My new Ooma voip works great on one phone but not on whole house phone wiring. Ooma support no help.

[RetiredAt55.5]

Sorry, I guess I'm on a roll. This discussion is actually important. The world has changed around us, and we're going to have to face it: there will be no more house phones anymore. It has already swept the world, with just pockets of resistance from mostly the over 60 crowd. We will lose. Embrace the cell phone. We can ease ourselves into the grave with Ooma, but the kids won't have anything to do with it. It's over.

Over 60, guilty as charged.

It's easier for the kids, since they don't have to worry about emergency calls in the middle of the night from caregivers, hospitals, etc. concerning aged parents or other family members.

I guess we could leave our cellphones on 24x7, but I can't cope with the incessant nonstop notification beeps from DW's phone. Plus DW's phone charging practices are bad enough already, with the phone being turned off every night at bedtime. Can't imagine her never turning it off.

 

[JoeWras]

Over 60, guilty as charged.

It's easier for the kids, since they don't have to worry about emergency calls in the middle of the night from caregivers, hospitals, etc. concerning aged parents or other family members.

I guess we could leave our cellphones on 24x7, but I can't cope with the incessant nonstop notification beeps from DW's phone. Plus DW's phone charging practices are bad enough already, with the phone being turned off every night at bedtime. Can't imagine her never turning it off.

Yeah, I'm guilty too. We love the security of having the landline near the bed. We have two, one on each side.

But the kids think differently and they won't care.

BTW, since I have Google Voice, I pay "nothing" per year, but I actually pay about $2 a month for E911 service over the VOIP line. Worth it. I'm about 99% sure that part of those fees per month for Ooma include E911, so it is ultimately a decent deal.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Joe, I don't pay anything for Google Voice E911, is that an option? If so I don't really need it, it's part of my Ring Alarm subscription service and I have a keypad with emergency buttons by my bed and one downstairs in the kitchen. So I guess I'm paying for it but just in a different way.

 

[JoeWras]

To get the OBI to call 911, I had to contract with a VOIP company that does 911, because Google won't. I had to hook up the OBI to direct calls to this company, which is "anveo".

It was arcane and technical. It is also not configurable anymore since OBI died.

So, I'm living with this unconfigurable house of cards and when it dies, either switch to Ooma or throw away the landline all together.

 

[cathy63]

So, I'm living with this unconfigurable house of cards and when it dies, either switch to Ooma or throw away the landline all together.

At least you don't lose the number since Google Voice has it. I finally just forwarded ours to my cell phone.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Joe, I don't pay anything for Google Voice E911, is that an option? If so I don't really need it, it's part of my Ring Alarm subscription service and I have a keypad with emergency buttons by my bed and one downstairs in the kitchen. So I guess I'm paying for it but just in a different way.

I forgot about the E911 option since I never took it and you don't really need it. I have 2 cellphone numbers on different carriers and the E911 service is part of everyone's cell service nowadays. When setting up cell service you have to enter your E911 address for emergencies and I never turn off my cellphone so assuming no major outage I should be good.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

At least you don't lose the number since Google Voice has it. I finally just forwarded ours to my cell phone.

I also have the Google Voice app on my cellphone so my calls ring there as well as all the extensions at home. Basically I can never hide from my family, they can always get a hold of me. Occasionally I may be outside with the dogs and no phone or don't pick up for another reason then they get worried when I don't answer or call them right back.

 

[fognostic]

I'm about 99% sure that part of those fees per month for Ooma include E911, so it is ultimately a decent deal.

I'm 100% sure. I just checked. Ooma Basic includes E911.

When I logged into our account, the web-site had a pop-up reminder to confirm our street address for E911 had not changed. Important to keep that up to date after you move or the emergency services go to the old address saved on your account.

I also was reminded Basic includes an option to add cell phone numbers to receive texts providing an alert whenever a 911 call is made from your Ooma phone line. Our cell phone numbers were already loaded in there.