Ooma Core VoIP Phone System
by ooma
|
List Price: Our Price: $170.00 You Save: $79.99 (32%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: CE See more product details |
|---|
Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Ooma Core VoIP Phone System
Customer Review: Finally comfortable dumping the land-line.
Summary: 5 Stars
Like most people, we mostly use our cell phones for communications. There are a few exceptions and thus we've hung onto our land line for longer than totally necessary. The land line provided a way to fax and for my wife's parents to call our son. Keeping the rarely used land line was $25 per month, and that was basically for an incoming phone line. Outgoing calls were too expensive, and thus reserved for the cells. ooma replaces our land line and still allows us the reasons we had a land line, but at $99/year (we opted for the premium service because of the added value).
My order arrived 3 days after ordering from Amazon. Supersaver shipping was, for once, super fast.
The box contains the ooma hub, ooma scout, cat-5 cables, telephone cables, power cables, and two sets of directions. The directions look like they walk you thorough the setup, I really didn't read them as I just hooked it up - basically, if you know anything about telephones, modems, and routers, you can connect the system without reading the directions.
Next, before you plug it in, you go online and sign up. The process takes about 5 minutes. You can do the entire thing without giving them a credit card or other billing information. Nice. Only your physical address is needed so 911 will know where to send the ambulance or police. If you want to port a telephone number (move it to ooma), you can pay $40 for the service, or opt for the $99/year premium service which includes the porting. See below about porting process.
Once you complete the registration, you plug in the ooma and turn it on. The little light at the top blinks red, and then turns a nice cool blue. Once it turns blue, you are good to go. Plug in your telephone, and you are making calls.
I have 1.5m/750kbs FIOS and it works great. Calls are clear, no noise, echos, static, etc. Very happy with quality. Calls around the country have been clear and easy. Pick up phone and dial. No problems.
I added $10 to my account for international long distance. Called the United Kingdom and spoke for 30 minutes. Cost: $0.98 including taxes. ooma will tell you what your balance is and how many minutes that equates to when you make an international call. Easy to add minutes online in the ooma lounge.
I opted to purchase the premium service to get free porting. You can pay the annual fee for premium and save the $40 porting fee or just pay to port. After completing the online signup, I received a confirmation email. You confirm the information, and then about a week later, ooma sends you another email with an approximate date for porting. Then they send you another with a confirmed date. You need to keep the line being ported until the port or risk loosing the number when you cancel the other line. About 3 weeks to do the porting.
I haven't experienced any negatives thus far, but see the fax limitation of about 5 pages to be a problem (send) but the fax is really for receipt and emergency sending of a signature or something.
A real problem is the potential to lose the phone if the power is out - that is going to be a bit of a worry.
The ooma hub and scout are just great and we are very happy with our purchase.
**UPDATE**
We've had our ooma service for about 5 months now and we continue to be very happy with the quality of service. ooma changed their TOS in the Fall of 2009, raising the price of premier to $120/year and also adding an annual fee for those who don't subscribe to premier to recover their FCC fees ($12/year). For 99% of the calls, there are no issues. Pick up the phone, dial, ring, & talk. There were a few times when the call wouldn't go through, but that used to happen on the old AT&T service as well. I just redial it it goes through. A few times I did hear some "digital" qualities to the conversation, and just called back and that resolved the issue.
The porting of our old number took 3 weeks, as promised, and ooma kept us in the loop the entire time. We got emails before, the day of, and just after it happened to let us know it had been done. We lost our landline service in the morning, and it was ringing on the ooma just after lunch.
I like being able to use the home phone for outgoing calls for a change. I now have all my friends and family call me at home first to avoid having to use the mobile minutes and the extra radiation.
Overall, 100% satisfied to have ooma as my phone system.
Customer Review: Great product, Terrible Technical Support
Summary: 3 Stars
This is a great product, as long as it works. I received the product last month, and had it running within 5 minutes. Everything worked great, and I thought Ooma was going to be a company everyone is familiar within 5 years from now. The call clarity was great, and my network speeds were barely affected. I began to tell everyone how well it worked.
About a week ago, the device just stopped picking up my connection off my cable modem. All I saw was the 4 top lights lit and the Ooma tab blinking red. I double-checked everything as anyone else would when trouble shooting a down device. I reset my cable modem, reset the Ooma box, and then reset the router... no luck. So I make sure my internet connection is working by removing Ooma and connecting my cable modem straight to my pc/router. Everything is up. I go into the setup.ooma.com page and see if the device is grabbing an address from my cable modem. It's not, so I put a static address on the Ooma box and attach it to my home router. I am able to ping everything else on my network, except the Ooma box. So the Ooma device is not grabbing a DHCP address and it is not working with a static address, and the connection is showing connected under the Modem port on the Ooma box physically and through the setup.ooma.com page. Everything else is fine on the box except that.
After going through this process, I setup everything back to how I had it initially, and I call up Ooma Tech Support. Wait about 5 or 10 minutes, and get a hold of Support. The wait was normal so I didn't mind. I tell the guy on the phone what is happening, and he immediately begins to rush me saying that a firewall on my router is blocking the Ooma box. I told him that's impossible because the Ooma box is connected directly to my modem, and not to my router. I told him the internet is up, and it isn't grabbing a DHCP address from my service provider, he asks if I restarted the modem and Ooma hub, and I told him I did. He says well if you did all that, then it's a firewall. I told him I did, and there is no firewall, and he tells me that's the only thing that can cause it to stop working. I asked him if there is a possibility the hub went bad, and he said no. I asked him again to make sure I heard this right, and he said "That's correct." I told him "So Ooma has developed the only infallible electronic device known to man?" He then tells me to restart the Ooma box and while I'm doing so the line disconnects.
I call back, and I get the same exact guy again. I pretend like I didn't know who I was talking to before and start the conversation again. He changes his tune this time. He actually begins to go through the trouble shooting steps as he should have the first time, and none of them are working because he is trying exactly what I was trying before. While he is on the phone, I guess he didn't know how to use his mute button for my line, because he was talking to another tech while he was talking to me. He was cursing and wondering why it wasn't working, and I kept recommending different things I can try while on the phone with him. Unexpectedly, the line disconnects again. Both times it showed up Call ended, and I have rarely ever been disconnected from my cell since I have been through tech support calls working with Cisco and HP for work.
I go on Amazon's website to make sure I can return the thing still since it looks like I am not getting anywhere the Ooma's perfect product that obviously has something wrong with it. Luckily Amazon makes it easy to return it, and I setup and ship the product out 20 minutes later. Glad I save all the boxes...
I work on a team that maintains a Fortune 200 company's network across multiple states. I trouble shoot network problems all day long, and I have a lot of patience. I never got mad, raised my voice, anything. They just couldn't support their product as they should have. There should be a standard operating procedure that tells a tech to setup a repair or replacement if all of their trouble shooting steps fails. I think that because the company does not generate a great amount of revenue after the initial sale that they definitely do not want to spend anymore on sending or replacing an item. Just my opinion and I'll make sure to put it out everywhere I can so all of you who do have the product, and can't return it, don't get the shaft either.
Customer Review: Ooma Lies about Unlimited Minutes (They Are Limited, And There's a Fee)
Summary: 1 Stars
In the terms and conditions for the ooma phone, it clearly states that you are limited to 3,000 minutes per month (which would be easy to go over with multiple family members using the same phone line):
"In addition you agree that any usage of more than 3,000 minutes per month will be deemed dispositive proof of Prohibited Use. In the event you engage in Prohibited Use, ooma reserves the right to terminate service without notice or, at ooma's sole discretion, to charge you at a rate specified on our Web site for calls that exceed the 3,000-minute per month limitation. This rate may be modified on our Web site from time to time."
See: [...]
However, everywhere else on the website says you get "unlimited" calls (without even an asterisk refering you to the terms and conditoins). To me this seems completely dishonest and misleading, to say nothing of false advertising.
Even in the ooma knowledge base where they explain "ooma Pricing Information" there is no mention of the 3,000 minute limit. "In order to make the ooma system affordable to as many customers as possible, we're now offering the ooma Hub for the one-time price of $249. This gets you unlimited US calling and bundled features with no monthly fees!" "Unlimited" is repeated everywhere on the website. Also, I cannot find anywhere on the website where they specifiy the fee you will be charged for going over 3,000 minutes. That's not really reassuring either.
ooma seems like an intriguing product. But it seems crazy to use a service, where you implicitly agree to pay a fee, even though you're told you get unlimited use, and then you don't even know what the fee is that you have been misled into agreeing to. Shame on ooma.
[Update, Oct 5, 2009:
I'm revisiting this review because it's been a while since I wrote it and Ooma has changed their tactics for misleading customers. They no longer claim you get "unlimited" minutes. What they say is you can call "anywhere in the U.S. with no monthly fees." This statement is clearly intended to get people to think that they get unlimited calling. But if you look in the FAQ there is still a 3000 minute limit. Ooma no longer says that there's a fee if you go over, but they do say they will enforce the limit on a "case by case basis."
I find the "anywhere in the U.S." claim especially ridiculous, in an era where national cell phone calling plans and VOIP plans are the norm. Again, it's real intent appears to be to get customers to believe that they're getting unlimited minutes, without saying that explicitly, so Ooma can split hairs and pretend that they're technically not being dishonest.
Ooma also makes the false claim that the limits on their calling system are no different than other phone plans. They say in the FAQ: "Like all other 'unlimited services' such as cell phone data plans and other VoIP services, we do have a limit of 3000 minutes per month (for outbound calling)."
This statement is an out and out lie. First, unlimited cell phone plans really are truly unlimited. Second, VOIP plans that do have limits, do not "all" have 3000 minute limits, as if that's some sort of industry standard (they're usually at least 5000 minutes, which is almost twice as much). Third, Ooma misleadingly compares a cell phone "data" plan to Ooma's voice calling plan (voice services use vastly less bandwidth than surfing the web, steaming music, video, etc.). Ooma is not offering a data plan, they're offering a voice calling plan. Cell phone voice calling plans that say they're unlimited are unlimited. In fact, Ooma is exploiting the truly unlimited nature of your internet data plan to offer their service, pigging backing on someone elses genuinely unlimited plan. So it is completely false to say, as Ooma does, that "all other" plans work the way Ooma does. And it is the height of irony that the very thing that Ooma says does not exist, a truly "unlimited service," is in fact necessary for their service to work in the first place. Fourth, Ooma tries to mislead customers by putting "unlimited services" in quotes as if "unlimited" never really means unlimited, therefore Ooma's would have people believe that everybody else lies the way they do, so what's wrong with that?
So after almost a year Ooma has not changed. They have only refined their tactics for being dishonest.]
Customer Review: New to ooma
Summary: 5 Stars
I finally pulled the trigger and bought the ooma device. I opted for the ooma core, hub thingy with the scout. I did this for a reason. The older unit, comes with the earlier guarantee (when ooma was really new) printed on the box. This applies to that purchase, and I found it on their website:
New or Unactivated Ooma Hub/Scout Combinations
1. No changes to your promised feature set, includes voicemail and a 60 day Premier Trial.
2. 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.
3. No annual regulatory recovery fee will be charged.
#1 & #3 where the important parts for me. Includes voicemail, (The newer devices charge for that service) and I don't want to see the regulatory fee. Ever.
As opposed to:
The NEW Ooma Telo Product
Newly Purchased Telo's
1. Includes US domestic calling, a free phone number, call waiting, caller ID, and 911 service.
Voice mail is no longer included in the base service of the unit.
Copy and paste this link in your location bar: [...] To read this notice in it's entirety. It would seem the best offer, is to grab the Ooma Hub/Scout Combination, before their all gone.
I hooked up the unit(s) and it works beautifully. I have not had the pleasure of calling customer service. So I know nothing of that area. However, so far, all of my questions have been answered by reading/following along in the manual, and using the website, and the feedback here on Amazon. It should be noted that there seems to be a big rift with current customers and something called Google Voice Extensions. I know nothing of this, and plan on using the system, as is was described to me. A replacement for my residential service. (I dumped Vonage for this option) To view the discontent, and the happy customer reviews on the Ooma Blog, Copy and paste this link in your location bar:[...]
All in all, it seems to be a toss up. Many people love it (as I do, but I have had it for a day, and will post updates when I can) and others are mad at ooma for poor customer service, as well as a perceived miss communication among customers and the company. I found this link to be very enlightening, and it gave me a sense that the purchase I made would to be a good one. Copy and paste this link in your location bar:[...] It was posted by: Rich Buchanan Chief Marketing Officer Ooma, Inc. and made clear to me, that this system is for residential service. Not necessarily as a business phone service. (Although, I cannot see where it would not work for a small home based business!) If you exceed 5000 minutes per month, they may charge you a fee, I guess. But really 5000 minutes! that's like 6 hours a day, everyday! Not likely to happen with your home phone. Even with teenagers.
I hope this early review helps with your decision. I know I found things after I made the purchase, that would have helped me make the purchase much sooner. I think I have included most of that information here.
Update 2/28/10
Note: It would seem that Amazon has edited out the links I provided in the above review for further information. Take the time to visit ooma dot com. You can find what I tried to post here. So far so good. I love the device, and the scout. Also, unless you want the ability to use the features of the scout at each location that you have a telephone in your home, you don't really need one at each of those locations. I bought a splitter, and split the line coming from the scout (labeled 'Phone') to provide service throughout the rest of the house. This will work coming from the main unit as well (The core/hub). I have nothing but nice things to say as of this posting, and am really happy that I decided to go with this service. I am looking forward to years of no monthly phone bills. I figure if the device doesn't fail for at least 5 years, I will have really taken advantage of this technology, and will have saved approx $1800 over that time period. That's minus the $231.99 I paid for it! What the heck? $1800 is a good chunk of change in my book. I would include that I really like the ability to personalize things that apply to my service on their website. SO far, this has been a great purchase, for me personally. Hope this helps with your decision!
Customer Review: The best investment you will ever make
Summary: 5 Stars
I have owned this system for about six months now and aside from some initial setup issues it has been the greatest product I have ever used. Quite simply, there are no catches, no hassles, no fine print, etc. Your phone calls sound great and they really, truly are free!
Calls are perfect, period. I have no trouble connecting to anyone and the phone calls are just as good as regular phone service and even better than VOIP. I have yet to hear the echo and occasional glitches in sound that would occasionally occur when I was using Vonage or a cable phone service. As long as you have a stable internet connection, you will have great phone service and no phone bills. It was so good, in fact, that I decided to pay extra for the optional premium service so I could have a second phone line and a unique second phone number.
My only issue with the setup was due to the fact I already owned a VOIP service through Vonage. If I was willing to obtain a brand new phone number, I could have easily connected my service without a phone call to OOMA for installation help. However, because I wanted to keep my existing number, I needed to contact customer service as the instructions were not sufficient in getting me connected to both Vonage and OOMA while I waited for my number to be transferred. I also ran into a problem that, in spite of multiple assurances to the contrary, I was charged for porting my number and the full amount of the premium service I elected. I knew I wanted my existing number so I paid to have my number transferred immediately. I was unsure whether I wanted to sign up for premium service and wanted to test out the premium service before deciding to pay for it. Once I decided to pay for premium service I was charged for a full year instead of a discounted amount reflecting what I already paid for having my number ported. This was not supposed to happen and I hope OOMA clears this up for customers in the future. They did credit me in a month after I called them.
Customer service is actually quite good, with only a few voicemail prompts to direct you to the correct department. There are the occasional exasperated employees who are annoying but most are friendly and helpful. The website works well (save the payment errors) and is intuitive enough that you can figure out how to change the various settings for voicemail, distinctive ring, blacklisting telemarketers who violate the Do Not Call list, and so on. The "do not disturb" button is a godsend if you hate getting interrupted during a nap, dinner, or a good movie. Because I have a second line, I sometimes run into a problem with call screening. Let's say some strange number calls and it goes to voicemail. The literature says you can just pick up the phone if you want to take the call. Actually, you need to press the large lit button representing the active line, then pick up the phone. If you don't you'll end up starting a second line instead of taking the phone call. Aside from this the features work as described.
I actually feel a small twinge of guilt for purchasing the Core OOMA system over the Telo because they end up paying for a small part of my phone service. Remember all the service charges at the end of your bill that almost double the price of standard phone service? While OOMA isn't obligated to pay all of those, they do end up eating some of the charges they are required by law to pay. This was the price they paid for offering 100% free service but I think it was a wise decision. What OOMA realized, which most companies fail to do, is that removing the fine print, the revised Terms of Service, and the gotchas actually increases your customer base significantly.
Just remember, it's your *upload* speed that is important in determining whether this service will work for you. Nearly all broadband services exceed your download requirements, but make sure you have at least 384Kbps upload speed so phone calls are clear both to and from your phone. If you don't know what it is, go to speedtest.net and test it out to be sure. The higher, the better so as long as you meet this minimum requirement, expect great phone calls. Also keep in mind that both Amazon and OOMA offer a 30-day money guarantee.
OOMA really does work just like they say it does and I give this company my highest recommendation.