Ooma

[retire-early]

We were just in Target today, and I saw a Ooma Telo on clearance.
Purchased it just in case to do researach at home.

It looks like with the free plan we can make free domestic calls for $5.89/month. These are the taxes.
And we have to pay regardless of whether we make a call or not.

Does anyone have any experience with this service?

 

[calmloki]

Only been using Ooma since 1-2010, but like it so far. Take the box with us from Oregon to SoCal and our number remains the same and service is painless.

 

[HenryD]

I had a Skype phone in the mid-2000s (not great), then switched to Ooma for a few years after picking up a used Telo on craigslist. It worked essentially flawlessly. But I decided I really had no need for a landline once mobile phone reliability had become pretty much perfect in our area.

The hardest part about Ooma was quitting it when I was done. I don't remember the details, but I was struck at how hard it was to get them to stop billing me for the taxes on a line I hadn't used in months. I might have even switched the billing to a card I knew I was going to cancel. It was weird.

 

[Freedom56]

We have been using Ooma for about 6 years now. We had ATT VOIP since 2004 and they dropped the service and so we decided to use Ooma. In our primary home, we use Ooma Premiere service at $10 per month plus the taxes. It is well worth it for the call blocking features, second line, unlimited calling within North America. For our condo in Florida, we just use the basic Ooma service with one number for $5.54 per month. It works fine for basic phone service with unlimited calling within the U.S.

 

[njhowie]

Been running with it for the past month. Dropped CenturyLink. Very happy.

 

[Ducati52]

We've used Ooma for our landline for at least a decade. It's the same phone number that we've had since around 2000. We don't even have a phone hooked up to it, just the included Ooma answering machine (remember those?). It functions as our "junk call" phone line; since every company you do business with - online or otherwise - wants a phone number, this is the one we give them. That keeps our cell numbers out of "circulation," and we get very few spam calls on them. Well worth the $5 or $6 a month it costs!

 

[mn54]

we have had ooma for over 10 years. the one nice thing that hasn't been mentioned is the cheap international rates. to call canada, it is about 1 cent per minute. i believe other countries are also very reasonable. it is nice to be able to give out a number other than your cell number.

 

[retire-early]

How does billing work?

Do you get a monthly bill which you can pay with a credit card?

 

[wanaberetiree]

Why do you need paying Ooma if you can use Internet gmail/voice and pay nothing or if you wish a real phones in the home then use a box from https://www.obitalk.com/ (one time buy for 30-40$ on Amazon) with no monthly charges ??

 

[njhowie]

How does billing work?

Do you get a monthly bill which you can pay with a credit card?

All online, you don't "get" any bills. You set up your account with credit card, they bill it $5.89 monthly. You get an additional line on your Billing History screen each month.

 

[Sunset]

Why do you need paying Ooma if you can use Internet gmail/voice and pay nothing or if you wish a real phones in the home then use a box from https://www.obitalk.com/ (one time buy for 30-40$ on Amazon) with no monthly charges ??

I use the obihai device with a google number.
It's fantastic, as is free phoning in USA and to Mexico and Canada.
It's a bit hard to set up, not simply plug into the internet, but once set up it works great.

Had it not worked for me I would have gone with the Ooma.

 

[braumeister]

Also be aware that the monthly amount can vary slightly from time to time as your local taxes change. For example, five years ago I was paying $3.84 a month, and it has gradually increased to the current $5.48. Still a heck of a good deal, and the advantages I get from also paying for the Ooma Premier service (about $137 including taxes per year) are also very much worthwhile for me.

 

[wanaberetiree]

I use the obihai device with a google number.
It's fantastic, as is free phoning in USA and to Mexico and Canada.
It's a bit hard to set up, not simply plug into the internet, but once set up it works great.

Had it not worked for me I would have gone with the Ooma.

You know what I did?
Disconnected the obihai box and use the phone online only.
Great !

 

[euro]

How does billing work?

Do you get a monthly bill which you can pay with a credit card?

Yes.

 

[Sunset]

You know what I did?
Disconnected the obihai box and use the phone online only.
Great !

Sorry I don't follow you.

I've used skype which is like a phone online.
I find my cell phone just bugs me, when using as a phone so I only use it for phoning when no other choice.

I like the obihai for my free phoning, and I have 4 phones run off it wirelessly.

 

[Hopeful]

I also have used an obi200 device with google voice for several years. At the time I ported my landline number to a wireless sim, then ported to google voice, thus retaining my old landline number. I subscribe to callcentric for $1.50 month to keep 911 service and caller ID. Have been happy, and allows me to forward the home phone to my cell when out of town.

 

[teetee]

I am another decade long ooma user. Can't comment on billing since I signed up for the ooma core before tell) which has no tax charges. The same number I have has been free for over 10yrs.

Reason for keeping it is well it is free and surprisingly not that many telemarketing / scam calls for such a long usage. Do Not Call list may have helped but I think Ooma does some sort of filtering on their end for non premium users too.

 

[mountainsoft]

We were just in Target today, and I saw a Ooma Telo on clearance. Purchased it just in case to do research at home.
It looks like with the free plan we can make free domestic calls for $5.89/month. These are the taxes.
And we have to pay regardless of whether we make a call or not.
Does anyone have any experience with this service?

First, remember you will need a broadband internet connection to use Ooma. That's pretty much a given these days, but there are still plenty of people without high speed internet.

I switched my mom to Ooma Telo about a year ago. She lives in assisted living and phone service is not included. Last year they added free WiFi, so I was able to connect the Ooma Telo to their WiFi service. She now pays about $6 per month compared to the $110 she was paying for phone and internet service.

She rarely uses her phone, but so far the Ooma service has worked quite well.

 

[sengsational]

We have been using Ooma for many years ... transferred our land line number to it for continuity with the big extended family.

But that also lets the junk callers follow.

Solved that problem with a Sentry 2 box, which solves that problem with a one-time cost (as opposed to premier, which is ongoing).

 

[retire-early]

My mom has decided to return the Ooma.
It was on clearance at Target for $24, but since she is already paying for a landline, she doesn't want to spend another ~$6 a month in taxes for the Ooma. She doesn't make that many domestic long distance calls to justify the money.

 

[DallasGuy]

I love my Ooma service. I have had it for about 8 years. The price has gone up over the years because of taxes from $4.30 to $7.60. Occasionally I get a disconnection or poor connection but it is pretty rare. I feel as though it's a very good service for the price. Of course, it won't work if your electricity goes out but most people also have a cell phone to use if that happens. You can listen to any of your voice messages from the Ooma website which is nice if you're on vacation.

 

[sengsational]

My mom has decided to return the Ooma.
It was on clearance at Target for $24, but since she is already paying for a landline, she doesn't want to spend another ~$6 a month in taxes for the Ooma. She doesn't make that many domestic long distance calls to justify the money.

Isn't the idea to replace the landline? You know you can transfer the landline number to the Ooma, and you know you can connect the Ooma to the house phone wiring too, which means everything will work like before, but no landline bill.

 

[retire-early]

Isn't the idea to replace the landline? You know you can transfer the landline number to the Ooma, and you know you can connect the Ooma to the house phone wiring too, which means everything will work like before, but no landline bill.

Yes I know.
I suppose she is so used to Verizon landline.
Although the landline isn't a true old-fashion copper landline anyway.
January 2019, Verizon came and switched it over to fiber.
Only the telephone is with Verizon.

The internet and cable is with Comcast.

I am mainly concerned with 911.
I don't know how reliable it will be with the Ooma.

 

[OldShooter]

Isn't the idea to replace the landline? You know you can transfer the landline number to the Ooma, and you know you can connect the Ooma to the house phone wiring too, which means everything will work like before, but no landline bill.

This is exactly what we did a couple of years ago. In the process I also bought a new Panasonic wireless phone set. They are dirt cheap as the "landline" market shrinks. It works fine with the Ooma box including caller ID, no need to buy the fancy Ooma phone(s). Happy customers here. We pay for the $10+/- premium package which IIRC gets us better spam handling and maybe better 911? Haven't looked lately.

 

[Happyras]

The only reason we have stuck with Vonage is the international travel advantage. They have an ap that allows you to send and receive calls from your vonage line when traveling. We use it with wifi on cruise ships to have a free phone, and with T-mobile the international data is free when we are off ship etc. Does Ooma have anything to replace this feature? We pay $19/mo for Vonage all in with tax and 911 fees. Mex and Canada are free, other countries are pennies per call. Without being able to travel much, I am tempted to cancel Vonage. Other than using it for a fax line at home, the travel ap was the big deal.

You can use T-mobile on wifi calling direct, but they charge you $0.50/min. The Vonage ap does not.