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

This is my 2nd Ooma review, the first one has been up and running for about 9 months, and the only real gripes I have are one or two dropped calls and the odd bad connection.
I will at this point strongly recommend using this as a stand alone line with a new local number provided by Ooma. I don't like the piggybacking idea and have heard of several people suffering fees from their local phone companies after they tag the Ooma system onto their internet and phone setup. I have also noticed bad days with the machine, and considering how it works by peer sharing of internet connection to speed up dialling and clarity, there are times when I have been cut off mid conversation, and then had several missed attempts at reconnection.
Also international calls often dial through and you can hear the person on the other end, but they cannot hear you so you must hang up and try again, this can get frustrating. All that said, a 2 minute connection procedure to any existing hardline internet connection (doesn't work wirelessly in case you were wondering) gives you FREE and unlimited calling local and long distance within the US. The international plan involves setting up a credit card on the website and "adding" minutes.
This is where the Ooma scores the best. Before using Ooma my monthly phone calls to Europe (UK mainly) were on average $30 - this was on an international plan ($5 per month) and then calls at only 8c per minute, which is pretty cheap. Since having the Ooma I have spent only $80 in 9 months! Calls are 2.9c - do the math.
Is the Ooma cost effective for just US usage? Well that's subjective and you need to figure out your break even point before laying out $250 for this package(which is $150 cheaper than it used to be by the way). Is it perfect? No, then again what system is? Vonage for example has a lot of VoiP problems and involves a monthly agreement. This new set which includes a "Scout" for additional phone jack points is certainly good value, just do some research on your existing bills first.
Overall I rated it 4 stars, not only for all that I've mentioned but because it is SO easy to install. The online account information and remote retrieval of voice mail is great, and the Scout adds a second line for free. Great product.Get more detail about ooma Core VoIP Phone System with No Monthly Phone Service Bills.