Any one here use Ooma phone service.I'm thinking about ditching my land line to save money and port over my phone number (had it since the year of my birth -1964).Any other alternatives?Tell of your experiences good and bad.Thanks folks
ooma?
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Vonage has been good to us. Lots of free nationwide calling. Canada and Mexico are cheap, Europe is not bad. Built-in voice mail, etc. Call forwarding, blah, blah, blah. Good clear voice audio
Always someone to talk to if an issue and their little black box seems about as durable as phone co gear
Always someone to talk to if an issue and their little black box seems about as durable as phone co gear
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I have a similar Obihai device and it works just fine. We had the same landline phone number for quite a few years and there were still some entities that used the number such as doctor's offices and the vet. So about 8 years ago I ported the line to Google Voice and bought an Obihai device to connect to the phone.
We used to buy 911 and CNAM from Anveo for about $1.75 a month but I discontinued that a while back and now just use GV for free. It works fine for the 1 call a month we get on that line. If no 911 is a concern for you then you can buy it for very cheap.
Google Voice has very good spam blocking. I've logged into my account and it's amazing how many calls it blocks.
We used to buy 911 and CNAM from Anveo for about $1.75 a month but I discontinued that a while back and now just use GV for free. It works fine for the 1 call a month we get on that line. If no 911 is a concern for you then you can buy it for very cheap.
Google Voice has very good spam blocking. I've logged into my account and it's amazing how many calls it blocks.
We've had Ooma for a few years.I think we pay $6 a month. Flawless. We had lots of trouble with Vonage, and they were real jerks when we cancelled, they also continued to charge us after cancellation.
We've had Ooma for a few years.I think we pay $6 a month. Flawless. We had lots of trouble with Vonage, and they were real jerks when we cancelled, they also continued to charge us after cancellation.
I have had Ooma for over 6 years. The Ooma Telo device and the Ooma service itself have worked flawlessly. The sound quality is excellent and the service never goes down. I strongly recommend it.
I had my old landline phone number ported to Ooma (the price that they charge for doing this is rather high but having had the same phone number for 35 years necessitated doing it). I have it plugged into my home phone wiring and use the same phones that I was using when I had landline service. I also have both it and my cable modem plugged into a UPS so that it works during power interruptions or a short power outage.
The $6.51 monthly fee that I pay consists entirely of state and local taxes and fees (many of which are inexplicable, listed below), something that you will pay on any structured phone service that gives you 911 service. The taxes and fees will vary depending on where you live.
Taxes and fees...
Local Interconnection Recovery Fee: $1.60
911 Service Fee: $1.00
Regulatory Compliance Fee: $1.49
Municipal Right-of-way Fee: $1.42
State Sales Tax: $0.34
Local 9-1-1 Fee: $0.50
City Sales Tax: $0.05
9-1-1 Equalization Fee: $0.06
Federal Regulatory Fee - Interstate Telephone Service: $0.00
Local Mta: $0.05
State Cost-recovery Fee: $0.00
Utility Gross Receipts Assessment: $0.00
Total: $6.51
I assume that the $0.00 amounts must be fees that are being charged in some other locations.
I had my old landline phone number ported to Ooma (the price that they charge for doing this is rather high but having had the same phone number for 35 years necessitated doing it). I have it plugged into my home phone wiring and use the same phones that I was using when I had landline service. I also have both it and my cable modem plugged into a UPS so that it works during power interruptions or a short power outage.
The $6.51 monthly fee that I pay consists entirely of state and local taxes and fees (many of which are inexplicable, listed below), something that you will pay on any structured phone service that gives you 911 service. The taxes and fees will vary depending on where you live.
Taxes and fees...
Local Interconnection Recovery Fee: $1.60
911 Service Fee: $1.00
Regulatory Compliance Fee: $1.49
Municipal Right-of-way Fee: $1.42
State Sales Tax: $0.34
Local 9-1-1 Fee: $0.50
City Sales Tax: $0.05
9-1-1 Equalization Fee: $0.06
Federal Regulatory Fee - Interstate Telephone Service: $0.00
Local Mta: $0.05
State Cost-recovery Fee: $0.00
Utility Gross Receipts Assessment: $0.00
Total: $6.51
I assume that the $0.00 amounts must be fees that are being charged in some other locations.
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There are cheaper services and more expensive ones like Vonage. I got their premier service which is an extra $100 a year. I might drop it as I don't really use it as much anymore. It's good for a backup phone or a number to give out when you don't want people to call. Otherwise the basic package is only paying for the taxes on the line which could be in the $4-$6 range depending on where you are in the US.
Good topic. I'm in the same predicament. Had a LL-phone since 81. Service "provider" is rAT&T. I pay a bit over $40/month with 'unlimited' local calling. I still use a calling card for long-distance due to rATT's ridiculous rates. I did negotiate a -$10/mo credit from them which helps.
What further bites, is they are impotent re: sales/junk/spam/robo calls I receive everyday. Really?? They're the #$%^-phone company! They can connect/disconnect at will.
Even if I "upgrade" to u-verse and have my phone via VOIP, they still want to charge me > $25/mo for that with only $200 min/mo. talk time....as in PERIOD talk time...including LOCAL calls!!
Dispicable rATTs indeed.....
OOma sounds like a good way to go. Also means you can sign up for that NOMOBO service, which screens out all of the #$%^& calls. I'm liking $5/mo too.
What further bites, is they are impotent re: sales/junk/spam/robo calls I receive everyday. Really?? They're the #$%^-phone company! They can connect/disconnect at will.
Even if I "upgrade" to u-verse and have my phone via VOIP, they still want to charge me > $25/mo for that with only $200 min/mo. talk time....as in PERIOD talk time...including LOCAL calls!!
Dispicable rATTs indeed.....
OOma sounds like a good way to go. Also means you can sign up for that NOMOBO service, which screens out all of the #$%^& calls. I'm liking $5/mo too.
I have had the original no fee Ooma from about 2010 or so. Been pretty flawless except for resetting it once in awhile. At some point the FCC got involved and threw those taxes on there. They have tried to get us first adopters to convert to the new ones but I'm not going to switch.
Originally Posted By: urrlord
Any one here use Ooma phone service.I'm thinking about ditching my land line to save money and port over my phone number (had it since the year of my birth -1964).Any other alternatives?Tell of your experiences good and bad.Thanks folks
I have used magic Jack which worked well
Any one here use Ooma phone service.I'm thinking about ditching my land line to save money and port over my phone number (had it since the year of my birth -1964).Any other alternatives?Tell of your experiences good and bad.Thanks folks
I have used magic Jack which worked well
Take a look at Phonepower. I really like the call rejection and call forwarding, I hardly ever get spam calls anymore. Also Voicemail comes to my cell . It's $14 including taxes
The quality is about 80% of a normal land line over traditional lines.
However price at $5/month for base service over $40/month I live with it. I have an excellent internet connection with flawless computer video/audio calls on slack and google so not me. Also my Verizon mobile with iPhone 7 on WiFi or LTE has superior quality too.
However price at $5/month for base service over $40/month I live with it. I have an excellent internet connection with flawless computer video/audio calls on slack and google so not me. Also my Verizon mobile with iPhone 7 on WiFi or LTE has superior quality too.
Had ooma for two years now and very happy with it.
Originally Posted By: mx5miata
Originally Posted By: urrlord
Any one here use Ooma phone service.I'm thinking about ditching my land line to save money and port over my phone number (had it since the year of my birth -1964).Any other alternatives?Tell of your experiences good and bad.Thanks folks
I have used magic Jack which worked well
I believe the only major drawback to it is that you have to leave your computer on all the time so you end up spending a bit on electricity. With ooma, it's a separate device. I guess mine is about 7 years old at this point so I guess it's been pretty reliable.
Also in terms of voice quality, part of that depends on your internet connection. I used to have dsl which had slower speeds of 7 megs down and between 500k to 1 meg up. Now with a cable modem, I'm at 250 megs download and 12 megs upload. Voice quality was sometimes shaky with dsl, it's been fine with the cable modem.
Originally Posted By: urrlord
Any one here use Ooma phone service.I'm thinking about ditching my land line to save money and port over my phone number (had it since the year of my birth -1964).Any other alternatives?Tell of your experiences good and bad.Thanks folks
I have used magic Jack which worked well
I believe the only major drawback to it is that you have to leave your computer on all the time so you end up spending a bit on electricity. With ooma, it's a separate device. I guess mine is about 7 years old at this point so I guess it's been pretty reliable.
Also in terms of voice quality, part of that depends on your internet connection. I used to have dsl which had slower speeds of 7 megs down and between 500k to 1 meg up. Now with a cable modem, I'm at 250 megs download and 12 megs upload. Voice quality was sometimes shaky with dsl, it's been fine with the cable modem.
Originally Posted By: urrlord
Any one here use Ooma phone service.I'm thinking about ditching my land line to save money and port over my phone number (had it since the year of my birth -1964).Any other alternatives?Tell of your experiences good and bad.Thanks folks
Ooma, great service.
We have had Ooma for a long time now, years. Never misses a beat, rock solid, its no different then any modern phone service from your TV, Cable or Internet company except that it only cost you less then $5.00 a month for taxes. You do have the option to also add on a load of options at a cost.
Its amazing to me that people actually pay $20, 30, 40, $50 a month for phone service, then I think to myself, if they do, well then I guess they deserve it.
) As there is no reason to, but that goes for a lot of things in life now, people got used to just having money drafted out of their bank every month for stuff they dont need or pay too much for.
The quality of the calls are no different from the best working landline service. If anyone has issues with call quality it would most likely be their internet connection but I do not want to get into that discussion and confuse people, as hands down, Ooma cant be beat and it is NO different then any other cable or internet company phone service.
Sometimes you can bring a horse to water ... but you cant make him drink, its really that simple.)
Any one here use Ooma phone service.I'm thinking about ditching my land line to save money and port over my phone number (had it since the year of my birth -1964).Any other alternatives?Tell of your experiences good and bad.Thanks folks
Ooma, great service.
We have had Ooma for a long time now, years. Never misses a beat, rock solid, its no different then any modern phone service from your TV, Cable or Internet company except that it only cost you less then $5.00 a month for taxes. You do have the option to also add on a load of options at a cost.
Its amazing to me that people actually pay $20, 30, 40, $50 a month for phone service, then I think to myself, if they do, well then I guess they deserve it.
) As there is no reason to, but that goes for a lot of things in life now, people got used to just having money drafted out of their bank every month for stuff they dont need or pay too much for.The quality of the calls are no different from the best working landline service. If anyone has issues with call quality it would most likely be their internet connection but I do not want to get into that discussion and confuse people, as hands down, Ooma cant be beat and it is NO different then any other cable or internet company phone service.
Sometimes you can bring a horse to water ... but you cant make him drink, its really that simple.
)
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Originally Posted By: alarmguy
Its amazing to me that people actually pay $20, 30, 40, $50 a month for phone service, then I think to myself, if they do, well then I guess they deserve it.) As there is no reason to, but that goes for a lot of things in life now, people got used to just having money drafted out of their bank every month for stuff they dont need or pay too much for.
It is amazing, indeed. .. how this "best price" mentality is embedded in an Average American chip. And you get what you desrve in the end. POTS is most likely appreciated by folks in Iowa right now, where deadly tornadoes wreaked havoc and your other communication lines may simply not work. I keep paying for my Mom's regular phone line, I am fine with Ooma for my needs - it has been problem free for years, except for the rare moments of Internet or power line disruptions disruptions. POTS is quite a bit more dependable than any Internet service for now.
Its amazing to me that people actually pay $20, 30, 40, $50 a month for phone service, then I think to myself, if they do, well then I guess they deserve it.
) As there is no reason to, but that goes for a lot of things in life now, people got used to just having money drafted out of their bank every month for stuff they dont need or pay too much for.It is amazing, indeed. .. how this "best price" mentality is embedded in an Average American chip. And you get what you desrve in the end. POTS is most likely appreciated by folks in Iowa right now, where deadly tornadoes wreaked havoc and your other communication lines may simply not work. I keep paying for my Mom's regular phone line, I am fine with Ooma for my needs - it has been problem free for years, except for the rare moments of Internet or power line disruptions disruptions. POTS is quite a bit more dependable than any Internet service for now.
I've had Ooma for almost a year and pay about $5 a month. I wish I had the same quality as others have described, but I do get an echo sometimes. I convinced my sister to get it and she gets a horrible echo. Everything she says is repeated back to her sometimes. I called Ooma and they suggested to put the device in between the modem and router which seemed to help out a bit. For the price, I can deal with it. I'm saving about $240 a year. If need be I just use the cell.
Originally Posted By: Toy4x4
I've had Ooma for almost a year and pay about $5 a month. I wish I had the same quality as others have described, but I do get an echo sometimes. I convinced my sister to get it and she gets a horrible echo. Everything she says is repeated back to her sometimes. I called Ooma and they suggested to put the device in between the modem and router which seemed to help out a bit. For the price, I can deal with it. I'm saving about $240 a year. If need be I just use the cell.
What is your internet speed? That happened to me initially, but I increased my internet speed and those problems went away. You can also go into the system and tweak some of the settings. I don't think it allocates enough bandwidth so if you bump the default numbers up a little, it might get better.
I've had Ooma for almost a year and pay about $5 a month. I wish I had the same quality as others have described, but I do get an echo sometimes. I convinced my sister to get it and she gets a horrible echo. Everything she says is repeated back to her sometimes. I called Ooma and they suggested to put the device in between the modem and router which seemed to help out a bit. For the price, I can deal with it. I'm saving about $240 a year. If need be I just use the cell.
What is your internet speed? That happened to me initially, but I increased my internet speed and those problems went away. You can also go into the system and tweak some of the settings. I don't think it allocates enough bandwidth so if you bump the default numbers up a little, it might get better.
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