ooma Core VoIP Phone System with No Monthly Phone Service Bills

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Product Details

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User Guide [PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 11 x 5.5 x 13.8 inches ; 5.8 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B001C1MGKI
• Item model number: ooma core
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (670 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank

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  Electronics > Computers & Accessories > Networking Products

• Date first available at Amazon.com: April 2, 2008

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

ooma is an award-winning product that gives you free home phone service. Quite simply, no more nickel and dime fees and no more monthly phone bills. Acclaimed by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Business Week, and featured as one of the year's hottest products in Parade and In Style magazines, ooma offers premium home phone service as it was meant to be.
Overview Your one-time purchase of the ooma system delivers: Free calling in the U.S. with no monthly fees or contracts Caller-ID, call-waiting, and voicemail The reliability and crisp acoustic performance of a landline Easy setup in just minutes A new phone number from any calling area in the U.S. The option to keep your existing number for a one-time charge ($39.99) The freedom to hear your voicemail and control preferences online in the ooma Lounge Voicemail notifications to your email and your mobile phone Extremely low-cost international rates starting at a penny per minute A 30-day money-back guarantee and an extendable one-year warranty A free 60-day trial of ooma Premier

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Features

Smart and stylish, the ooma Hub and ooma Scout partner with your high-speed Internet and your existing home phones to deliver free home phone service. Your one-time purchase eliminates monthly bills for U.S. calling and delivers extremely low rates for international calls. You'll also get bundled features at no extra charge. Click below for a full list of what is included with your purchase of an ooma system.

Free U.S. calling Your one-time purchase of an award-winning ooma Hub device frees your phone service. Call anyone, at any number, anywhere in the U.S. without charge. Think how much you pay the phone company each year. Now imagine what you could do with all the money you save.

Bundled features ooma gives you all the calling features you've come to depend on, including caller-ID, call-waiting, and voicemail.

Exceptional voice quality
The ooma system has been architected to deliver exceptional voice quality and reliability, giving you the crisp, acoustic performance of a landline, without the associated monthly charges. According to our customers, ooma offers “excellent voice quality,” “better than landline.”

Online ooma Lounge The ooma Lounge is your online destination for the ooma service. You can listen to messages, check your call logs, control your account preferences, prepay for international calling, and even set up voicemail notifications, 24 hours a day.

Low-cost international calling ooma offers low-cost international calling starting at only a penny per minute. Prepay for international calls in increments as low as $10 in the online ooma Lounge. ooma also offers free in-network calling, so call another ooma customer anywhere in the world at no charge!

We've got your number
Want something new? When you purchase an ooma system, you can choose a new number in any calling area in the US. Want to keep your phone number? ooma gives you the option to transfer your number from your current phone provider. Just pay a one-time porting charge of $39.99, or enjoy complimentary number porting with an annual subscription to ooma Premier ($99.99).

Set-up is easy ooma has been designed with the customer in mind for an intuitive out-of-box experience. Most customers are up in dialing in less than 15 minutes. If you've got any questions, our online support site is loaded with dozens of articles, diagrams, tips, and facts. Something we didn't cover? No problem. Check out our lively customer forum or call a member of our support team.

Flexibility to keep a landline
ooma gives you the flexibility to integrate a low-cost landline as a backup. This means you can keep your current phone number and enjoy the assurance of traditional 911 service and seamless coverage during Internet and power outages.

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Discover ooma Premier

Want more? Try our enhanced calling features with your free 60-day trial of ooma Premier. Enrich your home phone experience with features designed to help you:

• Block telemarketers
• Save serious cash
• Stay connected on the go
• Setup a home office
• Keep the peace

After the free trial ends, you can keep ooma Premier for $12.99 per month or $99.99 per year.

Transfer your number
Want to keep your phone number? ooma will transfer your number from your current phone provider for free with an annual subscription to ooma Premier ($39.99 value).

Personal blacklist Let ooma be your personal bouncer. Review your call logs in the ooma Lounge. For anyone who doesn't make the cut, add them to your blacklist. Their call will get diverted next time they call. You have the option to block them completely or send them straight to voicemail. The choice is yours. Community blacklist Harness the power of the ooma community and protect yourself from unwanted callers before they've even tried to call you. Think of it as Survivor for telemarketers. As other ooma users vote callers "off the island" by adding them to their blacklist, we're tallying up the votes. Combined with our algorithms for detecting phone spamming patterns, and you've got the ultimate blacklist!

Multi-Ring Constantly on the go? Multi-Ring takes call forwarding to the next level. Configure your ooma number to simultaneously ring your home phone and mobile phone at the same time. Answer the call on either, the choice is yours. Whether at home or on the road, you'll never need to miss a call. Instant Second Line Do your kids have the gift of gab? No problem! When you sign up for ooma Premier, you'll get an Instant Second Line? feature, which lets you make or take two simultaneous calls without the cost or hassle of installing a second line. So when your daughter's chatting with her BFF (i.e., best friend forever), simply pick up another phone and you'll get a fresh ooma dialtone.

Images show the ooma Scout. Click here to learn more about it.

Message screening Don't recognize the caller-ID? Just let your ooma system pick up the call and listen in as the caller's message is played out through the speakers on your ooma device. If it turns out you want to take the call, just pick up the phone and connect instantly. Voicemail forwarding Enjoy the ultimate convenience of having your voicemail forwarded to your email. Now you can listen to messages from your favorite mobile or desktop email client.

Personal numbers ooma makes it easy to add phone numbers for your home office and all the members of your family. With ooma Premier, choose a second number anywhere in the US! Decide whether you want your number to ring and leave voicemail on all phones or just your personal ooma device. Need more than two numbers? The ooma system supports up to nine (additional monthly charge applies). Private voicemail Want privacy from snooping family? With ooma Premier, make any ooma device a private extension. What's more, you'll get a password-protected voicemail account to hear your messages online. You can also set up personal greetings, customize privacy settings, and control your voicemail notification or forwarding preferences.

Custom ring patterns Isn't it time to quit playing receptionist for your way-too-popular kids? When you subscribe to ooma Premier, you can select custom ring patterns for each of your personal numbers so you'll know which calls are for you. Three-way conferencing Need to make dinner plans with two of your friends? We've got you covered. ooma makes three-way calling simple! Once you're on a call, press the second line button to make or take a second call. Press down both line buttons at once, and you've got yourself a conference call.

Send to Voicemail Don't have a pen and paper handy to jot down a note or directions to a party? Transfer a call to voicemail by pressing the "Send to Voicemail" button at any time. Do Not Disturb Need a little peace and quiet? Simply press the envelope icon for two seconds and all your calls will roll into voicemail without ringing. You'll still see a blinking light when new messages come in. To deactivate Do Not Disturb, hold down the envelope icon for two more seconds.

Images show the ooma Scout. Click here to learn more about it.

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How Do We Compare?

Other phone companies nickel and dime you for local toll calls and long-distance, layering on mysterious fees, taxes, and surcharges for stuff you don't need. They bill you extra each month for caller-ID, call-waiting, and voicemail; features we, at ooma, believe are fundamental to your U.S. calling rights. Your one-time purchase of an award-winning ooma system gives you free home phone service. You'll get the voice quality and ease of a traditional landline. That's because we've architected the ooma system to partner with your existing home phones and high-speed Internet to deliver state-of-the-art calling without monthly bills. There are no special handsets. No tricky calling codes to enter. No need to log onto a computer. Just pick up a phone and dial. It's that easy. And for those who demand more, you'll get a 60-day free trial of ooma Premier, so you can test-drive all of ooma's innovative features, like multi-ring, personal numbers and private voicemail for each member of your home, with lots more on the way. So if monthly bills are weighing you down, the answer is simple. Break free with ooma.

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Requirements

• High-speed fixed-line Internet connection (cable, DSL, fiber-optic)
• 256 Kbps upstream network speed (384 Kbps recommended)
• Corded or cordless home phone
• Intended for residential use only

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Feature List

ooma Core (no monthly fee required)

• Free US calling: Call anyone, anytime, anywhere in the U.S.
• Phone number flexibility: Choose a new number anywhere in the U.S. or transfer an existing number for a one-time charge
• Caller-ID: See the name and number of who is calling (caller-ID compatible phone required)
• Call-waiting: Switch to a new incoming call when you are already on the line
• Call-waiting caller-ID: See the name and number of a new incoming call before you switch over
• Voicemail: Access your messages remotely from any phone or web browser
• Voicemail notifications: Receive notifications via email or text when incoming messages arrive
• Broadband Answering Machine: Listen to messages hands-free with the built-in speaker
• ooma Lounge: Hear messages and control your preferences online
• Call logs: Check your calling history online; filter and sort to find the call you are looking for
• Enhanced 911: Emergency personnel are automatically given your registered address when you dial 911 (subject to availability)
• Free in-network calling: Call another ooma customer anywhere in the world for free
• Outbound caller name: Have your name show up when you call out (other party must have caller-ID with name feature)
• Caller-ID blocking: Use *67/*82 to block or display your caller-ID/name for outgoing calls
• Anonymous call blocking: Automatically block anonymous calls from ringing your phone
• Call return: Return the last incoming call by dialing *69
• Landline backup: Automatic fallback during power/Internet outages or 911 calls (requires basic landline to be plugged-in)
• Prepaid international calling: Make low-cost international calls starting at only a penny per minute
• Directory assistance: Make 411 calls at $0.99 per call
• Warranty: One-year limited warranty

ooma Premier (optional: $12.99/month or $99.99/year)

• Free number porting: Transfer an existing number for free with an annual subscription to ooma Premier
• Personal blacklist: Blacklist unwanted callers to prevent them from being able to reach you
• Community blacklist: Harness the power of the ooma community to block unwanted callers before they've tried to call you
• Call forwarding: Forward your calls to your mobile phone when you are away from home
• Multi-Ring: Simultaneously ring your ooma number and your mobile phone, or any number you choose
• Message screening: Screen your calls by listening in as a caller is leaving their message
• Voicemail forwarding: Have your voicemail automatically forwarded to email
• Instant Second Line: Make a second call even when someone else is on the phone (requires ooma Scout)
• Enhanced call-waiting: Answer an incoming call even when someone else is on the phone (requires ooma Scout)
• Three-way conferencing: Conference two lines together at a push of a button
• Send to Voicemail: Transfer a call to voicemail at a touch of a button
• Do Not Disturb: Transfer all incoming calls directly to voicemail at a touch of a button
• Personal numbers: Select additional phone numbers in any calling area in the US
• Directed ringing: Configure your personal number to only ring on your private extension (requires ooma Scout)
• Private voicemail: Create private voicemail and Lounge accounts dedicated to a personal number (requires ooma Scout)
• Distinctive ringing: Control the ring pattern based on a personal number

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Device Specifications

ooma Hub
Dimensions	7.5"W x 6"D x 2.25"H (187 x 150 x 55mm)
Weight	19.7 ounces (550g)
I/O Ports	One 10/100 Ethernet LAN port, one 10/100 Ethernet WAN port, one RJ-11 port (phone), one RJ-11 (wall)
Power	12 VDC, 1A
Package Contents	ooma Hub device, Ethernet cable, phone cable (2), phone splitter, AC adaptor, Quick Start Guide, User Guide

ooma Scout
Dimensions	4"W x 3.25"D x 1.5"H (100 x 82.5 x 38mm)
Weight	6.7 ounces (190g)
I/O Ports	one RJ-11 port (phone), one RJ-11 (wall)
Power	5 VDC, 2A
Package Contents	ooma Scout device, phone cable, AC adaptor

Product Description

ooma is an award-winning product that gives you free home phone service. Quite simply, no more nickel and dime fees and no more monthly phone bills. Acclaimed by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Business Week, and featured as one of the year's hottest products in Parade and In Style magazines, ooma offers premium home phone service as it was meant to be.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

693 of 708 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for a former Vonage user!, November 12, 2008

By	Jason M. Page - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

I have been a Vonage customer for three years and suffered through all of their growing pains. At $25 a month though for unlimited service I thought I would check to see what other options were available and decided on giving Ooma a try.

The Ooma hardware is well designed, with thoughtful touches like a built in speaker for listening to voicemail and a brightness control so that you can turn down the brightness of the unit in a bedroom. The hardware comes wonderfully packaged like a product from Apple and includes just about any of the cords you might need to get everything connected with your existing service.

Setup was quite easy. You have to get online and activate the Ooma Hub unit by entering the MAC address on the bottom of the unit and telling Ooma what kind of service setup you are doing, such as whether you will use Ooma with an existing line, get a new phone number, etc. They don't even need your credit card and you are activated.

If you are getting a new phone number then you are essentially done at this point. You get a new phone number to use, and you connect the Ooma hub to your home network. Ooma recommends you put the Ooma hub between your Cable or DSL modem and your home router (if you have one). The reason for this is that it allows the Ooma unit to manage your outbound internet traffic and make sure your phone calls are optimized ahead of other traffic, so that phone calls always have priority, sound good and work properly.

If you have a more sophisticated home network router than can do traffic shaping, recognition of IP audio, etc (some of the top of the line D-Link models have these "QoS" features built in) then you can simply plug the Ooma hub into such a router and get good results.

After plugging in the Ooma to your home network you simply connect a home phone to the Ooma unit and you are pretty much ready to go. There is an "ooma music" dial tone you will hear when you make or receive a call. This is one of the ways Ooma lets you and others know you are using their system and is sort of a free advertising that lets people know you are using this service.

You can plug the Ooma hub back in to one of your home wall jacks and then connect the Ooma scout unit in to another jack in the house so that you can use a 2nd phone there. The scout can even be configured to only ring on a 2nd line, have it's own voicemail, etc... this is possible because the Ooma hub has a built in DSL network system in it that allows it to communicate with the scout units over your home phone wiring. This is very sophisticated compared to other VoIP vendor offerings. You can add up to about 20 scouts on the system and keep adding lines, etc, but obviously there are bandwidth and practical limits that you might run into in such a scenario.

If you are porting a number things get a bit more complicated. After indicating I wanted to port my number I was informed on their website that I needed to call them to complete the porting process. The agent I reached was a bit confused and kept insisting I should just use my existing phone service with Ooma. About the 3rd time of telling him I just wanted to get my number ported he got the paperwork started up. They email you some forms a few days after activation that you need to fill out and fax in to get your number ported, which takes a few weeks. In the interim you are assigned a temporary number to use and you can plug your existing line into the Ooma hub and it will take your inbound calls and route them through the Ooma system. There is a $40 charge for porting your existing number but Ooma will waive this fee if you sign up for the $99 premier service that includes a 2nd phone number plus additional features. Ooma advertises that you can keep your original home service as a backup line, so that your phone works even if the Internet is down, but in my experience Internet service is at least as reliable as my old school home phone line. Anyways, it's your choice.

In my case I elected to port my number, but didn't connect my old line to the Ooma Hub (as the agent insisted I do), I simply forwarded the number to the temporary phone number that Ooma assigned to me during the porting process.

Ooma offers a full suite of software features such as "simulring" (ring a cell or 2nd line at the same time your Ooma phone is ringing), magical "2nd phone line" from another phone on the system when the 1st line is busy, etc. You can control your entire Ooma system from the "Ooma Lounge" which is basically a web page you can access from anywhere that lets you control your Ooma system, features, additional numbers, caller ID, etc. You can learn a lot more about these features on Ooma's website so I won't go into them in great detail since this review is long as it is.

Sound quality on the Ooma is very very good. My mom who is used to hearing me talk on my Vonage line immediately noticed how much better the service was. Sound quality should be excellent provided you connect the Ooma equipment properly.

I would strongly recommend this service to anyone with even a basic technical ability. If you simply need the "basics" of phone service such as call waiting, caller ID and voicemail, Ooma will be a one time purchase. Their premium services are also very nice and reasonable at only $99 a year (sure beats paying Vonage $300 a year for similar features).

One question that keeps coming up is how Ooma can make money with this model. The answer is that Ooma makes money when you buy the system hardware and also makes money when you subscribe to the $99 premium service. There's no saying that they won't increase the price of the premium services at some time in the future. Also, I wouldn't be surprised to see Ooma come up with new tempting hardware offers down the road such as better "scout" and "hub" units that offer features such as video calling between Ooma subscribers.

I am a voice over IP engineer and can certainly recommend the Ooma service, it's a great option compared to spending $30-$60 a month for basic phone service with your local phone company. Ooma supports E-911 for emergency calling, and if you are really worried about having a phone line during a power outage simply connect your cable modem, Ooma Hub and cordless phone system to a UPS Battery Back UP and you will have power for at least an hour during a power loss since all those devices will be running on battery.

I highly recommend this product and the model that Ooma are starting to put together to move beyond the "bell head" phone system that we all grew up with.

12/16 update//

I wanted to provide an update to my review and answer a few additional questions. My number port was completed by Ooma almost exactly three weeks after the request which is fantastic. When the porting request is completed you start to log into the Ooma Lounge with your "real" phone number versus the temporary one that Ooma assigns to you.

I had no issues setting up my 2nd line either. Simply select from available numbers in the area code of your choice and tell Ooma how you want the call handled when it comes in (if you want it to ring to a particular hub/scout, have its own voicemail, etc). Now on to a few questions and/or mis-information I have seen about the Ooma system.

1. I have seen a lot of posts comparing Ooma to Magic Jack. There is no comparison. Magic Jack is a USB adapter that requires a PC running 24/7 to handle your phone calls. PC crashes, no phone. Want multiple lines/scouts... too bad. The Magic Jack is a toy compared to Ooma. Additionally Ooma's basic features are far superior to Magic Jack and requires NO FEES! With Magic Jack you do have to pay annual fees for unlimited calling. So Ooma will actually be cheaper in the long run for most users!

2. I have also seen reviews indicating that Ooma works well, but choppy voice is experienced when using the Internet. This is caused by incorrect installation of the Ooma hardware. Ooma hub must be installed BETWEEN your cable modem and your home router or it cannot prioritize your telephone calls for good quality! The only exception is if you have a home router that prioritizes your voice traffic, such as some higher end models. If in doubt you must put the Ooma directly behind your Cable or DSL modem to get the optimum performance!

3. I have also seen people comment that you can't use multiple phones with the Ooma system. This is only partially correct. If you want to use scouts and the features they offer (have a 2nd or 3rd number ring in to a scout, etc) then yes, you would need a scout for each phone you want to use with Ooma. However, if you just want a "shared line" (like regular home telephone service) then you can simply plug your Ooma Hub into your home phone jack and plug in as many other phones as you want. This will prevent some of the advanced features from working, but will basically work like a Vonage system, etc. Obviously many people have multiple handset wireless systems these days so they will just plug their wireless base station into the Ooma Hub and use scouts for other phones.

4. Someone asked me the question if I work for Ooma since I've commented in many reviews. The answer is no, I don't work for Ooma but I am a very satisfied customer and a voice over IP engineer with 13 years of industry experience. Ooma is the best residential voice over IP system I've ever seen and I very much would like them to succeed and offer their superior service for decades to come. The only way this will happen is with strong word of mouth advertising from professionals such as myself!

2/28 update//

There have been numerous questions... Read more ›

156 of 166 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 8+ Months of use and Loving It. Details below, August 17, 2008

By	Tarun Chachra "Tarun Chachra" (Hillsborough, NJ) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

01/20/2009
QUICK NOTE: Jason M. Page has a great review above my review...you should read it also.

UPDATED 12/17/2008
We dropped DSL and moved OOMA's to Cable Modem Service...

ORIGINAL REVIEW:
Hello All,
I bought an OOMA about 8+ months ago with one scout (added a 2nd system later on). Here is our setup.
1. NO LANDLINE required.
2. Using with Cable Broadband on Comcast.
3. Two OOMA Hubs (personal and business) and 2 OOMA Scouts.
4. 2 x 2 Line Panasonic Cordless system to use dual line capabilities.
5. Wired into home wiring so as to avoid unsightly clutter of hardware.

FIRST SYSTEM (Personal Use):
The OOMA hub is plugged in to our Apple Extreme Basetation, out of sight out of mind. Gave the OOMA internet access through the router and voila...phone service is live. NO land line is required. I know OOMA says you can use your existing land line, but it is not a necessity to use this system. They will issue you a new number or port your number over if you do not have or want a land line.

We took line one of the OOMA hub (marked home) and wired it into our home wiring (line 1 - our home is wired for 2 lines)....again very easy and no problem - the phones in the house starting working at once.

Challenge - we have a 2line phone system - so how can you use OOMA with a two line system and use the 2 line features of OOMA.

Since line one was wired and working we needed to get line 2 wired. I took the line 2 out of the ooma hub (marked WALL), wired into home wiring (line 2 jack in the basement), and used the ooma scout to complete the phone line network this system creates.

Line one was already going into the panasonic, so the scout now allowed us to plug in line 2. Voila - 2 lines on a 2 line system with one scout and one telephone number. Its like call waiting on steroids.

NOTE: You can also get multiple numbers with different ring patterns to make this more effective.

The panasonic system has 4 handsets - so now no matter where we are we have a 2 line phone system without the need for more scouts.

The scout itself does everything the OOMA hub does in a small package....so its easy to put in the kitchen and or bedroom and have it look somewhat decent.

SECOND SYSTEM:
Simply used near a telephone in the basement/home office...no fancy setup...works great with a 2 line Panasonic System.

I hope this helps you in deciding to purchase this system. Please let it be known that I am a consumer...not affiliated with OOMA....I simply LOVE this product. I no longer have monthly bills and thus we have recovered the cost of this system already.

UPDATE 12/17/08
Still going strong. WE now have two ooma hubs and two scouts at home. One for personal use and one for business. Works great...no complaints yet. Our broadband is now all cable - about 10-12mbps down (comcast) and 1.5mbps up...sometimes more on down/up in burst mode.

OOMA has also added a bunch of new features for people on the premier plan...ie. community black lists. Basically a GREAT feature.....they have created a blacklist that is shared by all members so that we can all contribute to block useless telemarketing calls etc.....you send them directly to voicemail or block them all together. AWESOME!.

People have emailed me and asked if this system works for faxing....I dont know that I can answer that since I have not really tried sending/receiving faxes with it. Please do chime in and let us all know if it works.

I have also had questions about what I think of OOMA and the business model...while I do not know the specifics, I am not afraid of using it as there seems to be enough people contacting me about purchasing it...I feel that it will be around long enough for everyone to recover the cost of the system.

If you have specific questions, feel free to ask me via email at [e-mail]. I will try and help....and just to be clear..I am not affiliated with OOMA at all....just a consumer via AMAZON!

QUICK NOTE: (THANKS DAVE)
It is important to understand that you should disconnect the wiring from the local telephone company coming into your house before you wire any VOIP device into your home wiring. Basically the phone company wiring carries current into your house and OOMA also outputs some level of current to your phone lines....too much could cause an issue.

82 of 89 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing device!!!, July 17, 2008

By	Steven (Virginia Beach, VA) - See all my reviews

I was a Vonage user for two years, and loved it; but how could I not try something which after 8 months would buy itself and would provide me free phone service, so I switched from Vonage to Ooma. The packaging for the device is fantastic: the device, packaging, and the manual looks like something Apple would make. The installation was very easy. Before you install the device, you need to go to Ooma website to activate the hub and setup a new phone number or transfer your current number. Everything is very simple. My choice was to pick a new number. I followed the simple instructions in the quick start guide. Ooma took about 2 minutes to go through initialization, and the device was up and running in no time. The voice quality is fantastic: to describe it, it's like having the person you are talking to on the phone standing next to you. It seems like the company has done its homework. The scout was easy to install as well: I just plugged it in a phone jack, and it automatically found the hub. The initialization took about a minute. I called Vonage to cancel, and they gave me 2 free months of unlimited calling. I used it to my advantage by automatically redirecting all of the calls from my old number to the new Ooma number for 2 months! You do not have to have a land line at all, which I think confuses some buyers. I am very pleased with my new service and would most definitely recommend it.