Ooma is oo so Sweet! – The Review
What is it?
Ooma is simply a device that connects to your broadband connection and your phone line that gives you back the ownership of your dial tone. So what does that mean? It means you can call up your local phone company and say hey I would like you to cut off all my services with the exception of basic line service and caller id. Not to worry I’ll explain the details below.How does it work?
Ooma basically routes your calls over the internet similar to other services, but it’s so much different. ooma is a one time cost for starters. That’s right you pay one fee and that’s all you ever pay. There are no monthly fees like other VOIP services. Also as an added feature you can keep your phone line to have real 911 service and a backup phone line in the event of a power outage. Here’s a list of what you get with ooma:
• Instant Second Line™ feature – gives every user access to a second line in their
home, with no installation or new phones!
• Broadband Answering Machine™ feature– combines the power of voice mail, with
the ease-of-use of your trusty answering machine. ( believe there is a small charge for this service)
• Unique ooma dial tone – the sound of it means your phone calls are free – ooma
provides unlimited calling in the US, with no monthly fees – for life.
• ooma lounge – customers can be part of the ooma experience online
The ooma website is pretty straight forward and takes about 10 to 15 minutes to order. Once it arrives it will take about15 to 20 minutes to get setup and start making calls. The folks at ooma can also take care of your phone service setup and getting rid of the services ooma replaces. If they can’t because you have a special plan or service plans like I had that are no longer offered you’ll receive an email requesting you contact your local phone company and cancel the services you don’t need. Once you get the other services you don’t need canceled they will get you provisioned (setup) to enjoy all the services ooma offers.
That’s pretty much it and you are making calls and taking names. Unlimited calls to anywhere in the US how cool is that! All with no monthly fees or additional charges.
Should I buy it?
Well to put it bluntly yes! Not only should you buy it you should tell everyone you know to buy it. It’s going to take you some time to break even after the initial investment of $399, but in my opinion it’s worth it. Most people I know pay about $39 to $45 bucks a month for phone service. If you add that up it’s going to take a bit to make up the difference, but the advantage you get will be not paying a monthly bill for long distance and other premium services that ooma offers and plans to offer in the near future.
ooma offers the consumer the opportunity to break away from the traditional phone service and treat it more like a product. A total shift in thinking and the way we are use to things and that’s the great thing about this company and the ooma device. It’s certainly “BJ Approved” for use by humans!
November 20th, 2007 at 12:09 pm
Interesting, but nothing about use in Canada. Technologically it should be possible, but by regulation….(different regulatory bodies)?
November 20th, 2007 at 12:28 pm
You are correct on this one. They are adding Canada next year and from what I understand it should be in the first quarter of the year.
November 21st, 2007 at 8:29 am
Very interesting. Makes no mention of non broadband ( dial-up ) or light broadband versions. You still have to pay for 2 phone lines if you want 9-11 and an accessable line during a power failure.
November 21st, 2007 at 2:10 pm
Yeah Ooma doesn’t work with dial-up. Now depending on what you mean by light broadband ooma should work fine with any true high speed (128k and Up)connection. Since you don’t get a new phone number when you sign up for ooma unless you are going for broadband only ooma then you keep the original phone number and 911 service.
Remember the ooma is more device than service so there are no monthly fees.
January 12th, 2008 at 11:56 am
One of the interesting things about ooma is the quality of the call. I haven’t had ooma very long, but it is heads and shoulders above Skype. I love Skype, especially for overseas calls, but to use it for day-to-day long distance business calls is not acceptable. With ooma, people I call hear no buzzes, no breaks and have no idea I’m not calling on a traditional landline. I don’t know how the engineers at ooma did it, but it’s pretty hot stuff.