Ooma

[Chris]

I wanted to break this from the other thread. Jeff mentioned this (http://www.ooma.com/) in the Comcast Sucks thread. Anyone else use it? Based on Jeff's experience I'm giving serious thought to giving it a try.

[Patrolman]

One of my buddies has been using it about 3 years with great results. Another buddy has used it for 2 years. I finally broke down and got one. 6 months with no issues. If you decide to buy Chris and don't have a Costco card, let me know. Online is $150, in store is $130.

[Chris]

My existing phones will still work, correct? We have a couple of the old style plug-in's that we need to continue to use.

[Jim]

Your old style phones, I'd expect, would work but Jeff could give input.

Typically, for a home moving from outside telco (Centurylink) to VOIP, a recommended action is to disconnect the house's telephone connection to the old phone company. This can be accomplished at the demac / demarcation box which is typically outside / on the side of the house. The customer accessible portion of the box can be opened and the house connection disconnected. When disconnected from the telephone company you'd typically connect the VOIP box (your new telephone company / telephone supply) into a house telephone jack. All phones in the house should be live again.

If you have just one telephone (or a base unit for household cordless phones) that can connect directly into the VOIP box, the disconnect item mentioned above would not be needed. It's only desired if you have wired phones in other areas of the home that you'd want to use.

[Brian]

Chris, I have Vonage which is another VOIP alternative for over three years with no problems. It works essentially the same as Ooma in that ‘normal’ land lines will work with it.

On a side note, I called Vonage last night to disconnect and go to Ooma, but the guy on the other end was like “what ya say if I dropped your $25 a month to $9 a month? So I’m still with them for a bit longer now. :rolleyes: I tried Magic Jack before going to Vonage and my experience was a nightmare. But I’ve heard nothing but good stuff about Ooma.:thumb:

[Jackie]

I'm going to look into Ooma and Vonage. But I will need to pay a bit more because I will need the "small business" account. (My employer is in Florida and I'm on the phone way more than the regular at-home person). Anyone have a small business account with either one?

[Chris]

Thanks Jim & Brian! It sure lookslike it's worth a shot.

[Rick]

Typically, for a home moving from outside telco (Centurylink) to VOIP, a recommended action is to disconnect the house's telephone connection to the old phone company. This can be accomplished at the demac / demarcation box which is typically outside / on the side of the house. The customer accessible portion of the box can be opened and the house connection disconnected. When disconnected from the telephone company you'd typically connect the VOIP box (your new telephone company / telephone supply) into a house telephone jack. All phones in the house should be live again.This is correct

[Giljorak]

I've had Vonage for over 9 years now and love it. I use it in conjunction with VoIP filtering/recording software. The software allows me to setup a whitelist of numbers/people that I want to accept calls from. Everyone else goes straight to voice mail. Then Vonage emails me the voice mail with an attempt of an automated systems transcription of the voice mail. The recording aspect is nice for recording important calls. I have Comcast for my ISP and have not had an issue using Vonage.

[Chris]

I like the the sound of that Tim, 90% 0f the calls I get are junk. So much for the "no call" list. May I ask what the typical monthly cost is? It looks like Vonage is a bit higher monthly but Ooma costs more up front.

[Giljorak]

My Vonage bill after taxes and fees is $36.31 per month. The filtering/recording software cost was $89.00. To me it is worth every penny.
Here is a link to the software: http://www.penbaynetworks.com/

[Patrolman]

My parents had the Magic Jack for a year or so. I guess it worked OK, but wasn't great. After a year the monthly cost apparently went up on it. My parents proceeded to drop it.

The Ooma uses a regular home phone. We have it simply set up with 2 cordless phones right at the box. I haven't taken the time to disconnect the Qwest input line and plug this into the house lines. It is apparently pretty simple. My buddy did this so all the phone lines are on the Ooma box. He can then have multiple phones throughout the house just like you could with the phone company. All would be on one line though. I believe you can order a 2nd line for a minimal fee, but unsure how it works. Nobody I know has tried it.

[Giljorak]

Not sure if you are still looking into Vonage but I just got this in an email from them:
The price of your Vonage Residential Premium Unlimited calling plan will increase from $24.99 per month (plus taxes and fees) to $25.99 per month (plus taxes and fees), effective on your first billing statement after May 10.

[Andrew]

I guess I don't understand the need for landline....I just use my cellphone.

[Patrolman]

My Ooma landline is about $3.00 a month. I use a pre-paid cell phone which is $.10 a minute, but I keep it to a minimum and spend about $100 a year on the cell. Use the landline when I can since I am a desk jockey and don't spend too much time away. I am sure that will change, but for the near future it keeps the bills to a minimum.

[Patrolman]

The Ooma is on sale at Costco. May only be in store, unsure about site. It was $99 and I think through the weekend.