About 10 days ago at time of writing this post (204-June-16), I have decided to sign up with Ooma again. The reason for this was to have a phone line that I could use if for some reason my cellular phone was not working. I have my old system which consist of the Ooma Telo (ATA and DECT base station, 1 DECT adapter, and 2 phones). All of these are being put to the same use as before, and even had an incoming call (wrong number). I have a 60 day trial of Ooma Premiere even though this not a new system. I intend on keeping the Premiere service when my trial expires. Since I already owned the hardware, I didn’t have to purchase anything new, although setting up an old system was more trouble than good. I will get into that later. I have used it to make phone calls out on my Ooma system which call quality was good. I still usually rely on my cellular phone.
Setting Up
Setting up was not easy, and could be better. I went to the activation page, and was told I had to call a number. I called, and spent more time on hold than I should have. I also had some trouble setting up my second number to the DECT adapter. This will be for the fax system that my printer supports. Trying to get them to set up my settings was more trouble than good, and actually been disconnected multiple times trying to resolve the issue. However, after the rep made the changes to the account, and told me that I had to reboot my base station, everything worked fine.
Using the System
Most people do not have this number yet – although it is available on my Contact Site. Most people that I know don’t go to my websites on any real frequency. However, I am setting this phone to make my business related calls. I also called the Pittsburgh Mayor’s Office by dialing 311. Calling 211 reaches the United Way, and Ooma charges $1.00 for 411 calls. I hadn’t checked the other short numbers, but confident that emergency services (911), and Suicide Prevention (988) will work just fine. My printer plugs into my adapter which the RJ11 cable from the printer goes into the adapter, and the adapter plugs into the electrical outlet. One of my DECT phones is in the Living Room next to the desktop PC, and the other is in my bedroom.
The Good
The system just works. With the exception of the hiccups I had initially, nothing is going wrong. Again, I am not getting much in the way of calls, but every time I used the phone, it just works. Since my Internet connection is at 10MBPS, I can be confident that the phone has all of the bandwidth I need. There are two select buttons. In the default screen, the left button is redial, and the right button is voicemail. I can also set DND on relatively quickly, turning on and off from a phone within less than a minute.
The service is very cost effective. In my area, phone service is $10/month + $130/year (Premiere). The service is actually $120, but I am guessing for taxes.
The Bad
It would be nice to have at least a couple of Directory Assistance calls. I am sure I could just look up the business or person online, but still – it would be nice to have a couple of Directory Assistance calls. Since there is an extra charge, I hadn’t tried Directory Assistance, but I would imagine that it is an automated process.
I checked a few countries for international calling, and. they are very expensive when compared to my cellular phone. For example, some numbers in the UK (+44) is up to 33¢ per minute whereas the same country and exchange is free on my cellular phone. I understand they want to make money since their monthly service is very reasonable, but still – 33¢ per minute for a call that is free on a cellular network is a big dramatic difference.
The Ugly
It would be nice if they would support SIP accounts. They are as noted a VOIP service provider. They could offer SIP based VOIP integration for their Premiere customers, and maybe support 1 or 2 accounts. They can make all outgoing calls through Ooma, but accept the SIP accounts for incoming calls as well as Ooma. I am sure that most of Ooma’s target audience won’t use this feature, but it can be done easy enough. The could use a webpage on the customer portal to offer a SIP add-on, and send all incoming calls to the DECT base station, just like they would for their customer’s primary number.
Recommendations
If you want a home phone with none of the frills or hassle, this is a good option. In the Pittsburgh Pennsylvania area, Verizon is no longer supporting copper lines for new customers, or moving customers. For those that want or need a home phone line must rely on VOIP if they want a cost effective solution. The basic plan competes with even Callcentric, and cheaper than Vonage. It would be nice if they supported SIP accounts as well, and it could be easily done.