ooma Core VoIP Phone System with No Monthly Phone Service Bills Review

Let me start out that I'm kicking myself for not buying this earlier: I've been paying Vonage $17/mo for a fax line. I don't like the eFax option because while it's easy to send faxes, it's difficult to receive them. I just got ooma and, with a Brother MFC-845CW multifunction, it works PERFECTLY. I'm never paying for a fax in or out again! (Hit *99 and pause before the number you're actually dialing.)

That's the good part. Everything else is bad.

1) Voice calls are clear, but have a significant 1-to-2 second delay. It's VERY noticeable, and far worse than any other option (Vonage, Skype, or mobile phone) I have available.

2) Customer service is not good: I wasn't sure I wanted to port one of my vonage numbers during the sign up process, so I tried to email the question. No response. Tried calling, and got a phone system which pretty much told me to email. (Later, I found out, yes, you can port later.) Even worse, their website was having problems and I couldn't actually submit my number porting request until the next day.

3) Pricing is wonky: I paid $199.99 on Amazon. Earlier today it was 219. A few hours later, 209. My guess is that the original system, which was just a hub, didn't have a high enough ticket cost at $150. To me, the Scout is completely useless, since I have cordless phones, but they threw it in so they could charge an extra $50.

4) Configuration: The configuration is actually ridiculously easy, but complicated because the instructions are really bad... all this talk about a "modem" confused me. I'm a broadband guy. The really weird thing is that I couldn't get the ooma to work from behind my wireless hub, only in front of it. When it was behind the hub, if I didn't have a laptop actually plugged into it, I couldn't get it to stay on.

So... mixed review, hence the 3-stars. I think if the technology matures, this could be really really good. But right now... don't make it your primary line.

Also, I keep wondering what happens to my phone service if ooma goes out of business?Get more detail about ooma Core VoIP Phone System with No Monthly Phone Service Bills.