You're already familiar with Skype —the service that lets you make calls over the Internet for free — so this little gadget is a total no-brainer.
The ooma Core VoIP Phone System ($249) is a hub that allows you to use voice-over-Internet calling like a home phone — without all the monthly charges (except what you would pay for your Internet access, of course). Just hook up your ooma phone to your modem and you'll be up and running in minutes. Plus, ooma tosses in some pretty cool perks for using their phone system: Free call waiting, caller ID, voicemail, call forwarding, and the option to port your current number to your ooma hub. And you can make international calls on the cheap. Cheap, like starting at a penny a minute.
Seriously, in these troubled economic times, cutting out your phone bill could save you some serious dough, and that is never a bad thing.
Orlando Orlandini
Modalu
Kookai
I had seen this featured on amazon last week but wasn't exactly sure how it worked. Sounds awesome though. I need to figure out the international rates for the countries I usually call and I think this may just be the perfect gift for my parents.
1I purchased this device last fall and so far I have no complaints. The international rates are very affordable too. I'm not a big fan of monthly subscription services so this phone was perfect for me.
2Cool. db5007, I was hoping someone had one that could give it a thumbs up. This is kind of interesting.
3I really don't see the point. I dropped my landline over a year ago, since I have a cell phone. I haven't missed it one bit.
I recommend reading all of the comments on Amazon before making a decision. A lot of them complain about customer service.
4I guess it's an awesome device specially if you call international. Also, if people in another country have one they can call you in U.S. for free. But like verily said, what's the point if you have a cell phone right? For national call, just get a cell phone and cancel your land line.
5i have had one for about two months works great, call quality is great
went to costco for some wireless headsets...
setup is simple but you need to read the manual!
cable modem to ooma to router
6I have owned Ooma for about 3 months now. Previously I had AT&T CallVantage VOIP for about 2 years. AT&T has since dropped CallVantage and instead raised the price as they bundled their VOPOI solution into the Uverse package. I used to pay $25 a month and now they charge more for it. To hell with that is what I said and took a leap of faith on Ooma.
Ooma has been great. The most important thing for me was the call quality. I mentioned my history with VOIP on AT&T and I also used Skype calling. I can easily say that Ooma beats both of them. I have not tried Vonage but I hear ooma is on average better than Vonage.
I work from home 3 days a week and have numerous business calls. So call quality had to be top notch and it is.
Second most important thing was the cost factor. I reason that if ooma is in business for 10 months I break even. I see they just starting selling the oomas at Best Buy so hopefully they will be around.
Customer service is excellent in my experience. I called them one time and they responded quickly (in English) and answered my question. You can check out their forums and I also see that they make an effort to answer comments/question at Amazon.com.
Ooma does have a little bit different setup in terms of how it works behind the scenes when compared to other VOIP products such as Vonage and AT&T. Go the the Ooma website to see what I mean if you care to understand the difference.
I don't consider MagicStick or whatever it's called a true alternative because they have a yearly fee and you need a PC. As far as I know, if you want a quality FREE VOIP phone line Ooma is the only option.
7Very neat...
8How do you hook-up omma to Uverse (modem and router are in 1 box). It will be helpful to a lot of folks if you can show graphically or by picture). Thanks
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