ooma Core VoIP Phone System with No Monthly Phone Service Bills This instant

I got the letter from AT&T CallVantage that they are discontinuing the service so I went with ooma. Didn't feel like messing with other complicated monthly plans or even more complex pay as you go plans. I like the idea of paying once and forgetting about it.

Setup was fairly straight forward (no manuals here...hehe). I plugged in the cat5 cable coming from the Verizon FIOS ONT outside direct to the "MODEM" port and my Linksys wireless router to the "HOME" port. I was surprised OOMA automatically configured itself with no intervention on my part and the blue light came on.

So far the only issue I have come across with this setup is that utorrent port test says my custom port is blocked. But torrents are downloading fine so maybe thats just a glitch with the port tester. I also have an xbox360 on my home LAN and Live works fine with this setup. (this maybe bit of an overkill but I put my Linksys in the ooma DMZ for good measure ...yes for those advanced users ooma has a management GUI much like a home router which can be accessed via setup.ooma.com)

I then connected the included splitter into the PHONE jack on the back of ooma. One line from the spliter goes to the wall jack and supplies "dial tone" to all the phone jacks in the house. I have cordless phones so not sure if just a regular non-powered analog phone would work so this is a your mileage may vary situation. (ooma apparently does not "officially" support this setup per conversation with tech support) But hey, CallVantage never "officially" supported this setup either. As long as it works thats what matters.

The other line from splitter goes to my fax modem in the PC which is again split off from fax modem to another cordless phone. So far everything works perfect with this setup.

I haven't hooked up the scout as I haven't come across a real need for it but may try it out later. Even if you don't subscribe to premier it can still be used to manage vmail from another room in the house.

After giving it a through trial for about couple weeks I did not notice any difference in call quality compared to CallVantage. Everything worked as expected... caller id, call waiting, vmail. About the only features I'll miss from CV is the scheduled do not disturb but hey maybe thats asking too much as I haven't seen any other providers offer it. Oh and I really with it had an integrated speaker phone but again, maybe thats asking bit too much from a Terminal Adapter.

So all working as expected, I finally started the port process to move my CallVantage number to ooma and to my surprise I did not have to fax anything in like some have stated. What I found from tech support is that it depends on the other company's policy on if a signed form is required and luckily CallVantage does not requir a signed form. Again YMMV on this one.

Speaking of tech support, during the course of few weeks starting with research before purchasing the unit to now, I called tech support three times (with various pre-sales questions...etc..just pick the option that you have the service already and they will talk to you anyways) and calls were picked up consistently within a few minutes and they were able to answer my questions.

All in all I am very happy with my purchase and have recommended it to my friends and colleagues. As for those who question the viability of the company, I say no one is ever safe with any company. There is always chance of a company going out of business like Sun Rocket or discontinue its service like CallVantage. In the end I think the cost savings justify the risk.Get more detail about ooma Core VoIP Phone System with No Monthly Phone Service Bills.