We’ve had this for months. We pay less than $4 / month and have recommended this to four friends who each thank us often. This is a no-brainer, if you’re considering it, buy it.
It’s cool, and people will like you more.
I got one of these the last time they were up. It works great and my monthly bill is only $3.50. There are no games, the setup is easy, and I can’t recommend it enough. This is not like MagicJack where you need a computer or they are sending you ads. It’s real phone service for a few bucks a month. And the VOIP quality is really good too (better than SunRocket, AllVoi, and TeleBlend).
On my previous unit, an Ooma Hub, I had a problem setting it up and had to call customer service. You call the 800-number, push one button to speak to a representative, and you are almost instantly connected with someone. And they speak English!
Picked ours up on Woot several months ago. Kicked Vonage and their $10/month worth of taxes and fees to the curb. Now I’m paying less than $14/mo for Ooma Premier as opposed to $35 with Vonage.
The only thing I miss is being able to have it ring at home for a certain amount of time, then forward to my cell. With Ooma it’s either straight forwarding with no ring at home, or ring both at the same time.
Fellow Wooters: I bought this Ooma Telo refurbished back in January 2011 from Woot. It lasted 5 or 6 months and died. BUYER be warned!
Woot deleted my comment it seems. I was expressing my disappointment as to the lack of a Woot-Off but instead I’ll say that this VoIP thing is a fine product for those that want to setup a VoIP.
I myself find regular telephone lines to be more reliable (though that could be my crummy Internet provider more so than the device).
The biggest positive is that the call quality is fantastic when talking with other VoIP people.
So I have Google Voice, and an Obi110 ( http://obihai.com/what-is.html
Which allows me to make calls for free http://obihai.com/googlevoice.html
The Obi110 was $49.95 at Amazon.
Could someone tell me what the Ooma does that makes it worth twice as much (plus paying $4/month instead of $0/month)?
Oh, and Ooma now has integration with Google Voice (part of their “Premier” package). I’m not sure what that entails, considering the high amount of customizability that you have with Google Voice and Ooma separately, the combination should be really awesome.
Does this work up with dial-up?
I have the older Ooma model (the Hub). It’s an outstanding piece of kit. I basically just had to plug it in, activate online, and approve the port request from AT&T. Monthly cost is less than paying for call waiting from the phone company.
Extremely high wife-acceptance-factor, to boot. She loves the voice quality and that she can easily check voicemails from her iphone.
Faxing is a little flaky (it’s hit or miss, and I can’t figure out why). Other than that, no complaints.
But is it mac compatible?
Womp womp.
Got it last time, love it so far.
Get a new panasonic phone that has call block and you won’t miss the premium features that cost $10 extra.
I don’t know why everyone isn’t using Ooma. What? Do you like phone bills?
I bought one last time it came up and I’ve been very pleased so far.
The Telo works like a nice little answering machine with the ability to check voicemail via a built in speaker at the push of a button.
Setup was cake, I set mine behind my router and it works like it’s supposed to. I’ve kept my Vonage for about a month overlap, but I can say that I’ve not had any cause to hesitate on making the switch complete.
Usually not. VOIP compresses the data stream to save on bandwidth. If you can connect at all over dialup, it will be very slow. I’ve tried sending faxes over VOIP and sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t, with about a fifty-fifty chance of it going either way.
My husband and I got this the last time it was up on Woot. We switched over from Vonage. First off, the bill is the right price … a few bucks vs $35 is hard to beat. Even with a lower price, the quality is the same. We were even able to port our number over. This has been awesome for us since we live in South Korea. It is so easy to stay in touch with family and friends back home.
If you’re hesitating, just buy it!
I have never used one of these nor do I really need one but I can say that if I did I would go for this one. I have read the previous woot! discussion threads and can say that it is almost unanimously praised items I have seen on woot! but those who own or have used one.
This may be a off-beat question , but why would anyone really need a home telephone if everyone in the household has a cell phone ?? The only calls i get at home are from people just trying to sell me great deals etc…
Any other comments regarding the faxing capabilities? Would love to be able to hook up our all-in-one and be able to fax.