A:AnswerThey charge you taxes and fees every month, something like $5 or $6 depending on where you live. You have to give them a credit card number to activate the service and get a phone number assigned. They assign you a phone number immediately, but you get to pick the area code. Then for about $40 you can port an existing number, which takes a few days. If you pay them an additional $120 plus tax per year, they don’t charge the $40 porting fee, you can keep both your ported number and the original number they assigned to you, and you get a bunch of other features like deciding what calls to block and forwarding calls to other phones like your cellphone. Those features seem to give you more flexibility than phone service from the local phone company or cable company. I got one of these for my mother 2-1/2 years ago, and I pay the $120 + tax per year (plus the $5 or $6 per month). I have set the call blocking feature to send all calls from numbers that are not in her contacts to voicemail. That way she does not get calls telling her her grandson is in jail somewhere in the Caribbean and she needs to send money to get him out. We monitor her voicemail and add any numbers to contacts if she gets a call from a friend whose number is not in there. We also add any numbers from solicitation calls to a blocked number list, at which point they don’t even go to voicemail — they just hear a recording that says they have been blocked. Ooma sends an email for every voicemail, and you can just click on the attachment and listen to the voicemail right then and there. I just bought another one for our vacation house. Now I can take it back and forth so I always have that phone with me. You just have to plug it into a laptop to connect it to your local Wi-Fi (or plug it in if you are not connecting wirelessly). Also by the way, you do not have to buy their phone. You can just buy an Ooma device and plug in any phone. Bear in mind that there are two versions of it, one which needs to be plugged in to the Internet, and one which can connect wirelessly and is a little bit more expensive. If your Internet goes down, you have to unplug the Ooma (from electricity) and replug it in to recycle. It flashes blue if it is working and red if it is not working, so it’s very obvious. Also, there is an app you can put in your cell phone that tells you whether it is working and lets you add contacts, listen to voicemail and set blocking levels.
A:AnswerThe wireless phones that come with the unit only needs an ac power outlet to keep the phone charged while in it's charging cradle. Once you get the base station set up you can then plug the phones and cradle anywhere in your home and get them linked to the base station. It takes a couple of minutes for the phone to establish the link and then update. You'll see a message on the face of the phone telling you it's updating, etc. After that, you can pick up the phone and push the talk button. You will get a dial tone! You're set. Oh, you can purchase more phones from Ooma and set up more extensions if you need too. I used to have about 4 or 5. Now I'm only using 3. Hope that helps.
GeorgiaDad
A:AnswerSo I switched from Verizon because they ended copper landline service in my area this December. I should have switched a long time ago but didn’t because I didn’t want to upgrade my home security system.
Anyway, to get to the setup, it was pretty straightforward. I already have Comcast broadband internet so I unpacked the OOMA and plugged in an Ethernet cable from an unused port on my router to the Ethernet port labeled internet on the OOMA base station. I then followed the instructions in the QuickStart guide to use my computer (which is also connected by Ethernet cable to the same router) to setup the OOMA base and pick a phone number from the lists tat were displayed on screen.
They also offer an app based method that uses Bluetooth to setup the OOMA base without any cables by connecting it to your home WiFi network but I didn’t bother with that.
I did want to keep my old landline number so I followed their directions to put in an online request to have Verizon transfer it over. This does cost money. The $40 fee they charge for this is waived if you pay for 1 year of service up front. I found the charges to be clearly explained on their website. Ran into a small glitch with Verizon balking at the transfer for unclear reasons but I was able to clear it up with a single call to Verizon.
So far so good and I actually save about $30 per month.
A:AnswerI had similar issues with my wifi (limited reception/low bandwidth) in certain spots in my house. I did place the base closer to my wifi router. I didn't have to place it right next to my router ... I positioned it about 20 feet away, in the next room, but where I knew I had good wifi reception. The handsets have had no problem connecting to the base from anywhere in my house. When the handsets and base "talk" to each other, they don't use the home's wifi connection . They use a separate communication protocol/frequency to "pair" themselves together. So, your wifi will only be used between your router and the base unit of the telephone system. Hope this makes sense and helps.
A:AnswerNo; Just call OOMA support and ask they to move the old number to the new OOMA box. Since it is tech support call, the regular support number can't handle it but they will give you a special number. Just give them the new OOMA serial number.
A:AnswerThe call quality is great, I have been an Ooma customer for 8 years.
unfortunately the telo only supports 4 phones.
you could always plug in another cordless phone maybe for the less used locations.
A:AnswerThis text was copied from the official Ooma website, https://www.ooma.com/faqs/:
Can I use the Ooma system internationally?
The Ooma system can be used anywhere there is a high-speed Internet connection. Regardless of where you use it, calls to the US will be free and calls outside the US will be subject to low-cost international rates. If you plan to use the device overseas, be sure to use a phone that meets US standards, and be aware that the power supply that comes with the Ooma Hub is built for US power specifications. Also, if you choose to install and use the Ooma system outside the US, you’ll be solely responsible for compliance with international laws and subject to all associated fees, taxes, tariffs, and legal penalties.
A:AnswerThe $120 is only if you opt to go with the premium level of service. Not sure what you're referring to when you mention the $5 - $6. The reason I got Ooma was that my cell service at home is very weak and my phone doesn't have wifi calling, unfortunately. I tried Google Voice but it didn't fit my needs. So, Ooma was my solution.
A:AnswerThe box I received with part number #811008022365 says "Ooma Telo Air 2 Phone Set" and contains a Telo Air 2 base and two HD3 handsets. I had the same question before buying. As far as I can tell there is no difference in the base in this combination set and the model number difference simply reflects that it includes the two handsets.
A:AnswerIt depends, It does not have to be next to the modem/router unless your Internet bandwidth is heavily used and you need the Ooma's quality of service (QoS) capabilities. In that case, you need to wire the unit in-between your provider's upstream device and your router. I tested it in my home (600Mbps down/20Mbps up) with it hooked up to my internal WiFi and it worked just fine no matter what we were using the Internet for. When I put it at my parent's home (20 Mbps down/up) on their internal WiFi it would drop a bit with heavy usage (streaming Amazon and Netflix simultaneously while also downloading patches). I then moved it to be hardwired between my parent's router and their upstream modem and it worked great even with heavy usage.
A:AnswerYes. There is an RJ11 jack you can plug anything a fax or any phone into. I plugged mine into my house RJ11 wall plate so all phone wall plates in my house, at least one in most every room, are now available to use the Ooma.
For around $40 you can get a wireless extender. Plug into AC for power, plug your fax into the extender and your fax is now wireless. There is soem easy setup to pair it to your Ooma base is all.
A:AnswerNope. However, if you already own a conventional cordless phone system you can plug it’s base station into the OOMA base’s phone jack. I’ve done that with my Panasonic and it’s handsets support a wired headset so that works for me.
A:AnswerYes, you can plug your current wireless base into Ooma to get phone service to it, and then all the wireless handsets that work with that base will also work. If your existing phone has voicemail, you can chhise which voicemail to use by setting it to pickup after fewer rings than the Ooma voicemail.