Moving to Ooma

[JoeWras]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cathy63 Same setup here. Obi got bought by Polycom (maker of the ubiquitous triangular conference room speaker phone), so they're probably more financially stable now than they were before. Polycom doesn't sell their products on Amazon directly, so the $200 ones are probably resellers engaging in some kind of arbitrage, but you can buy the current Obi 300 series from NewEgg, CDW, etc.

For sure, the retailers are playing an arbitrage game. You can even see daily price changes. I'm going to assume COVID has caused the shortage, but it is still nerve wracking to see what's gone on here. The OBI pages specifically point to Amazon as the purchase source, so there's that. The OBI 300 on Newegg specifically says "Not compatible with Google Voice," so be careful.

This is still a niche market, so there's danger Polycom may jettison it "in these trying times." For all we know, the actual wholesale price from Polycom may have been raised significantly as a test of the market.

In any case, the days of $50 OBI200 are apparently gone.

Quote:

Originally Posted by OldShooter I think you could port that number to Google Voice and have it forwarded to whatever number you like. I'm not real crazy about Google products like this because they have a habit of canceling them from time to time but GV has been around for a few years.

While OBI support has gotten sketchier, Alphabet showed signs of life for GV in the last few years. They updated the interface to be more in line with the current Google UI. I don't like the new UI, but at least we know Google is recognizing the product is still alive... for now.

[WestUniversity]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dtail Exactly - long gone with that thing.

Yup. Have not had one for 8 or 9 years. Don’t miss it at all...

[Time2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dalmore We have had OOMA for several years also. I'd like to get rid of it, but it is the only number that my MIL will call, so we have to keep it for now.

Hmm, seems like a solution rather than a problem!


On another topic, I have a buddy that has Ooma, and it is a problem because of the delay.
We are always talking over each other.
I don't know if this has got any better, because he now uses his cellphone to call me.

[Rocket Man]

We have had Ooma for several years. Like another poster said, we give that number out to keep the junk calls off the cell phones. We had a delay in the calls and trouble with dropped calls, but that was due to poor dsl internet service. We upgraded to cable internet which is much better and no longer have those problems.

[pb4uski]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Time2 .... On another topic, I have a buddy that has Ooma, and it is a problem because of the delay. We are always talking over each other. I don't know if this has got any better, because he now uses his cellphone to call me.

We had a similar problem for a while and also had a problem with internet reliability... internet speed was good but it would cut out frequently.... the DSL company found that the wiring in a box on the street was dodgy... they fixed that wiring and the delay problem was gone.

[easysurfer]

I moved to Ooma about 2 years ago. Quite happy with the move.

IMO, the premium service with call blocking worth the price.

[OldShooter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Time2 ... On another topic, I have a buddy that has Ooma, and it is a problem because of the delay. We are always talking over each other. I don't know if this has got any better, because he now uses his cellphone to call me.

That's almost certainly a problem with your internet connections, not with Ooma.

[njhowie]

When submitting the home number port request, Ooma advised that it could take 3 to 4 weeks. I received notification overnight that it is happening tomorrow - only 3 to 4 days! Info in my CenturyLink online account confirms this.

Maybe CenturyLink is as excited to be getting rid of us as we are of them.

[Dash man]

Quote:

Originally Posted by njhowie When submitting the home number port request, Ooma advised that it could take 3 to 4 weeks. I received notification overnight that it is happening tomorrow - only 3 to 4 days! Info in my CenturyLink online account confirms this. Maybe CenturyLink is as excited to be getting rid of us as we are of them.

I just submitted the port request last night. We’ll see how long Comcast takes. Hopefully not long.

[Cobra9777]

Like others here, we've been happily using Obi+GV since 2013. It's totally free but no 911 service. 911 can be added for as little as $1.50/mo. GV has great spam/robo filters. Other features are similar to Ooma Premier. International calls are 1-2 cents/min. The Obi hardware is cheap and not tied to any one VoIP provider.

We'll keep it until the Obi-200 dies or is no longer supported. At that point, we'll just abandon our landline handsets. They're getting old anyway and some don't hold a charge for very long. I refuse to buy new batteries for them as that's just prolonging the inevitable. I'd also like to get rid of all the phone wiring, boxes, and outlets all over the house. I've already removed all the coax and replaced with cat5.

The home number itself is GV obviously, so we'll keep it and continue using it with PCs, tablets, and older spare Android devices. I suppose we could scatter them around the house same as the landline handsets today. Or maybe not.

When we first got Obi+GV in 2013, we didn't have cell reception at our house. We now have "OK" reception. But we also have WiFi calling so it doesn't really matter. Plus lots of other ways to communicate. So the landline handsets are becoming increasingly obsolete.

Regarding new Obi hardware, it looks like the Obi-300 is readily available for $73 at several online retailers. The 200 seems to be dead, as others have posted. I also searched "Polycom Obi" on Amazon and it looks like there are several office-style desktop phones with Obi built-in. So maybe that's their business model going forward, as opposed to standalone VoIP adapters. Selling landline hardware in 2020 has to be a tough business.

[5Miler]

We've had the OOMA Premier plan for over six years now and I'm ready to pull the plug on it. Most calls come in on our cell phones these days and the few that don't could easily be redirected to them. With the avalanche of political, telemarketing, scam and other robo callers, it rings too many times a day despite efforts to block garbage calls. It was great when we first converted to OOMA but has lost it's luster as caller ID spoofing has proliferated.

Last time I went through my voicemails at home we had 43 and all were garbage. I'm not concerned that my Windows license has expired, or the warranty on my 19 year old truck has suddenly been discovered to be expiring or that the FBI or IRS has a warrant out for me. I'll take my chances. I have no more old clothes to donate to charity as I'm still wearing them and I don't love any political candidate enough to donate my life savings to them.

[NYEXPAT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dalmore We have had OOMA for several years also. I'd like to get rid of it, but it is the only number that my MIL will call, so we have to keep it for now.

I can't be the only one, thinking what I am thinking? (rhymes with "all the more treason.¨)

[OldShooter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 5Miler ... avalanche of political, telemarketing, scam and other robo callers, it rings too many times a day despite efforts to block garbage calls. It was great when we first converted to OOMA but has lost it's luster as caller ID spoofing has proliferated. ... Last time I went through my voicemails at home we had 43 and all were garbage. ...

Interesting. Our Ooma experience is quite different, though I have no idea really whether Ooma gets any credit for it. We get at most three or four junk calls a day. If we don't recognize the caller id we just ignore them. Most roll to VM, where the message is 3 seconds of silence. We've been pretty consistent with blocking, though I think the number spoofing makes that a marginal tactic. But, regardless, our Ooma number (formerly our wireline number) is not a hassle at all.

[5Miler]

Quote:

Originally Posted by OldShooter Interesting. Our Ooma experience is quite different, though I have no idea really whether Ooma gets any credit for it. We get at most three or four junk calls a day. If we don't recognize the caller id we just ignore them. Most roll to VM, where the message is 3 seconds of silence. We've been pretty consistent with blocking, though I think the number spoofing makes that a marginal tactic. But, regardless, our Ooma number (formerly our wireline number) is not a hassle at all.

No, our experiences seem to be similar but our level of tolerance for it is somewhat different. I don't find three or four junk calls a day acceptable and they sometimes come as late as 8:30 PM which I do find irritating. I'm thinking silence is the preferred option. So far in the last four hours I've had three calls come in, all junk, which I didn't answer, but several made me get up and look to make sure it wasn't one I should answer. I just accept the fact I must be crankier about this than most people but I can live with that.

[njhowie]

Phone port completed yesterday morning, been up and running wonderfully since...even starting to get scam calls which are getting through the blocking, so I need to start building a new block list. We previously had a call blocker on the landline with a block list which grew over time.

Probably what I like most is that when I click on the support tab, I am chatting with someone within 30 seconds, and it is a knowledgeable person who can resolve issues and give me real information. So many times with the phone company when chatting you wait in a queue for 15 or 20 minutes, reach someone, and then they're providing general info unable to take care of anything. Call in and getting through to a live person takes 30 minutes or longer.

Anyhow, we have no cellphone signal in our house. If we go outside halfway down the driveway and stand on top of one of the light pedestals we can get two bars. Wifi calling also doesn't work on our cellphones. Now with the Ooma app on the cellphones, they work fine if we want to use them. Personally, I prefer our plain old Panasonic handsets - and that's why we moved to Ooma - seamless transition from landline service plus much more.

Very happy.

[Midpack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShokWaveRider What's a Land Line?

+2. I can't remember when we dropped ours but it was long ago.

[BeachOrCity]

I had kept our 50 dollar land line because our vintage 1980s alarm needed it. Finally went simplisafe and ooma a few months ago

Between the two it’s like 800 bucks a year cheaper. For something better.

Did the same with Comcast’s ridiculous bundle this year and went yttv. Most of the savings is from the crazy per tv charges since we like having a tv in kitchen office spare bedroom etc. between our first and 2nd homes we are saving several thousand annually by going straight internet and yttv.

Gotta watch all these subscription services. They can be a rip!

[OldShooter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 5Miler ... our level of tolerance for it is somewhat different. ...

Well, you can also create a permitted caller list and route other callers to voice mail, play a call blocked message, play a number disconnected message, or just let it ring continuosly. Inevitably, blocking callers one by one is a whac-a-mole game because numbers are easily spoofed. We do it, but I have no idea how much it actually helps.

[copyright1997reloaded]

I was one of the early adopters of OOMA, and owned (own) one of the original devices which had absolutely no per month charge (not even taxes).

After a while, I found myself using the OOMA phone less and less (and my cell phone more and more). As time went on, all my friends and family would contact me on the cell and the only calls I was getting on Ooma was spam. Eventually, I stopped using the OOMA phone long enough that it lapsed (due to the lack of making even one call on it in a six month period).

So put me in the category of "What's a land line" (even a virtual one like Ooma).

ETA: On the cell phone front I also utilize google voice to have a second number which gets forwarded to my cell.

[Dash man]

Ooma has completed porting over my number. Only took a few days. Voice quality is excellent! We’re happy!