Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)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//
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