JR.com has the new Ooma Telo VoIP - Free Home Phone Service with Unlimited U.S. Calling, Caller-ID, Call-Waiting, 911 & Voicemail with No Monthly Fee for $179 with free shipping. Works with any corded or cordless phone; easy installation with no computer required.
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Double-check on the no fees. I think this model has a monthly cost that the older units do not.
They were running this special on Amazon and Dell back in December. Pretty luke warm reviews on Amazon (some love it some hate it not much in between; mostly technical issues and customer service issues). If you are just making calls there are no fees but what they try to do is get you to upgrade to their premiere service ($9.99 mo/ $119.99 yr). The biggest issue that kept me from purchasing is that Ooma has never turned a profit and the hardware is proprietary. Ooma received a second round of VC funding end of last year but I am not convinced that their business model is going to survive. As such I did not want to get stuck with a $175 paper weight.
#1, I *think* it's a $12/yr charge, but you're right that there is some charge these boxes incur that the older ones do not.
#2, I've had this Ooma box for 3 months. By my calculations, the box has almost paid for itself. I cut out my POTS line and saved a bunch each month. If my Ooma box becomes a paperweight at this point, I'd be disappointed, but I'm not all that concerned.
That argument been on for more than a year and those original poster would have got their money back if they signed up
Look like they raise enough money from premier service so they just just may last. Even the Premier cost is low compare to VOIP services. ie: callcentric, voip.ms who are suppose to be the low cost leader compare to Vonage, 8X8 broadvoice and the like.
Just a little expensive startup fee.
I agree that the Ooma business model seems pretty weak. It looks like they have to rely on future sales to support existing users.
I use Teleblend (former SunRocket) and have been using it since 2006. Only $99/yr for local #, unlimited outgoing US & Cananda, CallerID, Voicemail, etc. Their support is pretty minimal but I haven't ever had a problem worth complaining about. Teleblend uses a standard Linksys VOIP adapter that they give you for free when you sign up.
I had read back in November that Ooma was expecting to be profitable in December 2009.
Can't speak about he profitability of ooma, but on the hardware side/end user side, it is pretty awesome.
I have the older hub/scout setup, but it works basically the same as the Telo. You need to have high speed internet for it to work, but basically you plug in the unit to your router/modem and then go online to activate it. In a few minutes you are up and running. You don't need to understand networking, VOIP, or other stuff to work these. Just follow the simple directions and you are good to go. Most people who complain in the Amazon reviews couldn't do the hookup and simply gave bad reviews based on that... I can understand their frustration, but that's not ooma's fault since it is already simple to use/install and they just could figure it out... I guess not everyone can plug in a cat-5 cable to the back of the ooma and then into their router or modem.
Premier adds lots of very nice features (I love getting an email with an mp3 of my messages attached), caller ID with name & location, black lists, and others. This costs $120/year for the premier service.
Basic is now $12/year. That is to cover FCC charges. If you can live without the enhanced options, $12/year plus the cost of the unit is pretty good.
International rates are very good, costing $0.02/minute to England or Hong Kong. You can buy an unlimited international account, but that is only to select countries. And it's not really totally unlimited...
When I bought mine in September, 2009 (from Amazon for $200 with a $30 Amazon credit after 30 days of keeping it), there was lots of talk about ooma going under.... but it never happened. Their sales at costco and Amazon are very strong and thus it is unlikely they will fold anytime soon.
Can't speak about he profitability of ooma, but on the hardware side/end user side, it is pretty awesome.
I have the older hub/scout setup, but it works basically the same as the Telo. You need to have high speed internet for it to work, but basically you plug in the unit to your router/modem and then go online to activate it. In a few minutes you are up and running. You don't need to understand networking, VOIP, or other stuff to work these. Just follow the simple directions and you are good to go. Most people who complain in the Amazon reviews couldn't do the hookup and simply gave bad reviews based on that... I can understand their frustration, but that's not ooma's fault since it is already simple to use/install and they just could figure it out... I guess not everyone can plug in a cat-5 cable to the back of the ooma and then into their router or modem.
Premier adds lots of very nice features (I love getting an email with an mp3 of my messages attached), caller ID with name & location, black lists, and others. This costs $120/year for the premier service.
Basic is now $12/year. That is to cover FCC charges. If you can live without the enhanced options, $12/year plus the cost of the unit is pretty good.
International rates are very good, costing $0.02/minute to England or Hong Kong. You can buy an unlimited international account, but that is only to select countries. And it's not really totally unlimited...
When I bought mine in September, 2009 (from Amazon for $200 with a $30 Amazon credit after 30 days of keeping it), there was lots of talk about ooma going under.... but it never happened. Their sales at costco and ... [Truncated]
What? His name was EchoTony.. I had to do it.
For over a year, Ooma has worked for me. Premier for $10 per month and two lines. Not much success with outbound fax service, but Ooma does not guarantee fax capability. There are some settings with Ooma that help, but really have not tried them. With scanning/email, rarely send or receive faxes anyway.
Are these boxes just using SIP? If so, even if the service goes under, you can connect it to any other SIP service... it's a little expensive just for the box though if you're not going to use the service.
I, too, have been on an Ooma Hub/Scout 2-line system since the end of January. Saving $60/mo by not having POTS with our local phone company; our break-even will be in a few more months. After that, it's all cash in my pocket.
Contrary to first post, comments on Amazon are overwhelmingly positive.
This is a cool product and it really works. Voice quality is great and no more phone bills.