Customer Reviews
Amazing product! 
2008-07-11
I have been using Ooma since the beginning of the year. The first 2-3 months cautiously as a second line, and then took the plunge and disconnected the land line. The ease of use has been terrific. The second line via the scout worked as advertised out of the box. Not a whole lot to complain.
The one caveat: I cannot connect up the Ooma device as recommended between the cable modem & the router due to the way my home is wired up. All the networking stuff is inside a closet at the point where the cable modem enters the house. This seems to affect the reliability of the line. I do get occasional dropped calls.
So my suggestion to Ooma: split the function into two boxes: one with the basic networking capability, and another with the VM which can be connected up just like a scout.
Best Quality in VOIP 2008-07-09
I have tested many VOIP telephones since my first diappointment with Dialpad years ago, and I have to say that Ooma is the best. I have a 3.0 Mps Broadband Connection yet Skype constantly fails to be consistent in quality. Vonage usually has good service, but it has periods of low quality and in 3 cases, I was disconnected for long periods of time from their network. Packet 8 has the best compressed audio technology, so they are best for people who have slow internet, however their compressed audio quality is only good when compared to Ooma's superior sound quality. Packet 8 has horrible customer service - much like Qwest. Sunrocket had great customer service, but poor VOIP service. Team Mobile and Clearwire have their new VOIP but they are both jokes - seriously. T-Mobile made their wifi phone horrible on purpose so you would rely more on your cell phone. Phonegnome is great in cost but ultimately crappy service.
Anyway, I write about all these VOIP services so people don't waste their time with them, and make a smart investment with Ooma. Ooma Lounge is great, although they could improve on it. International phone calls are VERY good.
Good call quality. 
2008-06-20
I tried this at a friends house and the call quality is great. What scares me is the fact that the company could be gone in a blink of an eye. They promised a lot early and didn't deliver, so the current promises make me a bit edgy. I use ATT Callvantage and this would pay for itself in a year. So should you roll the dice? I'm currently checking to see if they can port over my VOIP number to their service and what would happen to my number if OOMA goes to vapor.
Fantasic Device - No More Phone Bills 2008-06-09
I've been using my ooma box for a number of months and I love it.
Design: The Ooma is definitely designed well with simple, large buttons. The instructions for setup are fairly simple.
Quality: I was very surprised when I plugged in the Ooma box and listened to my welcome voice mail created by the company. The voice quality was excellent! I thought it sounded better than my old service provider. Customer service has been friendly in helping me set up and port my number. When you pick-up calls, there is a short "bling" made through the receiver I guess to let you know you're using the ooma-over-the-internet line.
Voice Mail: The Ooma service will store voice mail for you, and you can even check and listen to your voice mail online after you log into the Ooma Lounge. I love that it will send me an email whenever I receive a voicemail.
Reliable: So far so good for me concerning the phone's reliability; however, if your Internet connection is completely down, you won't be able to make calls. You can set the Ooma system up to have a backup land-line connection for a minimal fee depending on who your provider is.
Porting Numbers: Check to see if your number is portable which means you can transfer your number completely over to Ooma from your old service provider. If your old number can't be ported for some reason, you can still use the land-line backup option which will retain your old number for you. You can also select the option for a brand new phone number in your area for free.
Other Features: The Ooma box let's me put my phone on "Do not disturb." I can send incoming calls straight to voice mail. As far as I understand from reading the "help" information , your voice conversations over the Internet are also digitally encrypted from your Ooma box to the Ooma main servers.
No More Phone Bill: I went with the Internet only line and I love not having my regular phone bill show up each month. It's great!
Outstanding product - beats competition hands down 2008-06-08
Please allow me to digress a little bit first - I was trying to get Vonage VOIP adaptor work with my setup consisting of cable modem, Airport extreme router (Time Capsule) and couple of Mac computers. Vonage gave me one hell of a horrible time. I wasted couple of hours on Tech support and finally thought I will give Ooma a try, based on the glowing reviews here in Amazon. If it doesn't work, Amazon is such a sport in taking it back (unlike Vonage - they transfered me to THREE different levels on stubborn representative before they would refund my money).
I am so glad for that decision - one *key* difference between the two set ups, if not already obvious, is that Vonage adaptor connects *behind* your router, whereas Ooma connects in front of it...i.e. between the modem and your router. So unlike Vonage, you don't have to do meddle with the firewall of your router to open up bazillion ports and set up port-forwadings etc etc.
To get a phone no., you go to Ooma website and in few clicks choose a snazzy number (you could port your current no. too) and submit the unique MAC id of your Ooma device. Just shut down your router, plug the beautiful Ooma device to your modem, and connect your router to Ooma. That is it - you are done! Really!
Ooma automatically configures itself to the phone no. you picked and you can start making calls in about 5 minutes!
The call clarity is great and the basic feature you expect like voice mail and call waiting work like it is supposed to. I plugged in a Vtech phone to Ooma and kept two additional handsets in different rooms and I have to tell you - the whole set up is working like a charm. Unlimited calling with Vonage is about $27 to 28 per month and in 7-8 short months Ooma would have paid for itself and from then on, it is free! I know it sounds like it is too good to be true but I checked up the company and it certainly looks like they will be around for a long time and at most may start to charge you something after three years (worst case scenario). But even then, I think it is a great deal if you are getting three years of unlimited phone service for $249. Of course not having to pay *any* monthly phone bill is a nice little relief by itself!
I have only scratched the surface of this thing - there are a lot of additional features that some of you might find very useful, such as optional land line integration (so you get real 911 instead of e911 that you get with any VOIP), instant second phone line if you are using the Ooma scout and so on. I haven't tried the scout yet, so can't comment on that.
Do yourself a favor and give Ooma a try - you will be glad you did.
From a technology neophyte 2008-07-17
I set this up all by myself and it's great! I decided at first to try it just as a new line, and not integrate it with my land lines. That way I can make all my expensive outgoing calls on it, but keep the landline for incoming. That avoids both changing phone numbers and incurring the expense of "porting" my regualar number. The set up is pretty simple, and although it took me longer than 20 mins., it wasn't bad at all. As many have said, the sound is crystal clear--even my very-hard-of-hearing Mom can hear me just fine. My modem and router are one unit, and I was a little unsure about that, but the website has excellent instructions on how to handle it--in fact, I used the website instructions for the entire set-up. An email from a real live person the day I set the ooma up asking if everything was going OK was a great touch, and there haven't been any mess-ups with our computers so far. I'm really bad at hardware stuff, but this was all-in-all a snap. More to come when I figure out the Scout.
A new way of doing old business 
2008-07-17
Ooma - what an odd name. Even after reading lots of reviews and visiting their web site, I still have to cut and paste the name.
International rates are not that palatable, and the fact that you have to prepay makes it even worse. I'm currently using Vonage and thought I could shave some expenses, switching to this thing, but it doesn't seem likely. The international rates are higher than Vonage, and upfront payment for equipment and porting number is equivalent to many months of Vonage service (I'm paying $15/mon.) Anything can happen during that time, the company may go out of business, or be purchased, or competitors may offer a better deal, or the box may go dead, or some other event may change the costs of service. Taking into account how quickly this technology changes, it's likely you'll be left with an old box that you would like to change anyway by the time the initial investment is paid for itself. Paying upfront in this fast-paced market is usually a bad idea.
Amazing device!!! 2008-07-15
I was a Vonage user for two years, and loved it; but how could I not try something which after 8 months would buy itself and would provide me free phone service, so I switched from Vonage to Ooma. The packaging for the device is fantastic: the device, packaging, and the manual looks like something Apple would make. The installation was very easy. Before you install the device, you need to go to Ooma website to activate the hub and setup a new phone number or transfer your current number. Everything is very simple. My choice was to pick a new number. I followed the simple instructions in the quick start guide. Ooma took about 2 minutes to go through initialization, and the device was up and running in no time. The voice quality is fantastic: to describe it, it's like having the person you are talking to on the phone standing next to you. It seems like the company has done its homework. The scout was easy to install as well: I just plugged it in a phone jack, and it automatically found the hub. The initialization took about a minute. I called Vonage to cancel, and they gave me 2 free months of unlimited calling. I used it to my advantage by automatically redirecting all of the calls from my old number to the new Ooma number for 2 months! You do not have to have a land line at all, which I think confuses some buyers. I am very pleased with my new service and would most definitely recommend it.
No-cost telephone service 2008-07-13
I have a dryloop DSL -- that is, a DSL line only, with no voice service. Now that I have installed an ooma hub, I have no domestic telephone charges of any kind -- no line to pay for and free local and long distance calls, including caller-ID, call-waiting, and voicemail. My only cost is for international calls, for which there are very low pay-as-you-go rates available from several providers, including ooma.
There are two disadvantages: Firstly, I don't have 'real' 911, and secondly, I would lose the telephone connection during a power outage or DSL interruption. As I have a cell phone as a backup, I don't consider these problems significant.
Setup and activation are made simple by excellent documentation and a friendly website. I made things difficult for myself by not realizing that my Westell 7500 modem is actually a combined modem and router, and so I initially set up the wrong configuration. Once I discovered my mistake, all went well. It was great being able to go to the ooma website and select my new phone number, and to be using it within just a few minutes.
Call quality is good - just like on a landline - including the international calls.
I feel no nostalgia for telephone bills.
[PeterReeve]
Ooma delivers! 2008-07-11
The bottom line: Ooma delivers on what's advertised. We've been using Ooma now for a couple of months and couldn't be happier. The hardware is sleek and visually appealing, the sound quality is excellent, and best of all, it doesn't have a monthly service fee. Every time I get a mailer from a phone company saying how much I can save by switching to their company I just have to laugh because hey, I'm not paying a thing. Thanks, Ooma! Now I just hope they stay in business for the long haul.
