Ooma launched in 2007 as VoIP service targeting non-commercial home users. The company directly targets Vonage and Skype users, as well as traditional home phone services from the “baby Bells.”
Ooma’s flagship product is the Ooma Telo. The Telo provides the following features:
- VoIP Internet Phone Service
- Instant Second Line
- Up to four integrated handsets
- Traditional POTs interface for additional handsets
- Voicemail for each user
- Two phone numbers for free for Premium users ($9.99/month)
- One phone number for Standard users ($0/month free)
- Free long distance in the United States
- One time purchase price of $199
- Community telemarketer black lists
- Individual black lists
- A whole lot more!
I purchased my Ooma Telo from Bestbuy last week and I have to say I am super impressed. Sure, there’s a few things that are bugging me, but as a soon to be former Vonage customer, I’m singing Ooma’s praises!
In order to install Ooma, you simply unpack the Telo (and any optional handsets that you purchased) and plug it into any port on your home switch or router. Then you simply log on to http://my.ooma.com and create a new account. Ooma’s website will ask for your serial number and a few other bits of information. In less than two minutes, Ooma lights up and you can make and receive phone calls. I was thrilled that the service lets you use their web interface to pick your phone numbers. I picked three numbers all in a row (the third number is $4.99 a month extra) with the idea of using one for Fax, one for Home, and one for my Home Office.
I purchased my Telo with two handsets at Bestbuy. I then opted for the free Handset at signup (which was delivered in two days by UPS). The handsets are a little silly in their design, but work well and a feature packed.
So far, I am very impressed with the reliability and the call quality. Now, to be fair, for those of you who don’t know I have some of the most rock solid Internet service on the planet. I’m a Verizon FiOS business customer with 35/35 business class service. I would love to hear feedback from some of you on slower, less reliable Internet connections. Regardless, the Ooma quality has been fantastic. I’ve not yet experienced the dreaded Vonage crackle (when packets get dropped, quality goes straight to hell quick on Vonage). I’ve also sent several faxes without a single dropped call. With Vonage at least 50% of my faxes had to retransmit.
Currently, my only complaint with Ooma has been their support people. For the life of me I couldn’t figure out how to get my shared lines setup correctly. I called Ooma support and got what I am sure is “Bob” from India. He was zero help. I tried asking my question in several different ways to no avail. Finally I asked for a supervisor which took forever, but I am sure he was in America. He was able to answer my question in a matter of seconds. When are companies going to learn that it doesn’t save money to outsource to India????
If you’re looking to ditch your landline or Vonage service you can get Ooma Telo for FREE with Standard service or $9.99 for Premium. The differences are negligible (extra number and voicemail) but regardless when compared to the price and features of Vonage or traditional landline service is well worth it!
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Vonage is a catastrophe. What a great idea that a bunch of executives destroyed.
I’m glad to hear Ooma is kicking their ass.
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