Cheapest voip landline option?

[slackerinabox]

I'm on a cheapskate bender (saved $1,800 yearly so far getting my family cell bill down to $90 and internet down to $50!) and the only missing link is a landline. I never, ever use it and only telemarketers call, but our co-ops intercom system requires a phone (and using our cellphone's a bad idea since we have different schedules) and I don't want to spend $200+ a year for telemarketers to be able to reach me.

I had magic jack and it was alright (and may be my choice). Any other options?

 

[AnonymouseUser]

I'm on a cheapskate bender (saved $1,800 yearly so far getting my family cell bill down to $90 and internet down to $50!) and the only missing link is a landline. I never, ever use it and only telemarketers call, but our co-ops intercom system requires a phone (and using our cellphone's a bad idea since we have different schedules) and I don't want to spend $200+ a year for telemarketers to be able to reach me.

I had magic jack and it was alright (and may be my choice). Any other options?

I have been using Voip.ms for years now, and with three numbers (including business number) spend ~$13/month. Their standard plan is ~1c/minute, but they have a high volume plan if you need it for only $4.25/month ($6.95 for transferred numbers). e911 is $1.50 extra per line. Phone numbers are as cheap as 85c/month. You'll need a voip adapter (eg, Obihai Obi200) to use your standard phone, or you can use a voip app on your phone or PC. Basic SMS is included, no MMS. Block list, Ring Groups, Voicemail, Time Conditions, etc are included.

I've heard good things about Anveo, but have never used them. It may be cheaper than Voip.ms (they do have a basic free plan), but I think their website is a little more difficult to navigate. Best for those already familiar with Voip.

Another option would be Google Voice, which is free as long as you don't mind their privacy invasions. You can use it with an Obi200 as well.

 

[John Connor]

Ooma! And use Nomorobo with it too. Your phone will just ring once if it's a telemarketer, etc. Will even block the political calls.

 

[KeithP]

You could get a Google Voice number and connect both your cell phones to it so schedules wouldn't matter.

-KeithP

 

[esquared]

I've had Ooma for a few years and the phone system is way more clear than the Magic Jack I used to have.
Just buy the phone and calls are free. You only have to pay the fed/local phone tax per month. It could be 3.00/6.00 month, depending what state you live.

https://www.amazon.com/Ooma-Telo-Free-Phone-Service/dp/B00I4XMEYA

 

[Rumpltzer]

Travel back in time to like 2009 or 2010. Buy an Ooma box for ~$200 (I think it was $120 refurbished??). Pay no taxes or fees ever because you're grandfathered in.

Or pay the taxes. Or get rid of the land line. Or what's the deal with Obihai and Google Voice; do you pay taxes on that?

 

[DigDog]

what is this "landline" thing you speak of?

 

[manly]

Google Voice + OBi 200

 

[John Connor]

what is this "landline" thing you speak of?

Something that doesn't cut in and out and where you lose reception.

 

[BUTCH1]

Meh. I'm still using Magic-Jack @$35/year, no quality issues at all.

 

[Naer]

i have a landline. wish i didn't tho

 

[RossMAN]

I've had Ooma for a few years and the phone system is way more clear than the Magic Jack I used to have.
Just buy the phone and calls are free. You only have to pay the fed/local phone tax per month. It could be 3.00/6.00 month, depending what state you live.

https://www.amazon.com/Ooma-Telo-Free-Phone-Service/dp/B00I4XMEYA

Another vote for Ooma, it just works. We pay around $5/mo in taxes and fees which I'm fine with.

https://shop.ooma.com/tax_calculator

 

[slackerinabox]

Ooma seems to be the logical choice, I've considered it long ago but I there were rumors of them going out of business years ago that kept me worried - does it look like ooma will be around for the long term? Then again if it works for 2 years I'm ahead.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Ooma seems to be the logical choice, I've considered it long ago but I there were rumors of them going out of business years ago that kept me worried - does it look like ooma will be around for the long term? Then again if it works for 2 years I'm ahead.

Ooma requires expensive Ooma hardware, has fewer basic features, and is more expensive (tax alone) than the providers I mentioned. Advanced features cost extra, but are included with most plans with other providers. Do you want Call Blocking, Three-way conferencing, Multi Ring, Do Not Disturb, Voicemail-to-email forwarding, or even Call Forwarding? That requires Ooma Premier ($9.99/month), but all of that (and more) is included with Voip.ms and Anveo.

With an Obihai adapter (industry leader) you have your choice of provider, from free Google Voice to ~$3/month with Voip.ms or Anveo. If I were with Ooma, the three numbers I have would cost $4.92/month per line in taxes alone, which is more than I pay total now ($13 / 3 = $4.33 avg/month).

 

[slackerinabox]

Ooma requires expensive Ooma hardware, has fewer basic features, and is more expensive (tax alone) than the providers I mentioned. Advanced features cost extra, but are included with most plans with other providers. Do you want Call Blocking, Three-way conferencing, Multi Ring, Do Not Disturb, Voicemail-to-email forwarding, or even Call Forwarding? That requires Ooma Premier ($9.99/month), but all of that (and more) is included with Voip.ms and Anveo.

With an Obihai adapter (industry leader) you have your choice of provider, from free Google Voice to ~$3/month with Voip.ms or Anveo. If I were with Ooma, the three numbers I have would cost $4.92/month per line in taxes alone, which is more than I pay total now ($13 / 3 = $4.33 avg/month).

Coincidentally, ordered an obi200 and had everything set up within minutes. $47 for the device and google voice is working exactly as I want it too. Actually, it's kinda cool to get calls sent to my mobile too (if ups buzzes me while I'm at work I can still let them in, etc., and I can block the telemarketers). The more I looked into ooma the less sense it made, the taxes were higher than mentioned in this thread ($5.16) -with magic jack including a year of service for $33 refurbed, and obi potentially even cheaper if I get 2 years out of it, obi won. i'm enjoying being cheap, saving $25/month. I'm a tad worried google will pull the plug on things, but they have other options starting at $3.99, no biggie.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Coincidentally, ordered an obi200 and had everything set up within minutes. $47 for the device and google voice is working exactly as I want it too. Actually, it's kinda cool to get calls sent to my mobile too (if ups buzzes me while I'm at work I can still let them in, etc., and I can block the telemarketers). The more I looked into ooma the less sense it made, the taxes were higher than mentioned in this thread ($5.16) -with magic jack including a year of service for $33 refurbed, and obi potentially even cheaper if I get 2 years out of it, obi won. i'm enjoying being cheap, saving $25/month. I'm a tad worried google will pull the plug on things, but they have other options starting at $3.99, no biggie.

Thanks for the update. The good thing is that now that you have an Obi200, you can test different services without disrupting your Google Voice setup. The Obi200 can actually support 4 VoIP accounts at once (though you can only make one call at a time). Give Anveo's free plan a try, and if you don't need to make outgoing calls (or only VoIP to VoIP calls), Callcentric has a free phone number (NY area codes only) with unlimited incoming minutes plan as well. It will take more of an investment to test Voip.ms ($25 minimum deposit), but they are cheaper than Callcentric's paid plans, and in the ~6 years I've used them are very reliable.

FWIW, I make full use of Voip.ms services, including Voicemail to Email, Ring Groups, Time Conditions, Caller ID Filtering, SMS, multiple subaccounts (eg, to get CallerID popups on PC), etc, etc and could never go back to a basic landline. I can make and answer business calls at home and on mobile, but incoming calls to the business after 6pm go straight to voicemail. Stepdaughter can call any of the three numbers and it will get through 24/7/365, including wifey's mobile (Ring Group includes Call Forwarding options). I'm even testing IVR now to block Robocalls (Press 1 to continue). With a basic number and no e911, you could do Voip.ms for only 85c/month and 1c/minute and get all of their features.

 

[glenn1]

Does Obi/GV include 911 service or would that be an extra I'd need to source from someone like Anveo? Having the 911 feature natively available seems to be a point in favor of the Ooma / MJ solutions.

 

[Linflas]

what is this "landline" thing you speak of?

A 100+ year old technology not affected by your house being in an area where you get 1 bar signal strength on a cell phone. If you are lucky enough to be on the old copper system it isn't even affected by power outages as long as you have at least 1 non cordless phone sitting around.

 

[thebestMAX]

We have Vonage. Not the cheapest but very full featured. Been very happy with it for years and ran about $13 a month until recently. Box was free also, dont know about now.

Looking into Obi soon

 

[Kaido]

Ooma! And use Nomorobo with it too. Your phone will just ring once if it's a telemarketer, etc. Will even block the political calls.

Agreed, Ooma + Nomorobo. And premium is only like $10/mo if you want all of the extra features!

http://www.ooma.com/premier/

I thought it would be meh, but I can't even tell a sound quality difference when I call my parents (I set them up with the Ooma).

 

[Scarpozzi]

If you have internet already, another option is to use some throwaway android cellphones with the google hangouts app/Google Voice over wifi. You can get some of the prepaid ones for cheap if you don't have any laying around.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I've been thinking of getting rid of my land line too, and TV service. Need to find out how much money I'd really save if I did that. I'm on a bundle so it may not even be worth it. I do use the land line a bit, but not that much. I'm on fibre so the land line is really over fibre. The copper is only the inside wiring. When I was on the normal copper service then it was kinda nice as I have access to the phone switch, so if I wanted to test something or what not I would sometimes just use my line. But I have a test phone on my desk for that anyway.

Only thing I do prefer the sound quality of a landline headset, vs cell. It also feels more ergonomic, if on a longer conversation. But in all reality I really don't talk on the phone much.

Could make an interesting electronics project to build a mini telephony switch and have it interface with a bluetooth headset or something so that you can take/make a cell phone call from a land line. I wonder if there is a market for something like that. Could see it useful for oddball situations where you need an analog phone line but only have cell service.