VOIP and other free phone thread

[Henry Lili]

Been with Ooma for over two years. No problems and, as of yet, no telemarketing calls. An added bonus!

 

[rk911]

as a retired 9-1-1 administrator for a large regional call/dispatch center be *certain* how calls to 9-1-1 are routed. i'm sure the technology has improved since i retired but if you plan on using your VOIP away from your home while on a trip be sure that a call to 9-1-1 will be directed to the call center serving that area and not to your home 9-1-1 call center. also make sure that your name, phone number and location address will pop up on the call taker's screen.

 

[JoeWras]

as a retired 9-1-1 administrator for a large regional call/dispatch center be *certain* how calls to 9-1-1 are routed. i'm sure the technology has improved since i retired but if you plan on using your VOIP away from your home while on a trip be sure that a call to 9-1-1 will be directed to the call center serving that area and not to your home 9-1-1 call center. also make sure that your name, phone number and location address will pop up on the call taker's screen.

This is why some people are a bit leery of gv911.com.

Not saying it is a scam, just worried about the quality.

 

[target2019]

As requested by RunningBum, let's start a thread on phones. I am looking into a Google Voice free home phone as I just dumped Comcast and its VOIP setup. We want a "simple" single internet based phone for use in a common area when our cell phones are not handy. Suggestions?

Some time ago I ported the landline number to Tracfone, and left it in central location, near the old kitchen phone. That was simple, and used it for 3-4 years. I just let that contract expire, because we don't use the number, and it just became a spam call bucket. The continuing cost was about $100/year.

OTH, I have a GV number that is associated with my person cell number. Set it up many years ago, and did not use often. Recently I used it in google home mini (in our common area) and set up assistant so that I could dial out with that number. Works like a charm, and there is no cost.

 

[camfused]

This is why some people are a bit leery of gv911.com.

Not saying it is a scam, just worried about the quality.

I was unaware of problems with them. When I first got it, I tested it by making a 911 call. The person on the other end said they got my correct info.

 

[mrfeh]

1) Google Voice number with an OBi device - this is what we have. It costs $0/mo after the initial hardware purchase and number porting fee, but we have no 911 service. We could get that for an additional monthly fee.

+1

We pay for a 911 service.

 

[mrfeh]

We don't subscribe to a E911 service, but based on this thread, I might check out gv911.com for $1/mo. That's a good price point for me. The website seems kinda sketchy. Question for those who already subscribe... How do you test it? Do you call 911?

We used gv911 for many years, but switched to Anveo about 6 months ago. It is a little more expensive, but I feel more established/reliable.

Do a web search for anveo vs gv911 for opinions.

 

[steelyman]

I’ve been on a bit of a home electronics updating spree the past couple of days. The latest was to connect my Ooma Telo device to the existing phone jacks at my home.

The setup is very simple but the Ooma instructions made it clear repeatedly that the any prior landline service had to be completely removed before connecting the Telo. I took a few extra steps and had AT&T come out for a service call (no charge) to make sure.

I don’t have many jacks: kitchen, master bedroom, study. The latter is where the Telo is connected. I’ve had an old Toshiba cordless phone that I’ve been carting around for years but it works well. It’s now in a nook in my kitchen and makes me feel like I’m back in high school again (nostalgia!).

So now I can make and receive Ooma calls from both the “landline” cordless home phone or through the mobile app.

 

[rk911]

I’ve been on a bit of a home electronics updating spree the past couple of days. The latest was to connect my Ooma Telo device to the existing phone jacks at my home.

The setup is very simple but the Ooma instructions made it clear repeatedly that the any prior landline service had to be completely removed before connecting the Telo. I took a few extra steps and had AT&T come out for a service call (no charge) to make sure.

we disconnect AT&T ($100+ p/m) in favor of the Comcast VOIP ($7 p/m). had to disconnect completely from the Telco network. all that entailed in our case is unplugging the pole from the Telco box next to our electric meter. by dumping our DSL provider (EarthLink...$50 p/m) and AT&T and bundling everything with Comcast we saved about $1900 per year.

 

[steelyman]

by dumping our DSL provider (EarthLink...$50 p/m) and AT&T and bundling everything with Comcast we saved about $1900 per year.

Impressive savings! In my case there are no savings over what I’ve been paying but I have a little more flexibility.

There’s a possibility I may have better VOIP service during power outages but I haven’t nailed that down yet. That involves Spectrum (my ISP). I spoke with them earlier today but they were pretty coy about answering my questions and instead kept trying to bundle their home phone with my existing Internet plan. I repeatedly declined.

 

[rk911]

Impressive savings! In my case there are no savings over what I’ve been paying but I have a little more flexibility.

There’s a possibility I may have better VOIP service during power outages but I haven’t nailed that down yet. That involves Spectrum (my ISP). I spoke with them earlier today but they were pretty coy about answering my questions and instead kept trying to bundle their home phone with my existing Internet plan. I repeatedly declined.

in our case we have a whole-house standby generator [-]if[/-] when the power goes out. if Comcast itself goes down (rare, but it happens. happened yesterday as a matter of fact) then we fall back to our cells and rooftop antenna.

 

[GenXguy]

Don't buy the OBI 100 series, Google Voice is no longer supported, but you can still find them for sale.

I bought one of those OBI 100 boxes for $29.99 back in Nov. 2012 when they still worked with Google Voice, but I had low bandwidth (1 Mbps down, 256 Mbps up) internet that tended to drop out a lot, so I never did end up using it. And now that I have a faster internet connection, it won't even work with Google Voice. Oh well, $30 wasted. I truly never needed it. I just use my cell.

I believe it will still work with some pay VoIP providers, but pretty much ANY price would be too much for me at this point.

 

[steelyman]

The threads that have started recently about topics like VoIP, cell phone plans, credit card cash backs have been very helpful for me in taking a second look at the services I hadn’t been taking full advantage of or using efficiently.

I’ve subscribed to Ooma Premier ($9.99/mo + taxes/fees) since 2015. The Premier level has been doing a great job of call blocking and works well with my old cordless phone through home jacks or Ooma’s mobile app on my I{Phone,Touch}. Fortunately, I’ve not yet needed 911 but it’s there.

I revisited other features of the Premier subscription and remembered one I hadn’t yet used: a free second number (you can add more but at extra cost). Hey, might as well!

 

[steelyman]

Looks like I’m all in with Ooma now. After gettings things set up to use the home phone jacks with an existing cordless phone, I saw a price of $32.99 for their HD3 handset (Ooma’s list is $49.99 but they also direct you to Amazon which is where I saw the lower price).

It arrived today, was a snap to set up and much more modern than my ancient cordless. It’s in the living room while the old one is in the kitchen. All play nice together.

I was curious about how the handset communicates to the Telo base. Bluetooth? Router wi-fi? It turns out to use DECT 6.0 (new to me) to the Telo base. So it doesn’t appear as a connected device to the router.

https://www.amazon.com/Ooma-HD3-Handset-Black-Works/dp/B078H4FHGJ

Not too long ago I’d disconnected the Telo completely and used only their mobile app to make/receive calls (that way is still an option). Seems my cup runneth over!

[ADDED] My most recent monthly bill for Ooma Premier was $16.54. Premier itself was $9.99 and the rest is taxes and fees, including 911 service fee and NC 911 tax.

 

[pumpkineater]

How does the ooma do for latency (the delay between when you speak and when the person hears you)? I tried ooma 10 or so years ago here in Michigan and found I couldn't live with the latency: it was like talking on a walky talky (for anyone who remembers those!).

I eventually decided ooma didn't have a server in a data center close enough to where I lived. Maybe they have servers in more locations today?

 

[steelyman]

How does the ooma do for latency (the delay between when you speak and when the person hears you)? I tried ooma 10 or so years ago here in Michigan and found I couldn't live with the latency: it was like talking on a walky talky (for anyone who remembers those!).

I eventually decided ooma didn't have a server in a data center close enough to where I lived. Maybe they have servers in more locations today?

That’s a good question and unfortunately I don’t have a good answer but I have gotten comments about occasional delays, especially in my earlier use of Ooma.

Part of that is due to my setup over time. When I bought my Telo and started my Ooma service I also bought (and still have) a little Bluetooth/wi-fi dongle that plugs into the Telo. I did that because of my then-floor plan. I wanted the cordless phone/Telo on one floor but the router was on a different floor so I couldn’t make the Telo->router connection with an Ethernet cable.

When I moved out of state I set it up the same way. Much later I realized I didn’t need the Telo at all because you can use Ooma’s mobile app to make/receive calls. So all that is done via the Internet.

Interestingly, a few people have told me that the call quality is much better when I use my wireless earbuds (Bose SoundSport) rather than iPhone/iPod. I haven’t been hearing comments about delays.

Now (finally) my configuration allows a direct wired Ethernet connection between the Telo and router. Also new is this HD3 handset and I don’t have enough experience/feedback to know if delays will be an issue. I’ll find out!

Not a great reply to your post but I may follow up as I gain more experience. My instinct is that once a call is established it’s all up to network performance and not much reliance on Ooma servers although they would be needed to store things like call logs, voicemails, phone books and so on. That’s all just my hunches though.

A shorter answer is yes, I’ve experienced delays in the past but less so now.

 

[pumpkineater]

That’s a good question and unfortunately I don’t have a good answer but I have gotten comments about occasional delays, especially in my earlier use of Ooma.

Part of that is due to my setup over time. When I bought my Telo and started my Ooma service I also bought (and still have) a little Bluetooth/wi-fi dongle that plugs into the Telo. I did that because of my then-floor plan. I wanted the cordless phone/Telo on one floor but the router was on a different floor so I couldn’t make the Telo->router connection with an Ethernet cable.

When I moved out of state I set it up the same way. Much later I realized I didn’t need the Telo at all because you can use Ooma’s mobile app to make/receive calls. So all that is done via the Internet.

Interestingly, a few people have told me that the call quality is much better when I use my wireless earbuds (Bose SoundSport) rather than iPhone/iPod. I haven’t been hearing comments about delays.

Now (finally) my configuration allows a direct wired Ethernet connection between the Telo and router. Also new is this HD3 handset and I don’t have enough experience/feedback to know if delays will be an issue. I’ll find out!

Not a great reply to your post but I may follow up as I gain more experience. My instinct is that once a call is established it’s all up to network performance and not much reliance on Ooma servers although they would be needed to store things like call logs, voicemails, phone books and so on. That’s all just my hunches though.

A shorter answer is yes, I’ve experienced delays in the past but less so now.

I see. I ended up replacing ooma with voip.ms. They have servers located all over the USA. I configured my software to use the closest one and have been very happy with the results. For anyone wanting to get their geek on with an old pc or by renting a server in the cloud, here is a site that tell you step by step how to make your very own PBX (like big companies used to have years ago)

Nerdvittles.com

 

[steelyman]

I see. I ended up replacing ooma with voip.ms. They have servers located all over the USA. I configured my software to use the closest one and have been very happy with the results. For anyone wanting to get their geek on with an old pc or by renting a server in the cloud, here is a site that tell you step by step how to make your very own PBX (like big companies used to have years ago)

Nerdvittles.com

That’s an interesting site. I can see how, if Ooma wasn’t doing the job for you, an alternate solution would be worth it.

 

[JoeWras]

I'm looking at porting the landline to GV, and of course this means I have to first port to a mobile carrier.

Interestingly, all the instructions (all about 9 months old) talk about going to some cheap T-MO plan. Guess what? It doesn't exist anymore. The OBI blog that everyone (including Google) points to has broken links to T-MO. All the big boys have pawned off their cheapest pre-paids to partner MVNOs.

So, should I go with an "Ultra Mobile Paygo" (the old cheap T-MO prepaid) and see if it ports? Or just bite the bullet and get a month or two of full featured cell on the parent carrier? The MVNOs should port, but who the hell knows? I know for a fact that Republic Wireless typically doesn't port to GV because of it's VOIP-like characteristics.

I don't want the port to GV to go sour. Just thinking of porting to a $40 prepaid T-MO, or perhaps another line on my AT&T for about $40 (I gotta check with them). It won't be any worse than the $35 of waste I have on my landline anyway.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Why would you not want to use the T-Mobile $3 pay as you go, I'm pretty sure the original plan was pay as you go as well that everyone was using.

 

[JoeWras]

Why would you not want to use the T-Mobile $3 pay as you go, I'm pretty sure the original plan was pay as you go as well that everyone was using.

Because there is no more T-Mobile pay as you go.

If you can find it, I'd love a link!

It appears that about a month ago they simplified their plans and they pawned "pay as you go" off to an MVNO (Ultra Mobile). Then again, that MVNO may still port over, might be worth a chance.

 

[frank]

just got ooma 2 months ago and it automatically signs you up for premier for a 2 month trial. I will go back to basic at that time. so far I am happy with ooma. cost is 5.82 a month for taxes and 911, good sound quality. we/ll see what happens when I go back to basic.

 

[pumpkineater]

If anyone already has a cell plan and just wants to keep their old land-line number, you can port the land-line number to a voip company like voip.ms and configure voip.ms to forward all the calls to your cell plan phone number. I think that costs me about $1/month extra to do.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Sorry Joe my bad, I saw Ultra Mobile on the T-Mobile website and did not notice I was directed to another website. I have ported my cell number many times over the ast ten years or so from AT&T to Sprint to Virgin Mobile to Ring Plus to Tello with no problems whatsoever.

 

[steelyman]

I'm looking at porting the landline to GV, and of course this means I have to first port to a mobile carrier.

Just out of curiosity: is the intent to keep your landline phone number active/alive but operating with a different transport layer (not sure if that’s the correct term)?