Alternatives to Ooma

[ziggy29]

For the record, the monthly taxes and fees for Ooma's "free" service in my zipcode are $7.71. YMMV. Alternatively, one can easily add 911 service to an Obi/GV set-up for as little as $1.50/mo with Callcentric or $2 with Anveo. Or just use your cell for 911 if/when needed and keep the landline totally free, which is what we do.

For me, it comes to $5.18 a month. Sounds like your zip code is overtaxed. [emoji4]

Cell phones can get lost or misplaced or left in the car or be in another room. Or the battery can run out. Or maybe there was a local storm or earthquake or some such that knocked out cell service but Internet was still up (it has happened). For me, paying a small fee for redundant access to 911 is cheap insurance. And Google makes a lot of money from data mining it’s users. I do not know how much I trust them to not misuse anything.

The bottom line is, I know a lot of us are tightwads (and proud of it) whenever we can be, but honestly, the "why pay $5-7 a month when you can pay only $2" debate is really taking that to a logical extreme.

 

[Cobra9777]

For me, it comes to $5.18 a month. Sounds like your zip code is overtaxed. ...

Or maybe it's a lot of junk fees added by Ooma.

...Cell phones can get lost or misplaced or left in the car or be in another room. Or the battery can run out. Or maybe there was a local storm or earthquake or some such that knocked out cell service but Internet was still up (it has happened). For me, paying a small fee for redundant access to 911 is cheap insurance...

Landline handsets can get lost or misplaced or be in another room. Or the power can go out. Or maybe there was a local storm or earthquake or some such that knocked out internet service but cell service was still up.

The reality is, most households in the US no longer have landline phone service at all. So they rely on cellular 911 service. Ours is the same.

...The bottom line is, I know a lot of us are tightwads (and proud of it) whenever we can be, but honestly, the "why pay $5-7 a month when you can pay only $2" debate is really taking that to a logical extreme.

It's more than $2 vs $5-7 because you have to subscribe to Ooma Premier to get many of the features included with free GV, which I listed earlier (and you omitted in the quote). A more apples-to-apples comparison is $2 vs $16-18/mo, which equates to about $200/yr.

On top of that, other important parts of the value equation include upfront hardware costs, porting costs, international calling costs, usability with other VoIP providers, automatic spam/robo blocking, etc... all of which favor the Obi/GV solution.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

+1 on Google Voice with the OBI, it just works like it's supposed to and never a problem.

I've been using for many year and saved a ton of money

 

[frank]

I ported my number from mediacom to centurylink and had to keep the old one active until it was completed. they said it takes 3-4 weeks but mine was ported in a week.

for you guys with the obi over google do you have to leave your computer running all the time to maintain the calling? just curious. cost for ooma is 5.82 a mo. I am on the free trial of ooma premier, will have to see what features I loose when it goes back to just basic. all I really want is caller id and my phone no I have had forever.

 

[easysurfer]

I ported my number from mediacom to centurylink and had to keep the old one active until it was completed. they said it takes 3-4 weeks but mine was ported in a week.

for you guys with the obi over google do you have to leave your computer running all the time to maintain the calling? just curious. cost for ooma is 5.82 a mo. I am on the free trial of ooma premier, will have to see what features I loose when it goes back to just basic. all I really want is caller id and my phone no I have had forever.

Is call blocking and caller name important to you? For me, those features of Premier are worth the extra $10/month. Otherwise, I'd still be hounded by telemarketers and robocalls. Even with Premier and call blocking based on lists (I allow non-listed callers to go straight to leaving a message) telemarketing calls can slip through once in a while, but not often.

With Premier + taxes, I pay what comes out to about $17/month. Not as cost effective as obi plus GV, but I think more plug and play. No complaints as I'm still enjoying my savings over ATT which was about $75/month.

 

[Carpediem]

I ported my number from mediacom to centurylink and had to keep the old one active until it was completed. they said it takes 3-4 weeks but mine was ported in a week.

Thanks again, frank, for the info.

 

[Cobra9777]

...for you guys with the obi over google do you have to leave your computer running all the time to maintain the calling?...

No. The Obi device connects to your router and stays connected to Google Voice as long as you have power and internet service. Your computers are not involved.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Frank the computer does not have to be turned on, the OBI plugs into your router.