VoIP Hacks: Tips & Tools for Internet Telephony Reviews
VoIP Hacks: Tips & Tools for Internet Telephony
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is gaining a lot of attention these days, as more companies and individuals switch from standard telephone service to phone service via the Internet. The reason is simple: A single network to carry voice and data is easier to scale, maintain, and administer. As an added bonus, it’s also cheaper, because VoIP is free of the endless government regulations and tariffs imposed upon phone companies.
VoIP is simply overflowing with hack potential, and VoIP Hac
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List Price: $ 29.95
Price: $ 16.98
Ooma Core VoIP Phone System
- Includes both an Ooma Hub and an Ooma Scout
- Free calling to any number in the US
- All the features you’ve come to depend on, like caller-ID, call-waiting, and voicemail
- Voicemail notifications to your email and mobile phone; the flexibility to hear your voicemail and control preferences online in the Ooma Lounge
- The freedom to talk on your existing corded or cordless phones with no PC or headset required
In a volatile economy, there’s one utility you can save with the aid of VOIP technology – your phone service costs. Smart and stylish, the ooma Hub and ooma Scout partner with your high-speed Internet and your existing home phones to deliver free home phone service. Your one-time purchase eliminates monthly bills for U.S. calling and delivers extremely low rates for international calls. Your one-time purchase of an award-winning ooma Hub device frees your phone service. Call anyone, at any numbe
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List Price: $ 249.99
Price: $ 224.99
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10 Comments to “VoIP Hacks: Tips & Tools for Internet Telephony Reviews”
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By Patrick Young, September 19, 2010 @ 5:03 am
Review by Patrick Young for VoIP Hacks: Tips & Tools for Internet Telephony
Rating:
I’ve been in telephony and networking for nearly 30 years. Started in R&D at a PBX manufacturer in 1979, then did a stretch with the, at that time, worlds largest Ethernet company. Then I worked on a Fiber Optic Voice and Data MAN (IEEE 802.6) and have been manufacturing telecom products for the past 14 years. I think that gives me the qualifications to critique this book even without having to mention the Ethernet board I designed for IBM was featured on the cover of PC Week Magazine in 1987.
This is a very good book. If you are a VoIP systems integrator or do anything with Asterisk, this book is a must have. There are major problems with the current state of the VoIP industry. The two biggest problems are security and the unavailability of a decent broadband connection with QoS and an SLA below $400 per MegaBit. Yes $400, but we’re talking guaranteed availability and less than 0.5% packet loss,and 50mS or less latency with real penalties for not meeting the SLA.
Before reading this book I would not have considered putting an IP-PBX on an ADSL link. The author’s idea of putting a Sangoma ADLS modem in the Linux box with PPPoE client software and controlling the modem queue is nothing short of genius. Then to top it off with the AstShape QoS scripts and the QoS monitoring tools, this book is an absolute bargain. With these tools I’ll not only know if the ADSL connection is capable of supporting VoIP service, but I’ll know exactly why. Much better than cutting over to the VoIP system and later discovering the problems. The whole book is just full of great ideas. There is something in this book for everybody from the Skype user to a single VoIP phone owner, Asterisk, or enterprise PBX administrators. Just check out the Table of Contents. Amazon does not have the Table of Contents available but it is on the O’Reilly website oreilly D0T C0M.
While the book is an asset for seasoned VoIP integrators, it is also a very good resource for someone completely unfamiliar with VoIP with a desire to learn. You can start out with free software for a Windows PC, progress to purchasing a single VoIP phone, then to a Linux PC. If you are leary of Linux, either get over it or you should probably stay out of VoIP altogether.
By Jack D. Herrington, September 19, 2010 @ 5:09 am
Review by Jack D. Herrington for VoIP Hacks: Tips & Tools for Internet Telephony
Rating:
I enjoyed reading this book. It’s got great information on the different VoIP services and how they work. And it has a bunch of fun recipes that you can use to play with the services. I really enjoyed the one about altering your voice. As well as the information on how to record iChat and Skype. That is really handy.
By Duff, September 19, 2010 @ 5:29 am
Review by Duff for VoIP Hacks: Tips & Tools for Internet Telephony
Rating:
Voice over IP, as with most emerging technologies, in the process of shaking up the world, in this case Public Switched Telephone Network and Plain Old Telephony Service. The author starts of the book off at the most basic entry point for most consumers into the world of VoIP, which is background about the main commerical carriers such as Vonage. The introductary chapters continue to build on the most elementary approach, giving the reader advice on modifying the soft phone[s] that the respective carriers will allow or provide to the consumers, such as alternating ring tones. It isn’t long before Ted is explaining how to compeletly re-wire the house over to a pure VoIP infastructure using the existing wiring in your home as well as an, or the ATA provided by the carrier. While this is undoubtly over the casual readers head and possibly comfort level it is good see that this option is explored and explained for those that might not be aware of this solution.
Of course, other VoIP solutions are explored. Skype, is mentioned and basic features are explored, although the detail provided on Skype is not as detailed as those of other solutions, which maybe due to the coverage for Skype under the Skype Hacks book. However, the coverage for building your own VoIP via Asterisk is quite detailed and in-depth. Options that explored for this approach, are call forwarding, hold music, voice mail applications and distinctive ring as well as basic advice on setting up and compiling the application. The process appears to be able to easy to implement, but alas was not tried due to this reviewers use of Skype for his VoIP needs.
Also in the closing chapters of the book, issues of improving QoS are addressed as is the legacy signalling protocol that H.323 is since the adoption of SIP. Since QoS is vital to ensuring that VoIP traffic receives the bandwidth that it needs Ted gives us some basic commands to find out if there is jitter [dropped datagrams] and some ways to fix this issue. However, it should be noted that this chapter, as with most of the later half of the book is more in line for larger scale operations that use Linux/Unix and building their own office VoIP solutions.
To summarize, VoIP hacks does offer something for everyone, although the hacks provided in the latter chapters are geared to the enterprise level deployment of VoIP. That’s not to say that the information is not relevant or even eye opening, just the average home user will find little to apply this to.
By Daniel McKinnon, September 19, 2010 @ 6:19 am
Review by Daniel McKinnon for VoIP Hacks: Tips & Tools for Internet Telephony
Rating:
VoIP isn’t just a fad or the hot thing in the computer/Internet world, it’s what is beginning to, and eventually WILL replace the old style AT&T phone system that has predominated in the world for the past 100 or so years. With the availability of high speed Internet and the technology to go along with it, VoIP (voice over IP) has re-engineered how we talk to each other, making voice communication faster, quicker, and CHEAPER than ever before. AT&T and the big phone companies have long raped consumers of their hard-earned dollars with tons of fees and overpriced “features”. Its was only a matter of time before a better alternative came about, and now it’s here and the # of new VoIP users that come online every day is staggering. As a user of VoIP I can tell you that I personally love it, and I would never go back to the old land line connection.
If you enjoy learning about VoIP and you want to learn how to do more with it, this book is for you. Going beyond the regular setup “tricks”, VoIP lists out plenty of fun and interesting things to do with your VoIP connection. Whether it’s downloading little applications to track your usage or learning how to control the lights in your home with your IP phone, this book will please all the geeks out there in the world who need to go past simply using their connection, needing to get into the guts of how it all works.
If you want to learn more about VoIP and some of the fun things you can do with it, this is a fun book to add to your collection.
**** RECOMMENDED
By John R. Vacca, September 19, 2010 @ 6:33 am
Review by John R. Vacca for VoIP Hacks: Tips & Tools for Internet Telephony
Rating:
Do you love to tinker and optimize? If you do, then this book is for you! Author Ted Wallingford, has done an outstanding job of writing a book that contains only a small subset of VoIP knowledge; but, enough to serve as an introduction to the world of VoIP and teach you how to use it to save money, be more productive, or just impress your friends.
Wallingford, begins by introducing you to some Internet based VoIP phone service providers who can help you replace your traditional phone line with a cost-saving, feature-rich VoIP line. Then, the author shows you how to customize and maximize productivity-enhancing telephony applications. He also introduces you to Skype and Skyping. Next, the author shows you how to install, configure, and hack Asterisk, an open source PBX. Then, he continues by showing you how to add hardware hacks to your VoIP setup–and how to customize them. The author also explains how you can monitor VoIP and troubleshoot it using traditional admin tools. Finally, the author shows you how to use hard-core voice.
In this most excellent practical guide, the author provides dozens of hands-on projects for building a VoIP network. More importantly, he shows you how to tweak and customize hardware and software to get the job done.
By Jason M. Page, September 19, 2010 @ 6:49 am
Review by Jason M. Page for Ooma Core VoIP Phone System
Rating:
I have been a Vonage customer for three years and suffered through all of their growing pains. At $25 a month though for unlimited service I thought I would check to see what other options were available and decided on giving Ooma a try.
The Ooma hardware is well designed, with thoughtful touches like a built in speaker for listening to voicemail and a brightness control so that you can turn down the brightness of the unit in a bedroom. The hardware comes wonderfully packaged like a product from Apple and includes just about any of the cords you might need to get everything connected with your existing service.
Setup was quite easy. You have to get online and activate the Ooma Hub unit by entering the MAC address on the bottom of the unit and telling Ooma what kind of service setup you are doing, such as whether you will use Ooma with an existing line, get a new phone number, etc. They don’t even need your credit card and you are activated.
If you are getting a new phone number then you are essentially done at this point. You get a new phone number to use, and you connect the Ooma hub to your home network. Ooma recommends you put the Ooma hub between your Cable or DSL modem and your home router (if you have one). The reason for this is that it allows the Ooma unit to manage your outbound internet traffic and make sure your phone calls are optimized ahead of other traffic, so that phone calls always have priority, sound good and work properly.
If you have a more sophisticated home network router than can do traffic shaping, recognition of IP audio, etc (some of the top of the line D-Link models have these “QoS” features built in) then you can simply plug the Ooma hub into such a router and get good results.
After plugging in the Ooma to your home network you simply connect a home phone to the Ooma unit and you are pretty much ready to go. There is an “ooma music” dial tone you will hear when you make or receive a call. This is one of the ways Ooma lets you and others know you are using their system and is sort of a free advertising that lets people know you are using this service.
You can plug the Ooma hub back in to one of your home wall jacks and then connect the Ooma scout unit in to another jack in the house so that you can use a 2nd phone there. The scout can even be configured to only ring on a 2nd line, have it’s own voicemail, etc… this is possible because the Ooma hub has a built in DSL network system in it that allows it to communicate with the scout units over your home phone wiring. This is very sophisticated compared to other VoIP vendor offerings. You can add up to about 20 scouts on the system and keep adding lines, etc, but obviously there are bandwidth and practical limits that you might run into in such a scenario.
If you are porting a number things get a bit more complicated. After indicating I wanted to port my number I was informed on their website that I needed to call them to complete the porting process. The agent I reached was a bit confused and kept insisting I should just use my existing phone service with Ooma. About the 3rd time of telling him I just wanted to get my number ported he got the paperwork started up. They email you some forms a few days after activation that you need to fill out and fax in to get your number ported, which takes a few weeks. In the interim you are assigned a temporary number to use and you can plug your existing line into the Ooma hub and it will take your inbound calls and route them through the Ooma system. There is a $40 charge for porting your existing number but Ooma will waive this fee if you sign up for the $99 premier service that includes a 2nd phone number plus additional features. Ooma advertises that you can keep your original home service as a backup line, so that your phone works even if the Internet is down, but in my experience Internet service is at least as reliable as my old school home phone line. Anyways, it’s your choice.
In my case I elected to port my number, but didn’t connect my old line to the Ooma Hub (as the agent insisted I do), I simply forwarded the number to the temporary phone number that Ooma assigned to me during the porting process.
Ooma offers a full suite of software features such as “simulring” (ring a cell or 2nd line at the same time your Ooma phone is ringing), magical “2nd phone line” from another phone on the system when the 1st line is busy, etc. You can control your entire Ooma system from the “Ooma Lounge” which is basically a web page you can access from anywhere that lets you control your Ooma system, features, additional numbers, caller ID, etc. You can learn a lot more about these features on Ooma’s website so I won’t go into them in great detail since this review is long as it is.
Sound quality on the Ooma is very very good. My mom who is used to hearing me talk on my Vonage line immediately noticed how much better the service was. Sound quality should be excellent provided you connect the Ooma equipment properly.
I would strongly recommend this service to anyone with even a basic technical ability. If you simply need the “basics” of phone service such as call waiting, caller ID and voicemail, Ooma will be a one time purchase. Their premium services are also very nice and reasonable at only $99 a year (sure beats paying Vonage $300 a year for similar features).
One question that keeps coming up is how Ooma can make money with this model. The answer is that Ooma makes money when you buy the system hardware and also makes money when you subscribe to the $99 premium service. There’s no saying that they won’t increase the price of the premium services at some time in the future. Also, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Ooma come up with new tempting hardware offers down the road such as better “scout” and “hub” units that offer features such as video calling between Ooma subscribers.
I am a voice over IP engineer and can certainly recommend the Ooma service, it’s a great option compared to spending $30-$60 a month for basic phone service with your local phone company. Ooma supports E-911 for emergency calling, and if you are really worried about having a phone line during a power outage simply connect your cable modem, Ooma Hub and cordless phone system to a UPS Battery Back UP and you will have power for at least an hour during a power loss since all those devices will be running on battery.
I highly recommend this product and the model that Ooma are starting to put together to move beyond the “bell head” phone system that we all grew up with.
12/16 update//
I wanted to provide an update to my review and answer a few additional questions. My number port was completed by Ooma almost exactly three weeks after the request which is fantastic. When the porting request is completed you start to log into the Ooma Lounge with your “real” phone number versus the temporary one that Ooma assigns to you.
I had no issues setting up my 2nd line either. Simply select from available numbers in the area code of your choice and tell Ooma how you want the call handled when it comes in (if you want it to ring to a particular hub/scout, have its own voicemail, etc). Now on to a few questions and/or mis-information I have seen about the Ooma system.
1. I have seen a lot of posts comparing Ooma to Magic Jack. There is no comparison. Magic Jack is a USB adapter that requires a PC running 24/7 to handle your phone calls. PC crashes, no phone. Want multiple lines/scouts… too bad. The Magic Jack is a toy compared to Ooma. Additionally Ooma’s basic features are far superior to Magic Jack and requires NO FEES! With Magic Jack you do have to pay annual fees for unlimited calling. So Ooma will actually be cheaper in the long run for most users!
2. I have also seen reviews indicating that Ooma works well, but choppy voice is experienced when using the Internet. This is caused by incorrect installation of the Ooma hardware. Ooma hub must be installed BETWEEN your cable modem and your home router or it cannot prioritize your telephone calls for good quality! The only exception is if you have a home router that prioritizes your voice traffic, such as some higher end models. If in doubt you must put the Ooma directly behind your Cable or DSL modem to get the optimum performance!
3. I have also seen people comment that you can’t use multiple phones with the Ooma system. This is only partially correct. If you want to use scouts and the features they offer (have a 2nd or 3rd number ring in to a scout, etc) then yes, you would need a scout for each phone you want to use with Ooma. However, if you just want a “shared line” (like regular home telephone service) then you can simply plug your Ooma Hub into your home phone jack and plug in as many other phones as you want. This will prevent some of the advanced features from working, but will basically work like a Vonage system, etc. Obviously many people have multiple handset wireless systems these days so they will just plug their wireless base station into the Ooma Hub and use scouts for other phones.
4. Someone asked me the question if I work for Ooma since I’ve commented in many reviews. The answer is no, I don’t work for Ooma but I am a very satisfied customer and a voice over IP engineer with 13 years of industry experience. Ooma is the best residential voice over IP system I’ve ever seen and I very much would like them to succeed and offer their superior service for decades to come. The only way this will happen is with strong word of mouth advertising from professionals such as myself!
2/28 update//
There have been numerous questions and a lot of confusion about “how to wire” the Ooma unit with multiple phones in the home. I will try to address that here. The Ooma Hub has two separate jacks on it, one for connection to a primary telephone and a 2nd one for connection to your home phone wiring. There’s no reason you can’t take the primary phone jack and split it to as many phones in your home as you like. However, be aware that if you do this you will be unable to use Scout units with those phones for their own phone line, voice mail, and other special Ooma features. Personally I take the Ooma Hub to my home fax/printer, then back out to my primary home telephone. I then connect the 2nd jack on my Ooma Hub to my home phone wiring and then put the scout at another wall jack elsewhere in the home.
The bottom line is that if you want to use the Scout units (remember one is included with the system) then ALL phones that need their own line connection will need a scout at the wall jack and you will need to wire the Hub to your home wiring as described above. (you could actually re-wire all of the jacks in your house and put the scout feed on some of them and the hub on others but that is FAR beyond the scope of this review). If you do not want to use the scout units, then you can simply split the phone jack out of the hub (they even give you a splitter) and plug it back into your home wiring, then use as many additional telephones, just like regular home phone service.
5/22 update//
Two things I’ve seen posted about Ooma are disingenous. I wanted to comment briefly about them.
1. Ooma has limit on number of minutes. Yes, in the fine print, Ooma says there is a 3000 minute a month limit. However, it’s worth noting that Ooma has never cut anyone off for using too many minutes. The whole point of limiting number of minutes is to prevent telemarketers or other high volume businesses from abusing the Ooma service.
2. Ooma isn’t free. The following Ooma features are “free”. Unlimited local and long distance calls one one phone line. Caller ID and Call Waiting with Caller ID. Review of phone lines online. Voicemail. The following features command a $99 per year premium per additional line for the Ooma Premium phone service;
a. Simulring (ring another phone along with your Ooma line)
b. Magic 2nd line (automatically access extra line with a phone from another scout or hub on the Ooma system when 1st line is busy)
c. Blacklists (join or create custom reject lists for telemarketers, etc)
d. 2nd phone number
e. 3 way conferencing
f. Message Screening
g. Voicemail forwarding (to email, etc)
h. Custom Ringers
And a few other features. Are these features great? Yes. Are they worth $99 a year? Yes. Do you need them to enjoy great FREE service with Ooma which still includes better features than you get from the phone company for $45 a monthg? NO!
If you don’t need these additional features then according to the ‘fine print’, Ooma is no charge for a period of at least three years.
/// Update 3 – 10.34.09
The new Ooma Telo equipment is out, and apparently Ooma is now charing $11 per year after the 1st year to cover taxes and regulatory fees for new subscribers. Current subscribers still get free service and apparently will forever. The Ooma premier service with 2nd phone line is new $119 per year so the price on that has gone up a bit too.
/// Update 4 – 8.01.10
I have now been using this Ooma device for about 20 months. My total out of pocket cost for two phone lines for two years of service has been about $400 including the purchase of the Ooma system. Previous to this I was paying about $60 a month for two lines, so I would have spent about $1400 with traditional phone service over the same period. So, despite all of the predictions of Ooma going out of business and other similar doom and gloom, I have saved about $1000 with this setup compared to a traditional phone line.
It’s also worth noting that in the entire time I’ve had the system I’ve had maybe 2 or 3 outages that lasted for any appreciable period of time. Typically the system just works, day after day, month after month without even paying attention to it.
By Tarun Chachra, September 19, 2010 @ 6:59 am
Review by Tarun Chachra for Ooma Core VoIP Phone System
Rating:
01/20/2009
QUICK NOTE: Jason M. Page has a great review above my review…you should read it also.
UPDATED 12/17/2008
We dropped DSL and moved OOMA’s to Cable Modem Service…
ORIGINAL REVIEW:
Hello All,
I bought an OOMA about 8+ months ago with one scout (added a 2nd system later on). Here is our setup.
1. NO LANDLINE required.
2. Using with Cable Broadband on Comcast.
3. Two OOMA Hubs (personal and business) and 2 OOMA Scouts.
4. 2 x 2 Line Panasonic Cordless system to use dual line capabilities.
5. Wired into home wiring so as to avoid unsightly clutter of hardware.
FIRST SYSTEM (Personal Use):
The OOMA hub is plugged in to our Apple Extreme Basetation, out of sight out of mind. Gave the OOMA internet access through the router and voila…phone service is live. NO land line is required. I know OOMA says you can use your existing land line, but it is not a necessity to use this system. They will issue you a new number or port your number over if you do not have or want a land line.
We took line one of the OOMA hub (marked home) and wired it into our home wiring (line 1 – our home is wired for 2 lines)….again very easy and no problem – the phones in the house starting working at once.
Challenge – we have a 2line phone system – so how can you use OOMA with a two line system and use the 2 line features of OOMA.
Since line one was wired and working we needed to get line 2 wired. I took the line 2 out of the ooma hub (marked WALL), wired into home wiring (line 2 jack in the basement), and used the ooma scout to complete the phone line network this system creates.
Line one was already going into the panasonic, so the scout now allowed us to plug in line 2. Voila – 2 lines on a 2 line system with one scout and one telephone number. Its like call waiting on steroids.
NOTE: You can also get multiple numbers with different ring patterns to make this more effective.
The panasonic system has 4 handsets – so now no matter where we are we have a 2 line phone system without the need for more scouts.
The scout itself does everything the OOMA hub does in a small package….so its easy to put in the kitchen and or bedroom and have it look somewhat decent.
SECOND SYSTEM:
Simply used near a telephone in the basement/home office…no fancy setup…works great with a 2 line Panasonic System.
I hope this helps you in deciding to purchase this system. Please let it be known that I am a consumer…not affiliated with OOMA….I simply LOVE this product. I no longer have monthly bills and thus we have recovered the cost of this system already.
UPDATE 12/17/08
Still going strong. WE now have two ooma hubs and two scouts at home. One for personal use and one for business. Works great…no complaints yet. Our broadband is now all cable – about 10-12mbps down (comcast) and 1.5mbps up…sometimes more on down/up in burst mode.
OOMA has also added a bunch of new features for people on the premier plan…ie. community black lists. Basically a GREAT feature…..they have created a blacklist that is shared by all members so that we can all contribute to block useless telemarketing calls etc…..you send them directly to voicemail or block them all together. AWESOME!.
People have emailed me and asked if this system works for faxing….I dont know that I can answer that since I have not really tried sending/receiving faxes with it. Please do chime in and let us all know if it works.
I have also had questions about what I think of OOMA and the business model…while I do not know the specifics, I am not afraid of using it as there seems to be enough people contacting me about purchasing it…I feel that it will be around long enough for everyone to recover the cost of the system.
If you have specific questions, feel free to ask me via email at [email protected]. I will try and help….and just to be clear..I am not affiliated with OOMA at all….just a consumer via AMAZON!
QUICK NOTE: (THANKS DAVE)
It is important to understand that you should disconnect the wiring from the local telephone company coming into your house before you wire any VOIP device into your home wiring. Basically the phone company wiring carries current into your house and OOMA also outputs some level of current to your phone lines….too much could cause an issue.
By R. Padilla, September 19, 2010 @ 7:56 am
Review by R. Padilla for Ooma Core VoIP Phone System
Rating:
Background: I’ve been using numerous VoIP products for several years. These include Vonage, Skype, Yahoo! Messenger with Voice, VoIP Discount, and more. I feel very familiar with today’s VoIP offerings and have a thorough understanding of Ooma’s product. My current broadband setup is through a Comcast Cable modem. For the sake of comparison, I will use Skype and Yahoo! Messenger.
Setup: Ooma is extremely easy to install. A tech-savvy customer probably doesn’t even need the instructions to set up Ooma. For the uninitiated, the included instructions are very clear and all the ports are easily identifiable. I can’t imagine many people that would have a hard time physically setting up Ooma and activating the service on the company’s web site.
Features: In addition to unlimited domestic calling, Ooma offers great features like caller ID, call waiting, and voicemail. These all work as advertised. I particularly like the voicemail notification options. Ooma also has premium services; for my calling habits, they’re unnecessary, but I understand why some people would find them useful.
Domestic Calling: For me, this is where Ooma really shines. The call quality is fantastic — definitely as good or better than calls I made through Skype or Yahoo! Messenger. The calls are extremely clear and I never had any connection issues. Considering the current price of the system, Ooma will pay for itself in less than a year if you compare it to all-you-can-eat offerings from phone and cable companies.
International Calling: When it works, it’s very good. In terms of call quality, Ooma sounded significantly better than Yahoo! Messenger and on par with Skype. The Ooma rates are very competitive. For the countries that I frequently call, the rates were better than Skype (sometimes half the cost) and on par with Yahoo!’s. Unlike those services, you don’t need to have a PC on to dial internationally. This is a huge feature for my household, since I live with people that want to make international calls but are not PC savvy.
Now for the bad news — the international service has been spotty. I’ve been using Ooma service for more than a year. At times it works perfectly for international calls. At other times, it’s very difficult to connect. There have been extended periods (sometimes weeks) where I’ve had to redial a number numerous times in order to connect an international call. Ooma’s customer service was not helpful at all in these cases, offering advice like “dial the number slowly” and “don’t use speed dial”. I understand that this service is evolving and changes are made to it, but the main reason I’m taking a star off of this review is due to the inconsistent international service. While it has worked flawlessly for the last few months, I’m not comfortable relying on it without Yahoo! And Skype as backups.
Conclusion: Overall, Ooma is a great product and a fantastic value at its current pricing. It has served me perfectly for domestic calls. For international calls, the service is great when it works and frustrating when it doesn’t.
By JCs, September 19, 2010 @ 8:31 am
Review by JCs for Ooma Core VoIP Phone System
Rating:
First off , I want to say I have looked all over for any reviews I could find on the Ooma system before we made the purchase. I found numerous reviews in blog forms that almost looked as if they were started by Oomas competition, and not real life users. Many included false statements that you could verify simply by checking product manuals which are freely downloadable from Ooma without purchase. Most reviews from actual users are very good, with some exceptions of some that may jump in before getting all their questions and concerns answered first. Great reviews here and at some other major retail stores , take advantage of them we did. That is the main reason I am adding to reviews , hopefully to help others. I have tested our system with a few challenges to just see how far we can push the system with great results. These tests are below and may help some with similar questions.
We have cable high speed internet service with fast but not the greatest speeds, speed tested at 350-380 Kbps upload and 9850 Kbps download (checked at numerous speed test sites). My biggest concern was the ability to use our other connected products with the phone as well. I know the Ooma regulates the download and upload speeds to preserve the sound quality, but would it limit us too much? We have a PS3 , Wii , Netflix (watch instantly) , and cable phone service (soon to be removed) over and above the Ooma. Let me tell you we just hooked the Ooma up as suggested between our router and the cable modem and all is excellent. The hook up has been documented in other reviews so I wont go into great detail here, but it was very straight forward and quick. We were up and running in less than 20 minutes including activation online. I never adjusted the settings for the limits of the upload/download Qos , all was left at default settings.
The first call was to my sister out of state, while I was on one computer uploading photos to our web host and downloading other files from another. I received no drop in quality in sound and everything sounded perfect on my sisters end as well. I found out fast, that the volume on our phones needed to be lowered , the Ooma system is much louder and clear than our cable phone. This surprised us as we already lowered our volume on our phones when we switched to cable from traditional landlines. When I first turned it on and heard the Ooma dial tone it sounded a little distorted on my Uniden cordless. I was very concerned until I turned the volume down just a bit, and all was perfect. The sound in the room I was in was being picked up by my phone due to the greater sound of this system.
My second test was just a little more for testing limits, but actually occurs in our house fairly often. We began a movie from netflix online as watch instantly downloading to our laptop and viewing on our TV. Then I booted up our other laptop to work online for work, still no errors or glitches. I picked up a phone and called a friend will all three online two wireless to our router and the Ooma direct connected. No problems at all watching , uploading pictures or downloading while talking. This was a great result as I noticed some state they feel the were limited some by the Ooma hub.
The final test was our PS3 online gaming , with the laptop surfing on the web and the phone in use. Again the same great results, no problems at all. I felt the need to post our results and will update if we find things change or test further limits. We found no references to actual other products used in combination to help us with our purchase.
Some final thoughts I feel should be considered when thinking about this purchase.
Do you believe that Ooma will be around to recoup the investment of the purchase? At this price currently two hundred fifty or less it was easier for us to commit, less than 8 months to pay it off compared to our regular phone.
Does your internet service have at least 256 Kbps upload (minimum req). We have tested ours and it is normally 350 Kbps or a little better so we felt fine , and it has been perfect so far. Minimum requirements are not hidden , they are posted here as well as on the Ooma website and most other web retail locations.
If on the fence check out the Ooma website as we did before you buy . The forums are open to view and read about the problems , tips and solutions with out buying first. I know another reviewer said the forums are only after you buy , but that is not correct. We used the forums well before we became owners of the Ooma product. I don’t believe you can post questions or use the detailed search , you can just read and see the responses. Some are very helpful , or were for us at least.
As with all reviews , “Your mileage may vary” but we love our Ooma and our only regret is that we had not purchased earlier. I don’t write a lot of reviews but felt this product is well worth it. Besides the more people that buy and enjoy this system the stronger the company becomes and the longer I will enjoy our service as well as thousands of others. Remember they have a 30 day return plan in the event it is not what you like or your experience is not as favorable. I know we wont need be needing that for us. Updates will follow.
PS. Thank you Amazon for the great product , best price on the internet and fast Prime shipping. A++++
By Steven, September 19, 2010 @ 9:01 am
Review by Steven for Ooma Core VoIP Phone System
Rating:
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.