted: Feb. 15, 2010 @ 5:32a
kringan said: gordita said: does ooma work abroad? for instance, I signed up for a MagicJack account and when I was in india a few months ago, I hooked it up to my cable modem and it worked great. Thus, I left it there for my parents to use and we use it quite regularly. However, during some conversations, the static acts up and it becomes quite annoying. on other occasions, the conversations are crystal clear!
would ooma work better for my parents? if yes, that would be outstanding. has anyone tried this?
I have the same arrangement at my home in india, but the last time I tried with Sunrocket, setting up the BSNL modem was a royal PITA. This time around I tried to configure a router with the BSNL modem and gave up. I am not sure how to configure the modem to work with OOMA, which is a lot better as my parents do not keep the computer on 24/7 and OOMA would not require it to be on 24/7. If anyone who has tried this can shed any light, it will be awsome !
I have trouble connecting ooma in India as well and gave up.
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