Low Price ooma Core VoIP Phone System with No Monthly Phone Service Bills

The Ooma Core offers the ability to use internet technology to talk over a real phone, at no charge within the entire US, to landlines and cell phones. You can move freely about the house with your ordinary cordless phone. All you need is a high-speed broadband connection and a phone.

I was terrified about making the plunge to switch from traditional phone to VOIP, so I spent much time researching the Ooma before I actually installed it. I was afraid that I'd be locked into a system that would make me change my phone number, would fail when the power or cable did, necessitate the purchase of a non-wireless phone, and would sound like a synthesized voice. Fortunately, Ooma offers a variety of configurations that allowed me to avoid all of the preceding.

Before you even begin to install the Ooma, you must make a choice about how you want to set it up: internet only versus through the land line; and using your home phone number versus selecting a new one. For a fee, you can choose to have your current number ported to your Ooma if you want to keep your current number and cancel your traditional service. (Ooma recommends waiting 6 weeks before canceling phone service because of the time it takes to transfer numbers.) Because you have to register your home address when you activate, Ooma supports enhanced 9-1-1.

Set-up, in the best possible circumstances, takes mere minutes, from internet activation (required) to hooking up the unit. The quick start menu is extremely clear and easy to follow. However, in the worst possible circumstances -- and this is what happened to me -- it may take days of head-scratching to find a way to make all the necessary connections possible. When I activated the hub, I chose to keep my home number and to use the Ooma through my land line so that I would still be able to make calls when the power and/or cable was out. What I didn't count on was the unique set-up in my house: few rooms have both phone jacks AND cable connections. Those rooms that do have both already have a television using the cable jack. Right now, I have a long telephone wire running across the floor of my bedroom, down the hall, and into the room that contains the cable modem. If I don't find a way to fix this or get extra phone jacks or cable outlets installed for a reasonable fee, the Ooma will be history. Ironically, a DSL hook-up is probably much easier than a cable one. If you have both a phone jack and open outlet near your cable modem, you'll be fine. Otherwise, you may want to choose your activation set-up to be internet-only.

If you have a cordless phone, you need only to plug in the base station, and all its extension phones will work, but what about your hardwired phones? The Ooma Core comes with one Scout, a hand-size extender that will connect an additional phone to the network and enable a second line. If someone is using the phone, all I have to do is push "2," and I get the signature Ooma dial tone, telling me that I can dial out. The Ooma comes with caller ID (you must have a compatible handset), call waiting, and voice mail. The Ooma Lounge, your internet management area, allows you to check voice mail from a computer. You can even set your preferences to have Ooma notify you via email or text when you receive a voice message. If I decide to keep the Ooma, I will remove all the extras from my regular phone service to cut costs. Those who are confident with internet-only service can cancel phone service altogether, although they will not be able to make calls when the internet or power is down.

With my set up, the best sound quality comes from the corded phone I have hooked up to the Scout. The cordless phones have noticeable background hiss. During prolonged conversations, sometimes the sound breaks up, as though someone were walking out of range of a base station or talking from a cell phone, even though it wasn't the case. I suspect this has more to do with the quality of my cable internet service (questionable -- which is why I chose to keep my land line) than with Ooma itself. My initial phone call to set up voice mail sounded crystal clear. Ooma recommends that faxes be connected directly to the Hub, not an option in my case because I cannot relocate mine to the room with the cable modem. I have kept it attached to the regular phone service.

The Ooma Core comes with a 60 day trial of Ooma Premier, a service that allows a second phone number and other enhanced features. Unless you sign up for Premier, however, you won't have to pay for anything beyond the hardware.

Although the hardware may seem pricey, it will pay for itself -- as long as Ooma stays in business. If you have a compatible jack/power/internet set up and excellent high speed internet access, you cannot go wrong with Ooma. If you have issues similar to mine, you might want to think twice about buying it. Get more detail about ooma Core VoIP Phone System with No Monthly Phone Service Bills.