but doesn’t MJ play advertisements? or limit call times in some fashion?
I like when Woot has the OOMA phone system. I own one and have a strong opinion, so it is the only time I post a message.
OOMA is Awesome. It sets up in a few minutes, provides a normal dial tone to the users and only costs a couple of bucks a month for all domestic calling. That includes taxes for the Feds, and we know they need your taxes now more than ever!
Other than the initial setup, it is parent tested to be user friendly. If you set it up for them once, it will work fine for people with zero computer skills. Much easier and a completely different concept than the Magic Jack which needs a computer to run. This doesn’t. The phones you already have work with OOMA.
Just buy it and put your dial tone provider out of business.
Best $140 I’ve ever spent…and luckily I spent it back in 2009 and therefore has paid for itself already.
If your concern is that Ooma will be out of business in a year, I hear that. But the fact of the matter is, is that this is a really good hedge against rising phone cost. My money says Ooma will be around for a while…the call quality is excellent and once you switch, you’ll never go back.
Good luck!
I “LIKE” my Ooma system. Have I gotten my money’s worth? Absolutely, but its not POTS quality in my opinion. It sounds more like a cellular phone when you talk about quality.
The device is EXCELLENT at blocking the ones you hate talking to (bill collectors, politicians, etc.) I just pay for the monthly premium which comes to about $13 after taxes a month. I’ll take that over my $65/monthly ATT home phone.
Sure, you can get the MagicJack, but its very clunky to have your computer running JUST to keep the phone on! Their software is annoying as hell, and the voice service to me isn’t really that good, either!
I had Vonage, which worked great, but hey, $32 after tax monthly got old very quick. All in all, I feel like I got my money’s worth, but it’s not spectacular. If you want to save money, you be the judge. 
Absolutely love mine! As long as you have a reliable internet connection, you won’t have any problems. Cheap. I pay just $3.42/mo for the taxes.
Isn’t verizon Fios VOIP, just that it’s hardwired into your landlines at home? Someone correct me please.
I love my Ooma. I got this exact same refurbished one about 4-6 months ago from Woot and it has worked perfectly. My monthly bill is about $3.40 in Southern California.
Anyone have an Obi? For $1.50 you can get 911 service with the obi and it’s cheaper. I’m not sure between the two.
Buying an Ooma Telo a year ago was brilliant. Saving $50 a month. Nice.
Note: you can not screen calls using their voicemail unless you buy premium.
Got mine on one of the previous Woots a few months ago as well.
I’m doing Ooma + Premier + Google Voice + Prepaid Cell + Android tablet with Groove IP app to integrate it all.
I blogged about it here:
http://bit.ly/vygDuz
I picked up a two line phone so I could be hooked into our home landline and my Ooma line, plus I got the handset with my Ooma Premier year subscription. So far I’m liking it, and my parents love that they can give my friends/clients/etc. my personal number (GV number linked to Ooma GV line) so they don’t have to take messages for me. 
Point well taken - if handily overstated: you’re assuming that the computer running Magic Jack is operating at full capacity all day and night (and that the host computer would never be on any time for some other reason).
I’ve had my original Oooma (hub and scout version, not this Telo) for three years now. Works great both in the US and overseas. I had some choppiness at first and Ooma tried to help but it ended up that Comcast had not updated the Docsis version on the provided cable modem which was limiting my speeds for no reason (hate Comcast). Once I was updated then the Ooma worked great. No overt impact on network performance.
The naysayers keep up with their dire warnings that Ooma is going to go bankrupt. And they may. But mine’s still going strong after 3 years and I’ve made my money back multiple times. Especially when used overseas!
Fax works fine for me–I just dial the fax number and it sends. Same thing with receiving–just plug in my fax machine’s phone cable and it receives. With older Oomas you had to dial *99 before initiating a fax, but not with this generation of Telo.
One note on voice lag, using 4.5Mb/700kb DSL, we had a slight lag in conversations. Since switching to 15/3.5Mb cable connection, we have no voice lag–conversations sound perfect.
Last, we’ve got 2 ooma running on the same network, both are plugged in BEHIND the router. When you do this you have to change the IP address of one of the Oomas out of the box or they’ll not be happy. In the long run, it will be cheaper than Ooma Premier for the 2nd line.
Got mine at Woot about a year ago and totally love it.
Simple to set up, and it has a ton of features (I got the premium). Had a leftover bluetooth dongle and hooked it up so that I can come home, drop the phone in the charger, and when it rings it just sets off the home phone.
and, when I go away, I can have all home phone calls forwarded to my new number.
and, I can check my messages through the internet.
and…
Strong recommendation. A great thing to have, especially if you’re a slight nerd and don’t mind leaving the usual land line thing behind.
COsumer Reports recently gave Ooma it’s top rating. I’ve had the older Hub for about a year and I agree. Quality-wise, it’s the best I’ve heard, beating everything including my landline.
Here is Consumer Reports video review. The review is somewhat silly and superficial but I assume a lot of work happened in the background. You can see the survey in the review, which shows you what services Ooma beat.
Here is another YouTube review.
I have both and they both have their positives and negatives. Overall positive for both is that they are both excellent alternatives to the standard telephone line and much cheaper overall.
IMHO, Ooma is better at initial set-up which does NOT require a computer at all and has been working for me quite fine for 3 years. I never could get a fax machine to work though.
The OBi devices are much newer and work great with Google Voice (among many VOIP options). The set up is a little more complicated and requires a computer but still only takes 10 minutes from opening the box so it’s not at all difficult to set up. Nice also that it gives free calls to Canada via GV which the Ooma does not. I have not yet tried faxing. However, the future of GV is not clear beyond 2012. The good news is that you can always use a different service and GV may also continue to be free.
OBi also provides some advanced features such as being able to use your smartphone’s data to connect to the OBi to make calls. Also OBi to OBi calls are also all free regardless of VOIP service provider.
Currently I’m happy using both devices on two different lines. If I had to pick just one I would probably go with the OBi right now. Even if Google started charging the fees would probably take up to two years just to break even with the initial investment on the Ooma.
We got ours refurbished like this from woot a few months ago. I think it’s great. We map two Google voice phone numbers to it (sometimes I pick up a phone call intended for my wife ;-).
Callers have often remarked on how much better the quality is than our cellphones.
Make sure to follow the instructions on placing the ooma as first (or as close as possible) to the modem you use. Mine is hooked to a uverse box - I use a wired connection and quality has always been excellent. Old fashioned phones are really optimized for talking! Modern cell/smart phones are an odd shape for talking.
Get it, it’s great.
Can I use 3-4 or more handsets with the Telo? Any one know if that is possible with Obi?
Thanks.
We went “all in” on this Ooma system last time it was offered. I was a wee bit skeptical, since I was going to port TWO phone numbers. To do that (and use them separately) you need to buy at least one other Ooma handset. We went with the deluxe package, paid the year up front, and got a free handset, then paid 2 x $40 to port both numbers.
Our model has the plug port for the land line from the your existing phone line, which lets you use your existing phone number/service through that port until your phone number ports from your current system to Ooma. What wasn’t obvious to me though is that depending on how you set up the Ooma account, you MUST have that line plugged in if you configure it that way. It took a call to customer service before I figured out that was why the Ooma light stayed red. (And all of the newer Ooma boxes don’t even use this feature.)
Nonetheless, once that problem was resolved, we’ve had nary an issue. The number porting took about two weeks to complete, and both numbers are working. We use the Ooma behind our router, which is behind our cable modem - and though I probably should try to enable the QoS settings on the router, I haven’t bothered, and it still seems to work okay in this configuration. Quality is good, and the only problem I’ve ever noticed is that if the house network is really being taxed (other family members on YouTube or something), a tiny lag might might occur after the occasional word - rare, and barely noticeable when it happens.
Adding it all up, the first year I’ll save $150 (thanks to startup & equipment costs), and the second year I’ll save about $400. Count us satisfied.