Switching to Ooma.. Advice neeed

[Pardus]

del

 

[gamefreakgcb]

You got PM

 

[DesiPower]

I have vonage for 10 years now, thought about switching to Ooma a few times, but does not make much sense for me. I will need the premium and I use them regularly, I will also need the international calling plan which is another ~ $10 a month. The total will be same of not more than Vonage, not to mention the added one time cost of the device
As far as call quality goes both are same.

 

[Muadib]

I just left vonage for ooma, and couldn't be happier.

 

[JEDI]

would love to drop my Verizon land line. but need it for DSL (1meg).
don't need 10+ mb/sec Fios.

plus fios phone/intenet costs double of copper landline + dsl

 

[DesiPower]

I just left vonage for ooma, and couldn't be happier.

Please explain, what did you find better, besides the price

 

[Svnla]

I want to call oversea (majority in Asia) for cheap. Is this Ooma better than Magic Jack Plus?

 

[disappoint]

My 2-year contract with a horrid voip provider is about to end.

Sunrocket/Teleblend?

 

[EvilYoda]

I've since purged it from my mind but I set my parents up with Ooma over a year ago and they haven't had any issues with it. The box is pretty slick and they sound great whenever I talk to them. I originally thought they'd utilize the international calling features more but my mom buys these bulk calling cards that are slightly cheaper.

 

[RossMAN]

Yes, do it,.

 

[V00DOO]

I have been using the old Ooma without paying monthly tax for several years and have been very happy with them. Best $99 I ever spent.

 

[tortillasoup]

I think the better question is, if you already have cellphone service, why not use that instead of the Ooma?

 

[Muadib]

Please explain, what did you find better, besides the price

The price was the main reason. The service is the same if not better. The only thing that I miss is the way Vonage would transcribe a voice mail when they email it. Oops sends it as a mp3, which I can't always listen to.

 

[Muadib]

I think the better question is, if you already have cellphone service, why not use that instead of the Ooma?

I have it because my wife thinks we need a phone in the house for emergencies. I know it's stupid as we both have cell phones, but you have to pick your battles.

 

[DesiPower]

I want to call oversea (majority in Asia) for cheap. Is this Ooma better than Magic Jack Plus?

Not sure who much Majicjack charges but ooma has a plan for ~$10 a month

 

[FerrelGeek]

Of all the things, I've actually had good luck with Majicjack.

 

[radhak]

I have vonage for 10 years now, thought about switching to Ooma a few times, but does not make much sense for me. I will need the premium and I use them regularly, I will also need the international calling plan which is another ~ $10 a month. The total will be same of not more than Vonage, not to mention the added one time cost of the device
As far as call quality goes both are same.

What's the bottom line figure on your vonage bill, after taxes and all? I'm guessing north of $30, right? So that's more than $360 a year. Ooma Premium is $120. Add international calling, make it $240 a year. And you still save $120 a year.

And unless you need all of those 1000 international minutes each month, you could do better by instead enrolling at something like Dial91 (I'm sure there are others like it) where $10 gets you the same minutes that don't expire at the end of the month. Saves you a big chunk of that $120 above.

A few years later, all those savings would have added up, and you could buy yourself a roomful of beer.

The cost of the device should not even figure into your calculations; first, it falls to below $100 every so often. Recently it was at $79 at Amazon, and that's just a couple of months of your current bill.

And I think the quality is better than Vonage. So overall, a better deal.

 

[Pardus]

Thank you gamefreakgcb and everyone else for the commentary.

 

[techie81]

I just dumped my Obihai for Ooma and so far its perfect. Not bad for $3.80/month.

 

[tmc]

i am also looking to switch to ooma (or obi). any good unlimited plans that include calls to india? i see ooma has a plan for $18 per month for worldwide calling. anything better?

 

[DesiPower]

What's the bottom line figure on your vonage bill, after taxes and all? I'm guessing north of $30, right? So that's more than $360 a year. Ooma Premium is $120. Add international calling, make it $240 a year. And you still save $120 a year.

And unless you need all of those 1000 international minutes each month, you could do better by instead enrolling at something like Dial91 (I'm sure there are others like it) where $10 gets you the same minutes that don't expire at the end of the month. Saves you a big chunk of that $120 above.

A few years later, all those savings would have added up, and you could buy yourself a roomful of beer.

The cost of the device should not even figure into your calculations; first, it falls to below $100 every so often. Recently it was at $79 at Amazon, and that's just a couple of months of your current bill.

And I think the quality is better than Vonage. So overall, a better deal.

Ooma's bill is also not that straight forward, there are taxes and fees on it too. Before taxes and fees, for vonage I pay $22.5 a month and for Ooma I will pay $20 a month, typical device cost plus $35 for number transfer, lets say total to $120, that's 4 years to recoup the money.

Now I have never seen a typical Ooma bill so cannot say how much they will charge on top of $20. I would love to see it, if anybody has any real experience with it please let me know.

Our typical international minutes are close to 400, and using a 3rd party company is out of question, have used them for many years and they are PITA, major connection issues around peak festival times and holidays. Also the convenience of not having to manage another account, I will gladly pay $10 for the convince and quality.

 

[JeepinEd]

would love to drop my Verizon land line. but need it for DSL (1meg).
don't need 10+ mb/sec Fios.

plus fios phone/intenet costs double of copper landline + dsl

You can get "Dry Loop" DSL. No phone line needed. It's what I had, until I switched to Cable.

Edit: I've been using Ooma for over 4 years, with no problems. They did start charging around $3.00/month for taxes, a while back.
For international calls, I just load a few dollars into my account. We don't use it frequently, so that works well for us.

 

[quikah]

Ooma's bill is also not that straight forward, there are taxes and fees on it too. Before taxes and fees, for vonage I pay $22.5 a month and for Ooma I will pay $20 a month, typical device cost plus $35 for number transfer, lets say total to $120, that's 4 years to recoup the money.

FYI: You can get a free number port by paying for 1yr of premier (there are a few other options also if you want something else).

Now I have never seen a typical Ooma bill so cannot say how much they will charge on top of $20. I would love to see it, if anybody has any real experience with it please let me know.

I am not sure if they charge extra tax if you get any options. I just have the basic service and pay ~$4 per month.

 

[ultimatebob]

I'm a cheap bastard, so I try to use the Google Voice Gmail plugin for my phone calls now. Domestic calls are free, and international calls are wicked cheap, like 2 cents a minute for India.

 

[tortillasoup]

I have it because my wife thinks we need a phone in the house for emergencies. I know it's stupid as we both have cell phones, but you have to pick your battles.

Why not have a second cellphone? Shit I mean literally any cellphone works with 911 service, don't have to pay for anything. Otherwise I'd do something cheap/shitty like Magic jack because as you've said, it's just for emergencies.

You can even go as far as to use the Free Magic Jack app on a computer perhaps.