Anyone switched to Ooma from Vonage

[branv]

We've had Vonage for a while now, but honestly would have cancelled it already if they hadn't kept giving us free months to stay. At first it worked okay, but for 80% of the time in over a year it has either a choppy sound or a terrible lag (though tests on our internet line come back with fine speed). Plus, with the fee increases and taxes, we're paying more than I feel it's worth at all.

So I saw Ooma at Costco, and reviews I've read have been positive. Just buy the system and pay no monthly fees (except for premium upgrading or porting). After 10 months it would pay for itself over Vonage.

However, I thought I'd ask my Dis budget peeps for opinions, since I know we all have a "value centered" mind set. Any thoughts?

P.S. if it matters, DH has the house wired so that all phone/internet goes to a central network/block. He's tech guy so he won't have too much of a learning curve if this takes some effort to install.

 

[labdogs42]

I'm interested in this as well. We switched from Vonage to T-Mobile at home, which is cheaper, but the phone service still isn't great. But, it is cheap, so I don't mind too much! I looked at ooma, but I couldn't find a lot of information at the time. Hopefully someone here knows something!

 

[pixiemagic30]

We have Ooma and love it. We just recently moved from Ohio to Florida and decided that we didn't want to have a house phone once we moved. We chose to upgrade because of being able to have 2 phone numbers. We have an Ohio number that is local to our family and friends that we left behind to call us on (and us them) and then we also have a Florida number that is local for us down here.

If you have specific questions, feel free to ask and I will do what I can to answer them!

 

[darrengs]

I haven't used Ooma, but I did switch from my Verizon land line to PhonePower.com and love it. I was paying Verizon $35/month for my phone with no long distance (you actually pay a fee not to have long distance) and without any add ons such as callerid, etc. and now pay less than $20. The equipment is a free lease but you pay shipping.

They are currently running a special that if you prepay $199.95 you get the 2nd year free, so that is less than $9/month. So you get all of the features such as callerid, voicemail, voicemail to email, call forwarding, free long distance, etc. for less than the price of just callerid from Verizon.

A cool feature that is included is the 2nd virtual line that allows you to recieve/make phone calls even if someone is using the phone all on the same phone number.

However, my favorite feature is the ability to block any number so all they get is a busy signal. Now when we get a telemarketer/survey we simply tell them that we are are on the way out the door please call back anytime tomorrow and we will be happy to talk to them. Then I go online into my account panel and click on the link to block their number. I get satisfaction out of seeing how many times they try to call back and all they get is a busy signal.

 

[Mom2Ashli]

I have done a bunch of research on Ooma and have found nothing but good things about it. We are going to make the switch just haven't done it yet.

 

[satorifound]

I haven't tried that one, we have Bresnan cable internet phone service and it works great. I have to say, I was a bit scared to get internet phone service because I too had bad service with Vonage. Half the time people couldn't hear us. GRRRR...

 

[cheesekate2005]

I have done a bunch of research on Ooma and have found nothing but good things about it. We are going to make the switch just haven't done it yet.

Amazon is running some kind of special...if you buy ooma you get an ipod shuffle free.

 

[delmar411]

I looked into this because of the free shuffle deal but it's not free. Not even close to it if you are looking to compare it to Vonage.

I was pretty excited at first because the break even point looked to be 13mths I think from what I pay to Vonage.

But the free service is just phone calls. That's it. All the caller id, call forwarding, simlu-ring, etc is what is included in the premium plan and that's the same price as vonage and I dont have to pay $200+ for any vonage equipment to set it up (my vonage equipment is from 2005 and was free for signing up LOL).

So that's just something to consider. We use the caller id, caller forwarding and simlu-ring every day so I'm already paying for those services.

I think if you are having choppy VOIP service that you'd get the same service from OOMA, I'd think because they are using the same internet connection. But that's something that someone with more technical knowledge than me would know about.

 

[Mom2Ashli]

Does anyone know the difference between the new Ooma Telo and Ooma Hub/Scout?

 

[pixiemagic30]

Does anyone know the difference between the new Ooma Telo and Ooma Hub/Scout?

According to the ooma website, there's not much difference. The biggest thing is the Telo has access to an online phonebook (whatever that is) and it is HD voice ready. There is also a special phone that works with the Telo that allows you to "take" Ooma with you throughout the house...

We have the Hub/Scout and love it. The phones that we current use, has storage for phone numbers in the handset so I don't think that I would pay more for the Telo...

 

[melafive]

I think Ooma is a great deal. Remember if you want to keep your phone number you need to pay $39. Also if you order the premier service before Dec 31 it is $99 after it goes up to $119. That is for a year. We choose to try out the premier service and got our number ported for free. I believe if we keep the premier service it is $99 a year for atleast the life of the company. We are still waiting for our number to be ported. It takes about a month. We do have one phone hooked up to it though and it has worked great. No problems at least so far. Also I am pretty sure that the basic service includes caller id and voice mail. I did not look into that in great detail since we decided on the premier package. I don't understand how vonage can be cheaper since it is $24.99 a month????

 

[Mom2Ashli]

According to the ooma website, there's not much difference. The biggest thing is the Telo has access to an online phonebook (whatever that is) and it is HD voice ready. There is also a special phone that works with the Telo that allows you to "take" Ooma with you throughout the house...

We have the Hub/Scout and love it. The phones that we current use, has storage for phone numbers in the handset so I don't think that I would pay more for the Telo...

That is what I figured. Just newer than the hub/scout.

Thank you.

 

[delmar411]

I think Ooma is a great deal. Remember if you want to keep your phone number you need to pay $39. Also if you order the premier service before Dec 31 it is $99 after it goes up to $119. That is for a year. We choose to try out the premier service and got our number ported for free. I believe if we keep the premier service it is $99 a year for atleast the life of the company. We are still waiting for our number to be ported. It takes about a month. We do have one phone hooked up to it though and it has worked great. No problems at least so far. Also I am pretty sure that the basic service includes caller id and voice mail. I did not look into that in great detail since we decided on the premier package. I don't understand how vonage can be cheaper since it is $24.99 a month????

I've been with vonage since 2005 so I get better rates.

 

[cheesekate2005]

We just ordered the OOMA with the shuffle. This should be an adventure!

 

[Mom2Ashli]

We just ordered the OOMA with the shuffle. This should be an adventure!

I am not seeing this deal on Amazon.

 

[cheesekate2005]

I think that the promotion ended on Saturday...that's when we ordered it.

 

[dhuba]

Do you need an Ooma handset, because from the diagram on their website it says to plug in your home phone? I don't understand how you can pick up another phone and get a ringtone. Do you need Ooma handsets for that?

 

[dex08]

Do you need an Ooma handset, because from the diagram on their website it says to plug in your home phone? I don't understand how you can pick up another phone and get a ringtone. Do you need Ooma handsets for that?

The one home phone you plug into the Ooma device will work, but the others you have plugged into your wall outlets will not. You would need to get one of those cordless expandable phone bases with multiple units and connect the base unit to the Ooma device in order to have handsets work around your house. Or, you can do some re-wiring and connect your main input line into the Ooma (which may be difficult for older homes, but I was able to do this with my Vonage adapter).

Alternatively, you could purchase their Ooma handsets, but it's cheaper just to get an expandable cordless phone set.

 

[DawnM]

No, the basic service DOES include caller id, call waiting, call forwarding, and voicemail.

Dawn

I looked into this because of the free shuffle deal but it's not free. Not even close to it if you are looking to compare it to Vonage.

I was pretty excited at first because the break even point looked to be 13mths I think from what I pay to Vonage.

But the free service is just phone calls. That's it. All the caller id, call forwarding, simlu-ring, etc is what is included in the premium plan and that's the same price as vonage and I dont have to pay $200+ for any vonage equipment to set it up (my vonage equipment is from 2005 and was free for signing up LOL).

So that's just something to consider. We use the caller id, caller forwarding and simlu-ring every day so I'm already paying for those services.

I think if you are having choppy VOIP service that you'd get the same service from OOMA, I'd think because they are using the same internet connection. But that's something that someone with more technical knowledge than me would know about.

 

[DawnM]

I ordered from Costco and it arrived last night.

We have it up and running and it is working well. I have Vonage still until my number is ported, and Costco's deal was $199 and included 6 months of premium service as well as 100 min. for international use.

I am very excited to be not paying any more phone bills, ever. We only need the basic service.

Dawn