Moving to Ooma

[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]

... 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]

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]

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]

... 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]

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]

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]

... 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!

 

[pb4uski]

Used Ooma since May 2011. We originally got Ooma because we had moved 25 miles and wanted to keep the home phone number that we had had for 25 years and Ooma was the only way to do that. the savings were great too... ~$5/month for taxes and fees and ~$130 annually for Premier.

Ooma says that we have saved $4,371 over the years.

Decided this year to not renew Premier and the added features were not worth the added cost IMO. Don't miss Premier at all other than DW asking why we no longer get an email when someone leaves us a voicemail.

 

[Montecfo]

Interesting thread.

So folks that have totally ditched landline, do you worry about phone access 1. In situations where you do not have you phone with you, such as a medical emergency or 2. In case of weather or other emergency where cell phone not working?

I have not ditched LL primarily for these reasons but realized there could be a better solution.

 

[cathy63]

Interesting thread.

So folks that have totally ditched landline, do you worry about phone access 1. In situations where you do not have you phone with you, such as a medical emergency or 2. In case of weather or other emergency where cell phone not working?

I have not ditched LL primarily for these reasons but realized there could be a better solution.

1. What type of medical emergency could there be where I'd have access to a landline but not my cell phone? In order to use the landline, I'd have to be in my home and surely my cell phone is right there in the same building and at least as close at hand as the landline phone.

2. What kind of weather or other emergency would take down cell towers but not telephone poles? Maybe if you live in an area where landline phone cables are underground there could be a difference, but here everything is above ground anyway.

 

[Montecfo]

1. What type of medical emergency could there be where I'd have access to a landline but not my cell phone? In order to use the landline, I'd have to be in my home and surely my cell phone is right there in the same building and at least as close at hand as the landline phone.

You have a heart attack in your basement. Cell phone is upstairs.

2. What kind of weather or other emergency would take down cell towers but not telephone poles? Maybe if you live in an area where landline phone cables are underground there could be a difference, but here everything is above ground anyway.

The networks are different. Weather can easily take down one and not the other. Examplesower outage takes down internet phone but not pots landline. Tornado takes out cell tower but not internet phone or pots line.

Our pots phone lines are underground here.

 

[cathy63]

You have a heart attack in your basement. Cell phone is upstairs.



The networks are different. Weather can easily take down one and not the other. Examplesower outage takes down internet phone but not pots landline. Tornado takes out cell tower but not internet phone or pots line.

Our pots phone lines are underground here.

Ah well, I guess it depends on your habits and your environment. No basements here, and I don't leave my cell phone on a different floor than my person. We also don't have hurricanes, tornadoes or wildfires and the last power outage was the great Southwest blackout of 2011.

 

[geeky_grrl]

You have a heart attack in your basement. Cell phone is upstairs.

Maybe a generational difference, but I tend to have my cell phone in my pocket so it is more likely to be in reach than a landline.

The networks are different. Weather can easily take down one and not the other. Examplesower outage takes down internet phone but not pots landline. Tornado takes out cell tower but not internet phone or pots line.

Our pots phone lines are underground here.

My cell phone can make calls on either wifi or cellular so an internet phone doesn't add any redundancy. Our POTS line comes in from the same pole above ground as our cable and power so there wouldn't be any redundancy for the local run. It could break somewhere further up but I've been generally satisfied with redundancy between my cable internet and cell phone.

Landlines do have better 911 location accuracy than cell phones in general, but personally I haven't considered the chances of me needing that to be high enough to pay for a landline. I might weight that differently if I had small kids or elderly people in my household.

 

[Montecfo]

Maybe a generational difference, but I tend to have my cell phone in my pocket so it is more likely to be in reach than a landline.

I do also. DW not so much.

My cell phone can make calls on either wifi or cellular so an internet phone doesn't add any redundancy. Our POTS line comes in from the same pole above ground as our cable and power so there wouldn't be any redundancy for the local run. It could break somewhere further up but I've been generally satisfied with redundancy between my cable internet and cell phone.

Yes. It is not the point of presence in your home that would be the large issue.

I think you make a good point on cable internet versus cell network.

 

[Dash man]

A day doesn’t go by where DW isn’t looking for her iPhone. She loses it all the time, or forgets to charge it. ADHD is not her friend. We will always have a house line, which we just switched to Ooma.

 

[pb4uski]

You have a heart attack in your basement. Cell phone is upstairs.



The networks are different. Weather can easily take down one and not the other. Examplesower outage takes down internet phone but not pots landline. Tornado takes out cell tower but not internet phone or pots line.

Our pots phone lines are underground here.

You have a heart attack in your basement. Cell phone is upstairs. Land line is upstairs. No difference.

 

[Montecfo]

You have a heart attack in your basement. Cell phone is upstairs. Land line is upstairs. No difference.

LOL.seriously?

We have landline extensions on each floor. You know, convenience and all that.