343 of 352 people found the following review helpful:
Excellent design, service and value
We purchased an Ooma Hub & Scout in April 2009 to replace a Vonage VoIP connection. We are very satisfied with the hub, and therefore purchased an Ooma Telo for a second location. This review describes our Ooma Telo experience so far, and compares it to the Hub/Scout.
The Telo is well designed and sleek. The controls are touch controls and very sensitive...
89 of 97 people found the following review helpful:
Initial impressions
Firstly, I bought the Ooma with full knowledge that there are features promised, but not yet delivered (Google Voice extensions). And while the outer appearance is undeniably attractive. I'm disappointed with some of the functionality (or lack thereof).
1. The typical/recommended configuration is to place the Ooma Telo *between* your modem and router in...
This review is from: Ooma Telo Free Home Phone Service (Electronics)
We purchased an Ooma Hub & Scout in April 2009 to replace a Vonage VoIP connection. We are very satisfied with the hub, and therefore purchased an Ooma Telo for a second location. This review describes our Ooma Telo experience so far, and compares it to the Hub/Scout.
The Telo is well designed and sleek. The controls are touch controls and very sensitive. There is a USB port in the back - presumably for future expansion. Like the hub, there are two RJ45 ethernet jacks - one to connect to the "internet", and the second to connect to one's home network. There are also two RJ11 phone jacks. One to connect to your existing landline, should you have one, and decide to integrate the landline and Telo. The other is to connect to your phone.
The setup instructions are simple. While it is recommended that the Telo be connected directly to your cable/dsl/wimax modem (i.e. before your router), it works equally well after the router. We chose to connect the Telo to the router rather than the modem.
We were treated to a red & blue patriotic light show for about 20 minutes when the Telo was first plugged in, while it apparently downloaded firmware/software updates. I was a little puzzled by this, but presumably there have been updates from the release date (October 1) to our purchase date (October 3), or the first set of units were shipped without the latest firmware/software on them. In either event, there has been a second firmware/software update since then, so clearly Ooma are keen to improve Telo as feedback/complaints from early adopters rolls in.
Unlike the Hub, the Telo doesn't support the Scout. But this doesn't mean the Telo cannot provide a dial tone at other phone jacks in your house. For this, simply connect a splitter to the phone jack in the Telo, plug one line into the telephone adjacent to the Telo, and the second into the nearest wall jack. If the phone wiring in your house is intact, you should be able to connect a standard wired phone to any other phone jack. The Ooma Hub also supports this feature, which isn't readily documented in Ooma's product literature.
The Telo and Hub are indistinguishable in every aspect of call quality. Off course the Telo supports up to four DECT 6.0 handsets, and Telo to Telo calls will offer HD voice. The Telo will also support Bluetooth, and cell-phone integration. Although these features will be available in future firmware/software updates.
There are differences in the level and cost of service that I have described below.
For current Ooma Hub owners:
Ooma Core includes 5000 minutes a month, voicemail and caller-id and is free of regulatory fees for the life of the hub.
Ooma Premiere includes a range of additional features, including a second line, 3-way calling, multi-ring, call fowarding and many others. This costs $9.99 a month or $99 a year.
For future Ooma Hub owners:
Ooma Core will include 5000 minutes a month and voicemail. From the second year, it will cost $12/yr to recover regulatory fees.
Ooma Premiere will include enhanced voicemail, and the other premiere features. Ooma Premiere will cost $9.99 a month or $120 a year.
For Ooma Telo:
Ooma core includes 5000 mins/month & voicemail, and $12/yr from the second year on to recover regulatory fees.
Ooma Premiere will include enhanced voicemail, and the other premiere features at $9.99 a month or $120 a year.
For both the Hub and Telo, the cost of Premiere includes either a free handset a year (a $49 value), or a free number port (a $39 value).
This change in pricing strategy has made some claim that Ooma is no longer "free".
Well, it never was, although current Hub owners will not have to spend another dime for the life of their unit.
New Hub & Telo users receive 5000 mins/month and voicemail for the cost of the unit, and have to pay $12/year from the second year onwards to cover regulatory fees.
In my opinion Ooma continues to remain a good value when compared to other VoIP providers, although clearly early Hub adopters received a better deal than Telo users.
I want to note two other things that are common to the Hub and Telo. Our number ports were quick and efficient. And, while customer service can be difficult to reach, there is excellent support available from the Ooma community on Ooma's website forums. The Ooma employees who moderate the forums also provide support in a very timely manner.
Bottom-line, if you have Vonage or Packet8, or have phone bundled in with your cable, strongly consider getting a Telo. You will save money for service that is as good or better. With the Hub, we saw savings with the first six months. With the Telo it will be about 14 months before we start seeing savings.
Quick summary - highly recommended!
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This review is from: Ooma Telo Free Home Phone Service (Electronics)
After reading many reviews of the ooma Telo here on Amazon.com and elsewhere, we decided that it sounded like a product that would be helpful in reducing our monthly phone costs while maintaining our current phone number and equivalent basic functionality. We actually received the unit on Christmas Eve, but haven't attempted installation until today - nearly a week later.
We found the installation to be a very simple process, accurately described and directed by the Quick Start guide included with the unit. All of the uncertainties that arose in my mind while reading some of the negative reviews here quickly vanished, one-by-one, as the clear, guided steps left no unanswered questions. It is because of this that I'm prompted to write a review.
Several reviewers have complained that ooma is 'sneaky' or 'deceptive' in their business practices -- that ooma signs you up for the premium service and automatically bills you monthly without your foreknowledge. They also claim that they take pains to hide the fact that the Federal government has begun to assess a yearly fee of about $12 for using the device.
These reviewers - to be charitable - are terribly under-informed. They have failed to avail themselves of the copious information available on review sites or on ooma's own website, or they're just lunging ahead with activation and installation without bothering to read the instructions.
For example, during the activation process, which is the first thing you're instructed to do with your new Telo, you are presented with the following admonition: "At the end of your trial period, you will automatically be enrolled into Ooma Premier and charged $9.99/month. If you do not wish to keep Ooma Premier, you can opt-out inside My Ooma and not be billed." That seems pretty clear to me.
The yearly Federal service charge also seems to be 'hidden' in plain sight. It's printed in 2 different locations on the box, and also appears on the ooma website, as well as in several reviews. And it's not necessarily in 'fine print', requiring you to strain your eyes.
I'm all for writing negative reviews that are fact-based and created by users who do their homework and try to educate themselves about a product. There are plenty of bad products out there and they should be exposed. But I find it misleading and unhelpful to rush headlong into something without understanding the technology or reading and following setup directions, and then write a scathing review that says "this sucks", when it's consumer ignorance that has produced an unsatisfactory result.
As for my brief evaluation of the Telo, it's very positive. Activation online was easy, as was installation. My Telo connected reasonably quickly and was ready to try out in about the amount of time estimated. (20 to 30 minutes) After that, I placed a call from my cellphone to the temporary number given to me while my home number is waiting to be ported. Voice mail picked up and I left a message, which I was later able to retrieve after returning home. I also placed a call to a friend to evaluate voice quality, which we found to be excellent.
That's it for the first day -- not a big test, but it worked as-advertised and I believe we'll be very pleased with the service.
To clarify for those who have read the review expressing uncertainty about when it's safe to use the service after initial installation: During the first phase of the connect/update process, the ooma symbol, a flower-like design located in the center of the telo, blinks repeatedly, and all the other symbols are unlit. At some point, the bottom row of symbols, which are used for navigating through and playing back voicemails, are lit and unlit sequentially, like a theater marquee. Finally, when it's ready to use, all the symbols are illuminated blue. And you'll probably see that there's a blinking red light, indicating that you've received a voice message. (it's from ooma, welcoming you to the service and helping you set up the voicemail features)
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This review is from: Ooma Telo Free Home Phone Service (Electronics)
The Ooma Telo replaces or will replace the Ooma core system. The core system included a hub and scout. The scout and services of the scout are gone from new Ooma devices. In the future, some (but not all) services of the scout may return via the proprietary wireless Ooma Telo handset.
For those who don't know, Ooma is an internet telephone company. This means it uses the Telo to make and receive telephone calls, instead of using your local phone company and its wired network, Ooma uses your internet connection. Companies that use internet to make and complete telephone calls are using Voice Over Internet Protocol usually referred to as VOIP. Older phone technology to a home is often referred to as POTS (plain old telephone service). With Ooma you can replace your current home phone, or you can use Ooma to supplement it. Ooma lets a customer decide how they want to use their service with respect to existing POTS service.
[...]. This will allow the Telo to make and receive calls using your current home phone number. Your number will be switched to Ooma, but still be in your name (you can port it to any other phone company if you want). Ooma becomes your host.
A reason people purchase a product like the Telo is to have low cost phone service. Most VOIP (including Ooma) do not discriminate between long distance and local calls. Ooma permits up to 5,000 outgoing minutes of calls within the U.S. per month at no charge. Incoming calls are unlimited and not timed.
Ooma has established itself as a high voice quality company with its first product (the Ooma Core). The Telo continues to build on that tradition. With any Ooma product voice quality is usually as good as a problem free home phone. The Telo builds on this, by offering higher quality voice than any traditional phone company, and better voice quality than most other VOIP companies by using a proprietary wireless handset. This looks like a traditional land line type wireless phone, but has much better call clarity than is possible for most other providers. This is one of the new, improved features of the Telo.
Ooma is also very easy to set up and operate. Many people report setting up an Ooma device within 10-20 minutes from the time they open the box. This means they can make and receive calls literally within minutes of getting their Ooma device home. Set up involves a physical set up, where the Telo is placed between the router and cable / dsl modem or behind the router. [...]and follow the step by step instructions for a free activation. Part of the activation usually includes selection of a local phone number. Once you have completed the online activation, the Telo should be able to send and receive calls in minutes.
The Telo IS a work of art, it looks very nice, and has a wonderful aesthetic appeal. There are pressure sensitive buttons, and just about every button, plus a lot more is lit up with beautiful blue LED's. When a line is busy, or the hub isn't working properly the color of the appropriate indicator changes from blue to red. For example if you pick up the phone, the line 1 button will no longer glow blue, but will turn red to indicate line 1 in use. If there is any connection problem, the Ooma trademark symbol will glow red, this is very easy to see even across a large room. It usually indicates an internet failure.
The Telo works with wireless Ooma proprietary handsets which are optional. These handsets will support high quality (better than regular phone quality) calls between Telo users. The Telo continues to support traditional phones as well. You do not need a Telo handset to make and receive calls, your old phones will work just fine. In my home, I have disconnected the phone company wires outside the house, and plugged my Ooma Telo into one of my jacks. This permits the Telo to run all the existing phones in my home as if they were still attached to the phone company. The difference is not getting a monthly phone bill.
The Telo has a more advanced processor and is overall a more capable device than the older Ooma Hub (the Hub is the primary component of the older Ooma Core system). Ooma has promised new features to be released, which will be restricted to the Telo alone. This makes the Telo a natural upgrade path from the Core in terms of overall capability.
Current Ooma Core customers can upgrade to the Telo, and switch their account entirely to the new Telo device. The older Core / Hub can be sold or discarded. The old Ooma hub can be reactivated for a $[...] one time fee, at which point it will be considered as a new service.
The Telo is superior in almost all regards to the older Ooma hub.
The Ooma Telo will continue to provide free voicemail as the older Core systems did. This means voicemail will be supported by the Telo adapter, by your phone or online via the Ooma website. However the basic Ooma Telo plan will not include incoming caller-id name (it will include incoming caller-id number). This is a change from the older Ooma Core system. Ooma has indicated the cost of incoming caller-name lookup was significant, and that by eliminating this expense on future basic plans Ooma will be more viable.
As with all Ooma devices, Ooma Premier is free for the first 60 days. During the first 2 months, a new user will be able to make free calls to Ooma technical support. Thus any set up issues can be handled by a live Ooma customer service representative. After 60 days, Telo users are put on a Telo basic tier, where future support is handled via email and through the Ooma forums which remain free.
In summary, the new Telo is a great product. In years 2 and beyond there will be a $[...] per year regulatory recovery fee for Telo users. This is new for the Telo, those who bought new Ooma Core systems do not have to pay an annual fee ever. The fee is to cover regulatory costs Ooma is charged, not to charge for making or receiving calls.
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This review is from: Ooma Telo Free Home Phone Service (Electronics)
Firstly, I bought the Ooma with full knowledge that there are features promised, but not yet delivered (Google Voice extensions). And while the outer appearance is undeniably attractive. I'm disappointed with some of the functionality (or lack thereof).
1. The typical/recommended configuration is to place the Ooma Telo *between* your modem and router in order for the Telo to apply Quality of Service (QoS) prioritization to voice calls (so you don't sound like you're talking in a tin can). But the Telo also acts as a router, which results in a 'Double NAT' that can cause all sorts of connectivity issues with VPNs, gaming systems, etc. Normally, this is corrected by changing the first router (which would be the Telo) into a bridged modem. But the Telo doesn't offer this option. So you'd either stuck with using the Telo as a super simplistic router (few, if any, of the advanced configuration options offered on 'modern' routers) or installing it *after* your existing router and reconfiguring that to apply QoS prioritization to voice calls.
2. The Telo handset, which I *almost* bought as part of the Premier subscription offer, doesn't have a headphone jack?! This is a critical omission (IMHO), especially in our household with an infant and toddler. Using it as a speaker phone for hands free operation simply isn't an option. And without a Telo handset, the 'Instant Second Line' feature isn't possible.
3. Caller ID/Call Waiting... this is one of those features that I took for granted before I switched to Ooma, but frustrates me daily. It's been an unresolved, but 'known' issue since at least November 2009, and while the latest firmware updates provides a partial fix, I've yet to see it working. So while they have moved forward with adding some new features (Google Voice extensions; beta for Premier subscribers), they have yet to address what I consider some basic functionality.
I've had my Ooma Telo for several months now and definitely appreciate the cost savings. But buyers should be forewarned that while Ooma is cheaper than Vonage or a traditional landline, it is not without its bugs and quirks. I'm hoping that it improves (and that Ooma doesn't go under considering that a one-time/upfront cost is great for me, but not great for them).
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This review is from: Ooma Telo Free Home Phone Service (Electronics)
After Reading all the great reviews on the original Ooma Hub and Scout. I decided to wait until the telo came out. I ordered mine direct from Amazon and opted for overnight shipping and received the product the next day. Installation was a breeze no problems whatsoever. Once you unbox the unit you are instructed to go to the ooma website to activate your product. I chose not to port my own number over right away just in case I didn't like the service. You can opt for a temporary number and you can I always port when you are ready. The setup time is about 30 min because you have to wait for the telo to download all the updates before it becomes active. Depending on your connection speed it can take up to 30 min.
Once setup there is a unique dial tone. Call are very clear. It is definitely as good as a land line or cell phone. I have mine connected to a Panasonic dect 6.0 phones. Works absolutely great. Both incoming and outgoing caller id works great.
I also made an international call to cell phone and it worked great. So far so good. I just started the port process for my number which they say takes 3-4 weeks. I haven't had to call customer service yet so I can't comment on it.
My overall experience is great. The MY OOMA section of the website works great. You can see call logs, check voicemail. pre pay for international service and manage your premier or basic.
A few things. The premier service is 119.99 for the first year which includes either a free port (39.99) or free dect 6.0 phone (49.99). It's at least worth it for the first year my opinion of course. Also after the first year there is a 12.00 per year surcharge. Other than that it's a great product that works well for the money. My phone bill used to be 80$ per month. Now if you calculate over the course of 1 year 30$. The ooma pays for itself in no time and from then on its all cash in your pocket.
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This review is from: Ooma Telo Free Home Phone Service (Electronics)
I have installed two Ooma (Core) devices bought through Amazon. I have Comcast cable for my internet connection. I accepted a new telephone number that was provided by Ooma free of charge and installation and everything was without incident. Overall process took about an hour.
The other Ooma (Core) device was installed using AT&T DSL with number porting. This was a "Nightmare and a half" and I hope that I can gift some pointers to anyone reading this review as a step in the right direction. If you want to keep your existing telephone number, you need to request a "number port" from Ooma. This is a basic form that you fill out and complete, pay a $39 fee and wait a minimum of 6 weeks. This is the time that it takes for Ooma to port your existing number from AT&T as they had mentioned to me that the FCC is involved and this is why there is so much bureaucratic wait time.
Unfortunately, there is no easy way to keep DSL and operate an Ooma device. AT&T recommends a "dry loop" service. This means that your phone line will be disconnected and you will have an internet connection through a non-working phone jack. DSL works by your existing telephone number attached to your internet connection. Believe me, AT&T will give you the "run-around" for days and days and tell you how impossible this is to do and by the end of all of this calamity...you'll just want to return this Ooma device back to Amazon and forget about "free" phone service forever.
Persistence pays off and this is what you would have to do. Step one...disconnect your internet DSL service, but request that your telephone number remain active. Your phone number must remain active in order for Ooma to port this number and it must remain in active status for at least 6-8 weeks. If for some reason you lose the number...there is about a week or so time frame to get your number back before it may be released to someone else. You will also lose your internet service...I would recommend finding another internet service in the meantime and go back to AT&T after your commitment is over. I went with Comcast as they are having a sale. Step two...wait for your number to port over and you're done.
If you don't care about losing your telephone number with this changeover, then you should have lesser problems. Just request for a "dry loop" change.
I received an email from Ooma in regards to their changes in terms and conditions. What was suppose to be "free" forever has some "hick-ups". Phone calls up to 5,000 minutes are "free". Anything after that, you will be charged. That's over 80 hours of calling per month and well over what I will ever use, but if you see yourself needing more...this plan is not for you. Ooma Premier has decreased to $9.99. 411 calls are now $0.99. Ooma encourages you to use "800-GOOG-411" or "800-FREE-411" as these are both free calls.
Ooma customers who bought through a "club store" or the Telo: You get 5,000 minutes per month. Premiere subscription rate is also $9.99/month. If you pay the yearly $119.99 fee, your number port or Telo handset is free. After your first full year of service...a $11.75 per year regulatory fee will be charged to you. You get 60 days of free support and after that it will be $39.99 per year.
Overall, this is still an awesome product. I think that with Amazon and the "club stores" pushing this business as much as they have...Ooma became bigger than they knew possible. I think that the FCC may have imposed stricter guidelines on them and this may be where the extra charges are stemming from. Ooma to Ooma calls are quite clear. I had a complaint from the AT&T representative on the other end that she was having a hard time hearing me...but that was only after I had revealed to her that I was calling using Ooma already.
I recommend Ooma. If you have DSL...disconnect your internet and find an internet service free of a phone line. If the power goes out in your household...you're not going to have a telephone as your internet will be down. My Comcast went down unexpectedly for a few hours twice last year and I was without a phone both of these time. Ooma Core has free Caller ID and this is helpful.
I hope this helps...
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This review is from: Ooma Telo Free Home Phone Service (Electronics)
Just happened to stumble across this product on a website last week, and was immediately drawn to it. For many years we've been tired of paying for two landlines to our home (~$60/month), and this looked pretty good. After reading comments here and elsewhere, we bought a Telo from the local Fry's here in Oregon.
Setup was very clean, and the audio sounded nice. But after digging a bit deeper we discovered that this Telo is a single-line replacement, although with the Premium service one can temporarily call up a second line. But we had two lines in the house we wanted to replace, one for personal and one for business.
Turns out the slightly-older Hub could do exactly what we wanted, when paired up with a Scout. Back to Fry's we went, and they fortunately had what we were looking for (they're discontinued, and getting harder to find).
I have to admit, the Hub setup instructions seemed baffling to me, what with all the various options and diagrams. All we wanted was to kill our landline service and splice Ooma in place, but some negative reviews gave the impression that you needed a Scout for every phone in the house. Not so. They need to re-write the instructions, but now with it discontinued I guess that point is moot. We won't be using the voicemail feature.
Incidentally, Ooma suggests putting the box just after your broadband modem and in front of the router/WiFi box for the house, so that if there is ever a contention for traffic your VOIP data will prevail. I elected instead to just plug the Ooma ethernet cable into one of the empty slots on our D-Link router. Absolutely no quality issues, even when downloading in parallel with using the phone. Oh, I have the router set up for MAC filtering, so we did have to load the MAC address, but that took all of one minute.
Additionally, for any location that has "E911" service (apparently pretty much everywhere these days) then Ooma works like a regular 911 service. If you dial 911 Ooma automatically forwards your name and address to the 911 center.
Anyway, we are now on the schedule to port over our two numbers to Ooma, and we will still use DSL (a "dry line") to deliver 1.5Mbit service to the house. We'll see how it goes, but so far it's looking great. Break-even should be in about 5 months, then just $10/month afterwards for two lines. Sweet.
UPDATE 25 Feb 2010:
My two numbers ported over to Ooma earlier today. The landlines went dead for incoming calls this morning, and the numbers showed up on the Ooma boxes about 4 hours later. Voice quality is excellent, everything appears to be perfectly normal.
UPDATE 10 Mar 2010:
Both phone lines in constant use, along with our computers. Everything works fine, voice quality appears to be same as POTS, saving $60 a month.
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This review is from: Ooma Telo Free Home Phone Service (Electronics)
I've had Vonage for several years but got tired of watching my monthly fees and taxes approach $30 for the cheapest plan, especially since I only use about 250 minutes a month. The Ooma Telo was attractive to me because it would pay for itself after about a year, at which point I would be getting basically free phone service.
I was expecting the good voice quality that everyone seems to talk about online. My experience however was the opposite. After many calls I concluded it was terrible. Three times in three days people on the other side of the line would tell me that they couldn't hear me at all, or that they could barely hear me. Also there is a hum during 'dead air'. Finally there was popping and clicking noises. The dial tone is tepid and distant: my wife when first using the phone thought the line was dead.
I got on tech support and they had me test my Internet access, which was excellent: 5Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, no packet loss, and very little jitter. They had me adjust a downstream bit rate but that would only affect what I hear, not how others hear me, and besides it didn't help. So it's not my Internet line -- besides, Vonage works very well on my current Internet so there's Ooma should basically work as well.
So either 1) This new Telo has problems with some or all units or 2) I got a rare lemon. But this was definitely not tolerable quality.
I suppose I should return the unit for another but who wants to go through that hassle? There should be on-board diagnostics that allow Ooma to know whether there is a problem with my box.
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This review is from: Ooma Telo Free Home Phone Service (Electronics)
I recently converted from Vonage to Ooma Telo because Vonage was costing me $33/month after taxes and everything. When you add that to the cost of naked DSL from AT&T ($42.95), it was actually a worse deal than AT&T's phone + internet bundle which is only $59.95. I was attracted to Ooma because I thought it would be an easy switch over from Vonage, and I want to save money. Here are some notes I recorded during the process:
Notes:
-Vonage is costing me more than AT&T because naked DSL is $42.95/mo and Vonage is $24.99/mo = $67.94 + taxes. AT&T bundle is $59.95/mo + taxes for DSL + unlimited local and long distance.
-Ooma cost is $187 + $120 for Premier w/phone port = $307. Vonage is costing me $33/month = $396/year. 3 years of Vonage is $1188. 3 years of Ooma with Premier = $571.
-My Speedtest data is 43ms ping, 5.66Mb/s down, .43mb/s up
-Phone number transfer request from Vonage account submitted on 2/1, completed on 2/16...exact day they said it would. Done perfectly! Vonage automatically closed my account, didn't even have to call them.
Pros:
-Call quality is perfect..not so much as a crackle.
-Telo unit has adjustable backlit buttons...nice to be able to turn it down a notch.
-Turning on call forwarding worked within 2 minutes.
-Fast service on technical support calls. Immediately on 2 of them, 1 minute on third call.
-Telo functionally is really cool device with ability to check vmail on speaker, send calls to vmail. Also very cool looking.
-Everything is clearly marked on Telo, instructions are easy to follow
-Faxing works great with *99 prefix
-No contract, walk away after a month if you so desire, although it wouldn't be very cost effective..
-I have Telo installed behind my Linksys WRT54G router with QOS giving higest priority to the Telo MAC address, and ran Mozy backup on another PC, and call quality was almost perfect.
-[...] has a lot of cool features including the ability to create your own blacklist so telemarketers or other annoying people can't get through. It will either send it to your voicemail, or give them a number out of order message. Pretty cool!
Cons:
-Setup may be easy, may not. 15 minute setup is not entirely true...you will likely have at least a 20-30 minute firnware download/update. Make sure the firewall on your router is turned off before you plug it in to your router. (or enable required ports)
-Telo device does not have a built in led display like the Vonage V-Portal adapter.
-Telo device takes quite awhile to recognize an internet outage. In fact, if I unplug my router and then pick up the phone I actually get dial tone, but the call doesn't go through obviously. This leads me to believe the Telo gives the dial tone unless it realizes there is no internet connection.
-Telo device is large compared with the Vonage V-Portal. It has a lot of additional features that the V-Portal doesn't though. Just make sure you allow for its 5x7" footprint.
-Takes 1 minute to recognize network outage (Vonage 3 sec), 25 seconds to recognize it's back, and log back in.
-No ability to turn off voice mail, only set to max of 59 second answer.
-Very easy for power cable to fall out of the back. Recommend taping it to the back of the Ooma.
-My caller ID when I do an outbound call shows up as Ooma Inc. or Private Caller, instead of my name. (this was before my number port)
-Telo device causes interference to any speakers within a couple of feet. (by interference I mean a humming noise)
So far we have used our Ooma to the tune of 220 incoming/outgoing calls, and a total of 839 minutes, and it has been perfect. No static. No dropped called. Flawless. So I obviously recommend the Ooma Telo.
3/30 UPDATE: 588 incoming/outgoing calls, total of 2830 minutes (47 hours) and everything is still great. Still not a single dropped call that I can remember. My wife really likes having the voicemails emailed to her account so she can check them when she checks email messages. Still Highly Recommend!
8/18 UPDATE: Very ugly high profile outage for the Eastern US on 8/17 has me concerned. Little communication from Ooma during the event. Ooma lacks the redundant, highly available backend to sustain carrier outages without losing service. Not able to forward calls to cell phone even during network outage. Downgrading from 5 stars to 3 stars due to this event.
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This review is from: Ooma Telo Free Home Phone Service (Electronics)
I have had the Ooma Telo for 5 weeks now, and a Telo Handset for 3 weeks. The Ooma device is great, the service has been very reliable, and I have just begun the process to port my landline number to Ooma. I have also recommended the Ooma Telo to friends and family. I plugged my Panasonic 5-extension DECT 6.0 base station into Ooma, and everything has worked great from day 1.
The only problem I had setting up the device was that when I entered my area code to find an available local phone number, their poorly-designed interface said that none were available. I happen to live in an area where the FCC overlaid an additional area code 10+ years ago to make more numbers available. After 10 minutes on hold and speaking with Ooma, I learned that there were phone numbers available in this other area code. At first, the person said to try back every week or so until the got to my area. So, he didn't really get it, either. Dumb UI on their part created an unnecessary, but temporary roadblock.
With regard to the physical hardware, the power adapter for the Telo device unplugs easily, due to poor design. This is only a problem when setting it up, situating it where you want it and/or moving it. Always hold the power adapter in place where it connects to the device, if you need to move it.
With regard to functionality, I wish a few things were different, the first of which is temporary. That is, while my number is being ported, I wish I could have the Ooma device display that future number with my caller-ID info for outgoing calls. The second issue is more significant, and that is that I forward all voicemail to email, but there is no option to NOT have the voicemail also recorded by the device. So, I get my voicemail through email, then have to listen to voicemail again, at home, because it needs to be deleted. I want an option where I can get voicemail to email without it also going to the device. (You can, and I do, forward the voicemail to multiple addresses/people.) Finally, I wish I could edit the greeting on my computer and upload a WAV file, instead of having to record directly to the device, in order to make it sound more professional (home office). I can see Ooma being useful to small businesses.
The Telo Handset is great in that it allows you to make/receive 2 calls simultaneously. That is, I can originate a call, even if the phone is already in use. I can also use the handset to clear voicemail. I don't, however, care for the sharp bezel of the handset. More significantly, the battery only appears to last for 24 hrs if not in the power cradle.
The economics are fantastic. I plan on paying the $10/mo or $120/yr for premier service because I want (1) simultaneous ring, (2) voicemail to email, and (3) the ability to have 2 virtual lines. Those features are worthwhile to me, and I am eliminating a $45/mo landline. I invested significantly to make this happen, because I chose to switch from copper-DSL to cable for greater bandwith. I bought a cable modem to ensure it would be a DOCSIS 3.0 model, had to buy a wireless router (which was built in to my DSL modem), and bought the Ooma device. But, in the process, I upgraded my home network to allow for wireless printing, and a shared network HD. All told I spent just shy of four hundred fifty for all new hardware. My monthly telecom bills will drop from $108, inclusive of all taxes, for home phone, unlimited domestic long distance and DSL, to $58 for cable internet plus $11 for Ooma (premier plus $1/mo for FCC fees), a savings of $39/mo for more phone features, much better international rates, faster internet, and a better home network. My breakeven point is 11 months, including the investment to upgrade my home network. Beyond that, I will save about $500/yr. Further, I can now play the "special high-speed internet introductory offers" game with ease -- switching between cable and fiber-optic DSL (which will be available to me this month), and stay only for the introductory period, since my phone number will not be tied to either company. I can also choose to keep this phone number should I move across the country.
In short, I'm a happy Ooma customer.
Update 2/23:
I ported my landline phone number. The process took 3 weeks. On the day of the port, my service was interrupted for about an hour, and anyone calling me during that period got a message that my number was disconnected or not in service. This is typical of a landline number port. The old-Co disconnects the phone number and then makes it available to the new-Co, and thus it is unavailable during that time.
Pay attention to the name you put on your account when you first set up Ooma. This will be your Caller-ID info.
On my original review, I commented on the loose power adapter jack. Ooma has apparently recognized this problem, as I found a post on their forum that gives a special email address to contact them for a replacement power supply.
Many reviewers comment that "if your power goes out, you will lose your phone." That's true, but there is an easy solution for those who have frequent power outages: plug your cable/DSL modem, Ooma, router and cordless phone base into a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) which start at about $60. The power demand of these devises is low, compared to a PC/monitor, so they will run for much longer than the rating on the UPS.
I'm still happy with Ooma, and still recommend it to anyone who wants to cut their phone bill and has a good high-speed Internet connection.
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