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

I have waited a two month to really test the Ooma service before writing a review.

Like many, I was a former Vonage user and my interest was piqued by "FREE" telephone service. I began reading reviews and noted that many of the negative reviews seemed be attributed to the fact that many did not read the terms of service or failed to understand the installation procedure for the device, and I can understand why. I am a techy, and thoroughly understand data and telephone networks, both via the communication standards and the physical wiring aspects.

Overall, Ooma does a really nice job of creating documentation to aid in the installation process. One of the real confusing issue is that, they really cannot document each unique issue that a user may face with their home wiring. This isn't the fault of Ooma, I as stated, they do a really great job of trying to document wiring issue and installation designs. They do it in a very articulate manner that is easy to understand (IMO) however, it can still be confusing.

I am not a person who is excited about packaging; however, if you are the packaging is of high quality and leads you to believe you are getting a very high quality product. The manuals are well written. I purchased the Ooma device plus the Scout; however, I have no real use of the Scout, I was not interested in using it and plan to sell the Scout on eBay, they seem to go for about $30.00.

On to the installation. The device itself appears to be built well, sturdy, and a bit heavy than what I anticipated. I decided to install the Ooma device behind my Internet facing router. This is NOT the recommended installation technique per the Ooma instruction. I initially had an issue getting the Ooma device to connect to the Ooma network. The lights on the Ooma device work in a diagnostic manner by lighting certain lights depending on the problem. After some time and rebooting the device (removing the power cord and plugging it back in) I got the device to sync with Ooma.

Over the next few weeks I paid close attention to the call quality and we did have time where calls would drop out. We could here the other party, but they could not hear us or vice versa.

I decided to move the Ooma device outside of my Internet facing router. Hence, the connection referenced the following: Cable Modem > Ooma > Router. These alleviate the need for that data (voice calls) to be processed via my Internet router. Overall call quality may have improved a little bit, but we still run into issues now and then. Overall, it had been acceptable IMO.

One of the issue I noted during installation was the white / flat network cable that was included with the Ooma device did not provide a very steady and high quality network connection. I believe this was one of the core reason I had issues connecting to the Ooma service initially and why it would lose connectivity sporadically. I did write Ooma about the problem but did not receive a response. I swapped out the cable with one of my own and the connection has been perfect since.

Speaking of, I should note that I ported my number from Vonage. During the port process, Ooma noted that it should take approximately 3-4 weeks and we would receive update via email.

Our porting process took about four weeks, during that time I did not receive any email update. I emailed Ooma for an update (at the same time I emailed their support folks about the network cable) and did not receive any update.

Overall, I have to make the assumption that if you need to contact support, you should set your expectations very low. Note that I did not try to call them, only attempted to email them, so take my comments with a grain of salt. Based on my experience, I would expect issues if I REALLY needed their help.

Oh, I almost forget, with the initial service, you also get to enjoy the Ooma premier service for the first month. I requested via email that our trial be extended since we really did not begin to use the service until our number was ported. I never received a response to my request. In all, we have not subscribed to the Ooma premier service, the only thing I liked about the enhanced service was when a voicemail was received, they would email you transcription of the voicemail (not always accurate) and also include an MP3 of the recording.

With the base service, they still email you; however, only include the number of the caller and notification that you have a voicemail and the length. You need to login to the Ooma website to listen to the voicemail. Overall, I am ok with this.

In closing, I have had a positive experience with Ooma; however, if I place myself in the shoes of a novice user, my experience may not have been so positive. In the same sense, many of the issues users may run into may not be Ooma's fault; however, since he average person just spent a considerable amount of $$, they will likely be very unhappy with Ooma.

Overall call quality has been acceptable to me. We don't use the home line heavily so when we do, it is reliable.

For the price, I am happy with the service and hope it will be around for a considerable amount of time!
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