I recently stopped paying for phone service. I used to have my phone service through a major telecom carrier. I have no complaints about the service. I was paying $45 per month for unlimited calls to US and Canada, voice mail, caller ID and some features I was not using like conference calling.
I have owned the OOMA telephone system for a couple years. I bought it a major retailer. It is the original OOMA Hub with the scout. Although I have had it for a couple years or so, I could not stop using the more traditional home phone service.
This year I decided to transfer my main number to OOMA. I did some research on OOMA online, reviewing message boards and reading Amazon posts. The comments were pretty favorable.
Here is my experience:
1. I own the original OOMA Hub and registered it a number of years ago so I do not pay anything for the service. New registrants pay fees and taxes (e.g government fees) which vary but I heard are around $3-8$.
2. My phone bill was about $45 including fees and taxes. I think my old phone service was VOIP (voice over internet protocol) as well.
3. I have the OOMA basic service. There is a premium type service which costs about $119 or so per year and it comes with a number of useful features like block lists, caller ID with name, second line, outgoing calls on the OOMA app and other features. I did not need these services as I do not use them now. The basic service comes with caller ID and voice mail. I also can check my voice mail using the app. ( Please check the OOMA site as I am going by memory.)
4. I ported or moved my home phone number to OOMA. This costs about $39. I could have gotten this for free had I signed up for the premium service. Porting was fast. I began the process on a Saturday and my number was ported to OOMA by the next Wednesday. Make sure you have your current carriers information when you fill out the OOMA porting application. The OOMA online customer service was excellent. Fast.
5. I really like my OOMA phone service. The sound quality has been great. Voice mail works well. I have to say, I do not even think about being on OOMA. Since I have the basic service not all the calls have names…only numbers. Some have names but I think it is because they are saved on my phone. In any case, this does not bother me. If you need caller ID with name, check out the premium services which only ends up being $10 per month.
6. After I ported my number to OOMA, my other carrier automatically cancelled my phone service so I did not have to do anything on that end.
7. I was able to take the wire from my OOMA box that usually goes to a phone and wire it to a phone line port that links to all the other phone outlets. This has enabled me to have phone service on all my phones including the cordless ones and the ones that are standalone plugged into a phone outlet. I could also use my Scout. The newer OOMA phones use other methods as the Scout no longer is used in the newer phones. I use my same phones which are a Uniden cordless and a couple basic wall phones I bought at Menards many years ago.
8. Summary, I recommend OOMA if you want an easy way to get very, very low cost VOIP (voice over internet protocol) phone service. There are other methods to do this, but OOMA makes is simple. My experience has been great from the excellent customer service, the fast porting of my phone number to the seamless phone service I have experienced. This has been a great experience.
I am now saving $45 dollars per month or $540 per year.
Amazon sells OOMA at very good prices Ooma Telo Free Home Phone Service
If you have questions, just leave a comment. Share your experiences on OOMA.