Ooma VOIP

What’s an Ooma? Well it’s not a farm (umá) but a company that offers a VOIP solution that’s a little different than the rest. It was unique enough that I took the plunge and decided to go with them despite the small risk that they might not be around long enough to recoup my investment.

Like many I know, I was looking at potentially getting rid of my land line. Most people call me on my cell. I also couldn’t justify paying for all the new features, such as Caller ID, if we didn’t use the landline much. In addition to just doing away with my landline, I was considering various internet solutions.

Since I’m with Comcast for my television and internet service I have the option of adding Comcast Digital Voice. I could add that separately or look into one of the various Triple Play packages that they offer. I was strongly considering this. Another option would be Vonage, another VOIP service that had the advantage of not needing to rent their modem but they have a one year agreement that I wasn’t sure I wanted to commit to.

It seems, like all things in life, that there were good and bad with every option. The modem rental and then the cost of Comcast Digital Voice after the deals expired didn’t appeal to me. The one year agreement and reviews of lesser voice quality of Vonage discourage me. Of course there are other options, such as Skype, but I didn’t feel these were answering my needs completely. Though I do like to take advantage of video chat with Skype and iChat. Those are generally great and for those of you who haven’t tried the iChat experience you don’t know how good the video can be!

So, I stumbled on Ooma while reading some consumer report reviews. I hadn’t heard of them, but I immediately liked the idea of paying for the unit once and getting my service for free from there on out. The deal with Ooma is you buy the unit, the Ooma Telo (or the older Hub and Scout), and your service is free (excepting $11/yr taxes) for as long as you own that unit. Of course, they’d like you to sign up for their premier services which run $9.99/month (not a bad deal if you need or want those extras).

The Oooma Telo lists for $249, but I found a deal through Costco online that was only $199, INCLUDING $100 worth of international calling (you know we’ll use those), AND 6 months free trial of the premier service (usually 2 month). Still a bit pricey for me, but I figured we’d break even in about 8 months and everything after that was good. I also felt very confident that if it wasn’t what I had hoped for, I could return it to Costco without issue. That’s was really the deal maker for me.

The Ooma Telo arrived on a very busy, for me, Thursday. I had about 30 minutes during lunch to set it up. It didn’t go without problems, though funny enough the problem wasn’t with Ooma but instead with my internet conection. It was down for the first time I can remember in I don’t know how long. I mean, my internet never goes down. Anyway, it came back up, and I was able to complete the activation process in about 10 minutes. I decided to port my old number (not a requirement) for a $39.99 charge. They gave me a temporary number to use during the porting process, which generally takes 3 weeks. I have phone plugged into the wall to take calls on the old number while it ports. I could have integrated that in to the Telo, but decided not to do that after reading a few reviews and comments.

So far we’ve been very happy with it. We’ve made calls, both local and long distance, without issue. The call quality is very good, even though I elected to place the Telo unit after my Apple Airport Extreme router, which does not offer QOS (quality of service). The fact that I have a fast pipe (12/2 – which is really tests out more like 25/8) probably makes that work. It’s pretty rare that we tax our internet with heavy downloads/uploads, either. The features such as Caller ID and Voice Mail have been a nice addition to the service we had before.

Oooma has a very nice online management system – My Ooma. You can set your preferences for the various settings and add-ons there. It also allows you to check your call log and voice mail. The voice mails are saved as mp3s, and you can listen to them from any computer that you have access to. So for instance, I can check my voice mails while at work.

Within the last couple of days Ooma has announced a bunch of new upcoming features that sound very promising, but some will incur additional costs. They are:

• Ooma Pure Voice™
  Ooma raises the bar on voice quality again with the introduction of Ooma Pure Voice. Ooma now brings to the home the data redundancy sophistication normally found in industrial-grade Internet telephony products. With the explosion of bandwidth usage in the home for video streaming, photo uploads and real-time gaming, Ooma Pure Voice ensures crystal clear conversations over congested networks while maintaining low-bandwidth requirements.
• High Definition Voice (HD Voice)
  Ooma is the first residential phone service to support high-definition voice technology. Compared to conventional telephones, Ooma HD Voice doubles the audio frequencies transmitted to deliver richer, more natural sounding conversation to calls between Ooma customers. Compatible corded telephone or Ooma Telo Handset is required to support Ooma HD Voice.
• iPhone and iPod Touch Calling Application
  Ooma customers will be able to download an Ooma iPhone or iPod Touch application to make phone calls over any Wi-Fi network using an iPhone or iPod touch. Ooma’s app allows customers to take their Ooma service on the road with them to make or receive calls from around the world at Ooma’s low-cost international rates.
• Bluetooth Support
  The addition of Bluetooth support on the Ooma Telo allows users to integrate their mobile phone with their home phone systems, delivering superior flexibility and convenience. Bluetooth support on the Ooma Telo allows customers to pair compatible, Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones enabling inbound calls from the mobile phone to be answered on any home phone connected to the Ooma Telo. Users may also pair compatible Bluetooth headsets to the Ooma Telo to enable hands-free talking from anywhere in the home. Additionally, Bluetooth support will allow users to download their phone book from their mobile devices for use on the Ooma Telo Handset and online at My Ooma.
• Google Voice Extensions
  Ooma simplifies the Google Voice user experience, enabling consumers to take advantage of the complementary capabilities found in both offerings, for a truly integrated and seamless phone experience. Google Voice users can integrate the Call Presentation, Listen In, and caller-ID features with their Ooma system as well as access Google Voice voicemail at a touch of a button.
• Voicemail Transcription
  Ooma customers can have inbound voicemail transcribed into text and sent as an email or text message. Users can now enjoy the convenience of reading their voicemail quickly and silently whether they are at home or on the road. Ooma voicemail transcription is human-aided to ensure the delivery of accurate and reliable messages.

I was pretty excited about the iPhone app, but learned that it will cost $9.99 AND will require the premier service to take advantage of the free 250 minutes. If they get this out in time for me to try it during my 6 months free trial, I’ll be able to determine if there is any real advantage to that. It does require a WiFi connection, so I’d not be able to use that everywhere. I only have 450 minutes a month with my iPhone account, so I’m interested in how that might play out.

So what does this have to do with Samal Island and the Philippines? Once this is set up, I can take it anywhere that I can power it up and have internet access. Very similar to Vonage in this regard. I’m not planning to move to Samal this year, but if I did I could bring this along and make/receive calls to anywhere in the US. All outgoing calls would be free and incoming calls would be the same for anyone in the US calling the US. Generally speaking, especially if you have a cell phone plan, those are free now a days, too.

We STILL plan to visit Davao/Samal this year, though those plans keep getting altered. If we do, I’m considering bring this along to see how well it works. I don’t have a real need to use it on my vacation, at least that I can think of at this time. I’d just do it to try it, if I do it at all. If it works and they’re still around, then I’ve got a great solution for calling back home when we retire.