Ooma?

[coldReactive]

Have any of you ever heard of Ooma? If so, what do you think about it?

http://www.ooma.com

Radioshack recently got the product in.

[YukaToshi]

Is that even legal?

[JillSwift]

Is that even legal?
It's VOIP.

[coldReactive]

And unlike magic jack, it doesn't require you to have a computer running all the time. Plus, no annual fee unless you wish to get premium features.

[YukaToshi]

It's VOIP.

](*,)Pretty obvious really ...

[Sealbhach]

Do you still have to pay line rental to the phone company? Also, what about your ISP, will Ooma act as an ISP? I find these telephony products confusing to understand.

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[JillSwift]

Now that I'm reading up on this, it looks pretty darn tempting.

$250 start-up fee, including the device and a second-phone extender, and boom you're making calls all over the place.

And $99/year only if you want all the fancy schmancy stuff. Otherwise no more.

There is a 3000 minute per month limit on use, though.

[coldReactive]

Do you still have to pay line rental to the phone company? Also, what about your ISP, will Ooma act as an ISP? I find these telephony products confusing to understand.

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I don't think so. Apparently, if I continue to pay charter, I will be able to have this service with Ooma, so basically, ooma depends on high-speed ISPs.


There is a 3000 minute per month limit on use, though.

Read a little more clearer:

Like all other "unlimited services" such as cell phone data plans and other VoIP services, we do have a limit of 3000 minutes per month (for outbound calling) that we can enforce on a case by case basis in the event that a subscriber is clearly abusing the service (i.e. call centers, commercial purposes, etc.). We have never terminated a customer that has used the service for residential purposes.

[LowSky]

I saw this a while ago, it seems kinda cool, Best Buy has been selling it for a while. A upfront cost of $250 is kinda expensive, not to mention the fee to keep your current number, but if my current plan with my cable company costs me $360 it does run much cheaper even with the premier service.

Newegg is selling it for $229, 80% of the reviews are bad, but keep an eye on the bad stuff, some people had problems registering their new units and customer support is horrendous... at least that is what they say.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16833888001

[JillSwift]

Read a little more clearer:Loose enforcement still means there's a 3000 minute per month limit. If their bandwidth ever gets a little tight, expect tighter enforcement.

[coldReactive]

I saw this a while ago, it seems kinda cool, Best Buy has been selling it for a while. A upfront cost of $250 is kinda expensive, not to mention the fee to keep your current number, but if my current plan with my cable company costs me $360 it does run much cheaper even with the premier service.

Newegg is selling it for $229, 80% of the reviews are bad, but keep an eye on the bad stuff, some people had problems registering their new units and customer support is horrendous... at least that is what they say.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16833888001

Yeah, seems like they have some issues with reusing MAC Addresses.

[init1]

There is a 3000 minute per month limit on use, though.

That's not too bad really. It's about an hour and a half a day.

[Excedio]

One of the Newegg reviews makes a VERY good point...


Other Thoughts: I have Ooma for over a year and is a great product. So, I got my moneys worth. However, eventually Ooma will sell as many of these systems as they're going to. At that point, there will be no income for Ooma. They will have to go out of business, leaving all their customers in the lurch.

Ooma is similar to a Ponzi scheme. Current customers are being serviced by money from new customers. When new customers run out, Ooma runs out.

I understand that there is the option of a yearly charge, but what percentage of their customers are actually paying it?

[driven1]

One of the Newegg reviews makes a VERY good point...



I understand that there is the option of a yearly charge, but what percentage of their customers are actually paying it?

Apparently, about 25%, if this article (http://www.fiercevoip.com/story/ooma-conspiracy-or-why-vonage-ultimately-doomed/2009-03-19) is correct. If you're interested in the business model, this is a good explanation.

I'm trying to decide between this and skype.