ooma

[gators5]

I know this is a site about magicjack, but so many of us have and continue to have serious problems with choppy audio, echoes, etc, and have run out of patience, and I'm one of them, with MJ. From what I've read that some are ready to or already have put it in the drawer. I was wondering if anyone has tried or knows anyone using ooma. I didn't know about ooma until the other day when I saw it mentioned on this forum.

Reading the reviews on the websites of Costco, Best Buy, Walmart, etc, it seems like a good solution to using the phone /cable company phone system.

[az2008]

Reading the reviews on the websites of Costco, Best Buy, Walmart, etc, it seems like a good solution to using the phone /cable company phone system.

This probably belonged in the rants/raves or reviews forum. This is about the third thread you've started on Ooma. I followed up to your other two here: http://www.phoneservicesupport.com/post30524.html#30524

Mark

[gators5]

I read your post on phonegnome and looked at the reviews. I'm looking for a solution and I don't care who provides it--it could be phonegnome, omma, Santa Claus etc. I just want non-third world phone service. I want to be able to pick-ip and make a call or receive one, have a conversation and not think about the service I am using. I don't think that is too much to ask for.

It seems phonegnome is not plug and play. Also you need to keep a landline line. http://www.phonegnome.com/blog/2008/05/ ... -cost-too/

I posted this question here because this is where people go with questions about choppy audio, echoes, etc and as a result this may be where people have or are trying something else.

Those of who are non-techies are looking for a solution like MJ promises.

[az2008]

Try PMing Holman and/or Lisa. They researched it and came to the conclusion Skype was the better deal. I didn't pay much attention to it. But, they might give you the URL to the discussion. (It was buried somewhere in the rambling "30 minute cutoff - reply from Dan" topic.). I remember Lisa considered Ooma but wasn't keen on a $250 investment, especially when Ooma hasn't been profitable.

Mark

[stroths]

I would lean more toward skype too given the choice between it and ooma. I say that because of the large upfront investment as mentioned already with a company that may crash and burn. Skype has been around for a long time and doesn't seem to be going away anytime soon. If I were buying something for my grandparents, I would pick ooma just for the ease of installation and use.

If you have a GrandCentral account and want free incoming calls, you can also try Gizmo5 (http://gizmo5.com/pc/). You can easily set it up with an ATA and get free incoming calls. I did it just to use the 2nd port on my PAP2 as a backup.

[az2008]

I would lean more toward skype too

One thing I don't like about Skype is that it seems that you can only use Skype-only ATA adaptors (and/or, you have to use a dedicated machine).

Future Nine's prices aren't much higher than Skype's (after adding in the cost of a Skype-in number). You can use a standard ATA adaptor attached to a router.

The only thing that turned me off about Future Nine was the way the CEO joined a MagicJack discussion on DSLR, bashing MJ, without disclosing he was the CEO of Future Nine. That looked low-brow to me. (But, after a few months as an MJ user, I'm growing accustomed to low-brow behaviors.).

Mark

[sligg111]

I know this is a site about magicjack, but so many of us have and continue to have serious problems with choppy audio, echoes, etc, and have run out of patience, and I'm one of them, with MJ. From what I've read that some are ready to or already have put it in the drawer. I was wondering if anyone has tried or knows anyone using ooma. I didn't know about ooma until the other day when I saw it mentioned on this forum.

Reading the reviews on the websites of Costco, Best Buy, Walmart, etc, it seems like a good solution to using the phone /cable company phone system.

I'm using Ooma about four months and I have had no problems. I gave up on MagicJack after one year plus-too many problems that never got fixed.

Ooma is far superior to MJ in so many ways: voice quality, caller ID, voice mail, I could go on but you can read about Ooma on their website.

Phonenome @ $100 is not the same thing as Ooma, there are distinct disadvantages to Phonenome.

[DanD]

ooma has had alot of investment money poured into their company, and both they and their investors want this to work longterm. ooma sells premier services in addition to the basic services, so besides the upfront investment from the customer, they can generate additional income through selling these add on services. The quality of the calls, and ease of use, which does not require a PC, have been experienced by most every user of this product.

[az2008]

ooma has had alot of investment money poured into their company, and both they and their investors want this to work longterm.

Ooma may be a fine service. And, it may work out. But, prospective customers should realize that the up-front charge for a lifetime of free service is 1) an investment (which can go bad), not purchasing a service, and 2) not a realistic (get something for nothing) proposition.

The bottom line is that you never get something for nothing (and, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is). Ooma may have premier services. But, those services are by necessity uncompetitive if the revenue from those are used to pay for everyone else's 4th, 5th, ... 12th year of service. You just don't get something for nothing. There's no way someone can spend $250 up front for "hardware" and get 10-20 years of free service. If it's paid for by the premier services, then those users are being overcharged.

My bet is that the one-time hardware purchase is a proxy for a per-minute rate. The lifespan of the hardware will be mysteriously linked to a person's usage. When they've used $200 worth of service, the hardware will become flashing, not connect calls, and the story will be that it must be broken -- but you can buy another one.

It will be interesting to see if there's a rash of "broken" in a year or three.

Mark

[mberlant]

One thing I don't like about Skype is that it seems that you can only use Skype-only ATA adaptors (and/or, you have to use a dedicated machine).

Future Nine's prices aren't much higher than Skype's (after adding in the cost of a Skype-in number). You can use a standard ATA adaptor attached to a router.

One of the reasons that Skype requires the use of their IM client or a Skype-only ATA lies in the way they keep prices low: they do not own or operate or pay for their own network -- you do!

While your always-on Skype adapter is waiting for a call while connected to your always-on internet connection, Skype is using your bandwidth, processing power and electricity to handle other users' traffic. This is how their entire network crashed about a year ago (I don't remember the actual date.) when Microsoft pushed Windows XP SP3 to the world.

At the appointed hour (in each Time Zone around the world, so the blackout spread westward), all XP machines set for fully automatic updates checked the Microsoft server and began downloading SP3. With the download complete, each machine installed the update on itself. With the update complete, each machine rebooted itself.

This caused Skype to come crashing down as a majority of its "Supernodes" in the Time Zone went off-line around the same time between :20 and :40 past the hour, leaving Skype without the critical mass of remaining Supernodes to restore the network. It took them several days to "reboot" their network of Skypebots, though most folks have forgotten the lesson by now.

[DanD]

Ooma

That being said, reaching their customer service/tech support is difficult. Should you have a problem that requires their assistance, be prepared for long hold times and disconnects.