Questions about Ooma

[volcs0]

I've been toying with getting an Ooma unit to replace my Vonage service (I pay for Vonage yearly - $300 or so w/ tax).

All the reading and reviews I've seen of Ooma look great. I have no complaints about Vonage service - it has been fine for 5 years now. But if I can really pay $200 or so and have no other charges, I'd be very interested.

A few questions - some might be easily googlable, but I thought I would get the herd opinion here.

1. How reliable / easy is it to make calls? With Vonage, I really never have to think about it - I pick up the phone and get a dial tone. With Ooma, I know there is a slight pause and some chimes, but is that really it?

2. How hard is it to cancel Vonage?

3. How hard is it to port my Vonage number over to Ooma. More importantly, should I really port it to Ooma? We're going to start handing out our Google Voice numbers more and more, but I'm wondering how difficult it is to move my number around ($40 for Ooma without premier service) and what happens if Ooma goes out of business?

4. I guess your service is tied to your unit (like TiVo). So what happens if the Ooma unit breaks, as all things eventually do...

5. Can you get call ring forwarding with the Ooma free service? I see that the Simulring is part of the premier service. But what about the feature (that I like from Vonage) where the call goes over to a cell phone after a certain number of rings (or when the internet connection is down, more importantly).

6. Is 911 service as easy to set up as w/ Vonage? Granted, we haven't needed 911, but Vonage has led to believe that we have set it up correctly...

Those are my main queries right now. I might just end up staying w. Vonage, but I want to see if this is a realistic option for us.

[guitarist]

This is the only Ooma you'll ever need

[ztirffritz]

A co-worker asked me about that service. I have no personal experience, but it sounded like a pyramid scheme to me. The early subscribers get a deal on the pricing if they pay 1 year in advance. This probably pays for building out the infrastructure and later subscribers support it. So many of these companies go belly up with no notice I'd be concerned about that amount of money disappearing.

[Joseph C.]

I bought mine through CostCo back in April. So far, so good. No issues.

They charge an additional fee in addition to the unit to port your number over. I was given a temporary OOMA phone number in addition to to landline until they ported ( about three weeks) .

There is a premium level of service for additional features; I do not have the Premium service.

911 set up was simple.

I will be at the break even point in a few weeks. After that, I should save every month that they remain in operation. I hope that is long into the future.

HTH

Joe

[graylocks]

how much do you call? my VoicePulse service is $15.39 w/ tax per month. i get 200 LD minutes that i never use and if i did, i'd switch to my cell phone. that $180 a year, less than your Vonage.

then there's MagicJack which seems to work like Ooma for considerably less. what is the thing about Ooma that appeals to you?

[volcs0]

graylocks wrote:
how much do you call? my VoicePulse service is $15.39 w/ tax per month. i get 200 LD minutes that i never use and if i did, i'd switch to my cell phone. that $180 a year, less than your Vonage.

then there's MagicJack which seems to work like Ooma for considerably less. what is the thing about Ooma that appeals to you?

We used to have the 500 min $15 Vonage service, but we started going over. Our cell phones have poor reception in our condo, so we rely on the landline.

MagicJack, as I understand it, required a PC to be connected 24/7. That is not really a problem, but I like the idea of having something connected to my modem that can manage call quality/traffic and does not require any computer to be on (let alone a PC).

But if MagicJack is a viable alternative, I'd certainly look into it.

[Big Daddy Cool]

ooma is great. I pay for the premium service which included the porting of one number and all the other premium features. It cost $99/yr for the premium service – well worth it IMO. My ooma already paid for itself since my Verizon bills were $60-$75/month.

Don't think, act.

[Big Daddy Cool]

Oh yeah, my parents have Magic Jack and it's awful, plus the computer it's connected to has to be on.

[graylocks]

oh, it goes into the modem. i get it especially considering you call much more than me. my alarm system is monitored over the intenet and the interface plugs directly into the router. if you do this, i'd put that device, the modem, the phone and the router (if you use one) on a UPS. that's what i do in case the power goes out.

[testcase]

Vonnage customer service sux. When I tried to cancel, Vonnage ADDED a second line. Phone calls got me nowhere. I had to cancel my credit card to keep them from charging me (this is the only time in 20+ years that Discover Card hasn't helped me. They kept allowing the charge as Vonnage claimed it was valid).