Ooma and Ooma handsets

[omni550]

I'm considering purchasing Ooma VOIP to replace my existing POTS (plain old telephone system).

I've reread the forum postings on Ooma and now have a few questions:

1) What has your user experience been since first purchasing Ooma?

2) Any issues with latency?

2) Would you buy it again, knowing what you now know?

2) Does anyone also have (& use) an Ooma HD2 handset along with their Ooma system? How would you rate the handset? (Costco has a current online-only offer that includes the Ooma and Ooma HD2 handset for $149. Reviews I've read on Amazon.com on the handset are mixed.)

omni

 

[pb4uski]

We have had Ooma for a couple years. I have an Ooma handset (not HD2) for my home office phone which rarely gets used now that I have retired. For our home phone, we have a cordless 5 handset Dect 6.0 system plugged into the Ooma Telo.

We have had occasional issues with delays but it is hard to say whether the issue is the DSL modem, Ooma or the cordless system. I suspect it is the DSL modem as if I reset that the delay seems to go away.

The most annoying thing to me about Ooma is that it erroneously misinterprets certain sounds as digital touch tones and you get these occasional touch tones ringing in your ear - particularly with female voices (DD in particular).

While I like the price, if I were doing it again I might go with the Verizon or AT&T units that use the cell system and you can plug a cordless system into. $20/month vs $4/month but if it had no delay and no touch tones blasting in my ear it might be worth it.

 

[Ready]

I looked at Ooma last year but ultimately went with an OBI110 box and GoogleTalk. The box is less than half the price of Ooma, and there are no monthly fees. I believe Ooma still charges some taxes that equate to around $4.00 per month. While that isn't a lot, I only pay $10.00/month for a Verizon land line with unlimited calling, so getting my second line completely free other than the $50.00 box seemed like a much better deal. I've had no problems using it, and Google Voice has some really nice features.

 

[steelhead]

We got Ooma about 4 months ago and are quite satisfied. We pay $3.73 month, all taxes. There is a slight delay so for us it's not exactly the same as a land line, but overall it's worked great for us. We have basic 768 dsl and are using our regular cordless handsets.

 

[calmloki]

Ooma in use since 3/2010 and very pleased with it - it moves from house to house without a bobble, has all sorts of handy features (forwarding, messaging for incoming calls if internet is down, call blocking, etc.). Sound quality is great. Very pleased user.

 

[jetpack]

I've never had POTs at my house, lived there 10 years. First was Vonage.. then Ooma. I paid like $99 for the box, then plugged in my wireless phone system into it. Call quality has gotten better. . The most annoying thing for me is the dial tone.

I probably would go w/ a google talk option if I was starting over.

 

[MBAustin]

We have had Ooma for a couple of years and love it. I do occasionally get the touch tone in my ear, particularly when talking with my mother.

We subscribe to the premium features. DH gets an excessive amount of pleasure from call-blocking individual telemarketers who ignore the fact we are on every do-not-call list there is.

 

[jimbo14]

+1
We've had Ooma for about a year. Voice quality is equal to Verizon landline & we really love the call logging and call blocking features. IMO, as long as you have a dependable ISP, Ooma should serve you well.

 

[wolf]

I'm considering purchasing Ooma VOIP to replace my existing POTS (plain old telephone system).

I've reread the forum postings on Ooma and now have a few questions:

1) What has your user experience been since first purchasing Ooma?

2) Any issues with latency?

2) Would you buy it again, knowing what you now know?

2) Does anyone also have (& use) an Ooma HD2 handset along with their Ooma system? How would you rate the handset? (Costco has a current online-only offer that includes the Ooma and Ooma HD2 handset for $149. Reviews I've read on Amazon.com on the handset are mixed.)

omni

First few weeks were bad. Phone rings, answer, could hear other person,
they could not hear us. Hang up.

Googled the problem. Seems common. Called OOma to complain. Seemed to work

Now, it's been several months. Works perfect. Bought my unit, online,
Costco. Came with the "wifi" adapter. (wireless).

My modem is in the bedroom, Main phone in Kitchen, so the wifi adapter is
good.

Once the bugs were fixed, (seems to fix itself), Ooma is very good. and
cheap. Less than $ 4 a month.

We still have our smart phones, and prepaid phones as backup...

 

[bssc]

Have the Ooma but not the handset. Just hooked it into old US Worst wiring and all the phones worked. Liked it so much got a second line.

Ported our number too, very painless.

 

[bizlady]

For those with Ooma- when you make a call, how does YOUR number show up on the caller ID of the recipient?

We are considering the switch, but want those we call to know we are calling instead of some unknown name or number that they may ignore...

 

[calmloki]

Our number, which we've had 30 or so years and ported to Ooma shows up as our number - no change.

 

[Chuckanut]

[-][/-]The only problem I had with my Ooma was due to a VERY slow internet connection. I had to put all my computers to sleep to enjoy a call without the voices being somewhat garbled or cutting out. Now that I have FIOS, there is no problem. The cost, after buying the hardware, is about $4.70 a month in various government taxes and fees. I hooked it up to my old wireless system so now have a phone on every level of my [-]palatial mansion[/-] modest apartment.

 

[davismills]

We use Magic Jack since I can't seem to get my wife to give up the "appearance" of a land-line. I think we paid a total of $125.00 for 5 years of service. I'd give them a C- for VOIP (voice over internet protocol) quality of service. I was paying $50.00 per month for the local line service prior. The Queen is happy, I'm happy. We also switched to Tracfone for cell service when I executed ER. My cell phone used to ring constantly when I was still employed. Now, I'm lucky if it rings between charges. I feel so blessed these days.

 

[Surfdaddy]

We've had our Ooma for about 3 years and pay under $4/mo taxes (total cost). No issues whatsoever and quality is great. Consumer Reports ranked Ooma #1 in voice quality for both VOIP and POTS providers.

 

[sengsational]

I have had Ooma for one year, about $4/mo with nationwide calling, whereas my landline was over $20 for local (and had to pay a bunch by the minute to call the next county over).

I've never had any "sound artifacts" like tones in my ear, or anything.

We used to be able to control our answering machine by calling our house, but the Ooma truncates the tones so short that the function no longer works. BTW, the Telo passes the tones and the hub does not pass them. I couldn't find a setting in the Telo for how long the tones lasted, but the customer support I got when searching was reasonable and pleasant (even though they had "the wrong answer").

Nobody's talking here about customer service, and I think they do a much better job than a lot of these kinds of companies.

You can change the dial tone song, if that bothers you. The reason, I think, is because the dial tone of the bell system is covered by copyright or whatever...some goofy lawyer crap.

Hard to tell how much of the delay in a telephone conversation is due to the Ooma. If I call a land line, I don't notice much of a delay. Cell to Ooma calls have an annoying delay, but that's true with about every cell call and the problem probably rests on the cell network. I'll second the motion that it depends on your internet latency. You can also decrease (yes, decrease) your router's buffer sizes. This tool will help you understand where your buffers are too big. ICSI Netalyzr The idea is you don't want to get a voice packet behind a huge file download or upload packet.

No info on handset. Single line. I don't buy any extra features. I unplugged AT&T at the network interface on the outside of the house, plugged-in the Ooma, and all the phones worked as if nothing happened. I ported my number (cost $40), so completely seamless to those who had our landline number.

 

[Vinster]

I looked at Ooma last year but ultimately went with an OBI110 box and GoogleTalk. The box is less than half the price of Ooma, and there are no monthly fees. I believe Ooma still charges some taxes that equate to around $4.00 per month. While that isn't a lot, I only pay $10.00/month for a Verizon land line with unlimited calling, so getting my second line completely free other than the $50.00 box seemed like a much better deal. I've had no problems using it, and Google Voice has some really nice features.

Google will be blocking access to Google Voice from third party vendors starting in May. You will have to switch to another VOIP provider and pay a monthly fee.

Obihai Technology, Inc.: Important Message About Google Voice and Your OBi Device

 

[ERD50]

... You can also decrease (yes, decrease) your router's buffer sizes. This tool will help you understand where your buffers are too big. ICSI Netalyzr The idea is you don't want to get a voice packet behind a huge file download or upload packet....

I ran it, and found this:

Network buffer measurements (?): Uplink 290 ms, Downlink 150 ms –
We estimate your uplink as having 290 ms of buffering. This level may serve well for maximizing speed while minimizing the impact of large transfers on other traffic.
We estimate your downlink as having 150 ms of buffering. This level may serve well for maximizing speed while minimizing the impact of large transfers on other traffic.

Sounds OK per their description, but it seems like a fair amount of delay for voice.

I didn't see anywhere I could set buffer sizes for my router though.

-ERD50

 

[sengsational]

I ran it, and found this:



Sounds OK per their description, but it seems like a fair amount of delay for voice.

I didn't see anywhere I could set buffer sizes for my router though.

-ERD50

Those numbers don't seem too bad to me. Sometimes there is a hidden maintenence menu on routers that you can only get to by typing something on the URL...you might look for that. Or, if you have the patience, experiment with a voice call during no activity, during a big file upload, ans during a big file download. That might expose whether any additional quality is available by reducing buffers.

 

[omni550]

I have a question. Several posters mentioned connecting their Ooma telo into their old POTS lines in their home. I'm wondering how this is accomplished?

If I understand correctly, the Ooma telo is connected to the internet via the modem/router. How and where do your [old copper house] telephone lines get involved with Oooma and the phone(s) you plan to use with Ooma?

omni

 

[nphx]

ooma home - great.

ooma office has hours and hours invested trying to resolve echo for external parties to a call - woudl not recommend at all.

 

[Zip605]

Touch tones coming through the phone are an artifact of using VOIP. It is not due to OOMA or any other VOIP phone hardware. It's commonly called "DTMF talk-off".

 

[ERD50]

Touch tones coming through the phone are an artifact of using VOIP. It is not due to OOMA or any other VOIP phone hardware. It's commonly called "DTMF talk-off".

We have had three different VOIP systems over the years (AT&T dropped theirs, we moved away from T-Mobile @Home family plan, now have PhonePower), and have only very rarely experienced this. Only time I recall is when DD switched her cell to Verizon, and called from a certain area, and that was only a beep every few minutes.

There must be a lot of variables in this. But DTMF tones were chosen to be non-harmonically related so as to make false triggering from a voice less common. Human voice will have most of its energy in harmonically related overtones.

-ERD50

 

[pb4uski]

I have a question. Several posters mentioned connecting their Ooma telo into their old POTS lines in their home. I'm wondering how this is accomplished?

If I understand correctly, the Ooma telo is connected to the internet via the modem/router. How and where do your [old copper house] telephone lines get involved with Oooma and the phone(s) you plan to use with Ooma?

omni

If you have DSL internet rather than cable internet then the DSL modem plugs into the wall (POTS outlet), the Ooma plugs into the DSL modem and your phone (and Wi-Fi router) plugs into the Ooma.

 

[omni550]

If you have DSL internet rather than cable internet then the DSL modem plugs into the wall (POTS outlet), the Ooma plugs into the DSL modem and your phone (and Wi-Fi router) plugs into the Ooma.

Thanks. Good to know.

And if you have cable internet (as I do), is there a way to utilize the extant POTS wiring? My cable internet router and modem are in a far-off bedroom. I'd like to place an Ooma telo unit in my kitchen and use my house phones where they are currently located (3 bedrooms and kitchen). What is required to have that type of set-up with Ooma?

omni