Why was ooma not reviewed?

23 Responses to “Why was ooma not reviewed?”

1. Kathy Brooks Says:
   February 12th, 2009 at 12:50 pm

   I read on Amazon forum that ooma may have gone out of business in Jan 2009. I put in a couple of email questions on their site about subscribing and have had no response. Their phone number does not allow you to talk to unless you are already a customer.

   How can I find out if they are still in business?

2. Joe Fahrner Says:
   February 12th, 2009 at 1:13 pm

   Hi Kathy,

   Ooma is still in operation as far as we know. The ooma hub device is actively on sale at several reputable retailers, including Best Buy and Amazon, as of today. Ooma also announced a new hardware device called Telo at last month's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

   I should also mention that we do have an ooma hub on hand from our original review of this product and it still functions just fine.

   That being said, customer support is extremely important and if you don't feel comfortable with the level of information that ooma is able to provide you at this point, then you may want to consider another service.

   Thanks,
   Joe
   NextAdvisor.com

3. RCH Says:
   February 18th, 2009 at 11:15 am

   Kathy;
   I believe the ooma service has changed since it was introduced. The current service makes it a very comparable service to Vonage, except that it is free after purchasing the equipment. I was a Vonage user for almost two years, and have switch because of problems with quality. The ooma quality is so far above the Vonage that there is no comparison. After 1 month, I have not heard or received any comments about quality except those that say, it seems like I am in the next room talking to them. It is an exceptionaly system. I just hope they stay in business. RCH

4. Joe Says:
   February 18th, 2009 at 11:32 am

   Hi RCH,

   Company stability is the major concern. Like I mentioned in my previous comment, the service has worked and still works great for us. However, ooma requires a pretty significant upfront investment. Assuming that the company persists, then the $249 fee is a bargain. But, if the company ceases to exist or they are required to change the model to survive, then it is less of a value.

   Again, the ooma service is still fully functional on our test unit. I hope this information is helpful.

   Thanks,
   Joe
   NextAdvisor.com

5. Andre Says:
   February 27th, 2009 at 11:21 am

   Joe,
   While we all appreciate your careful thought and generally objective reviews, I am disappointed with the trepidation about OOMA hat permeates your typical comments. Certainly, these are trying times for many businesses but I believe there's lots of room for you to be a bit more balanced and reasonable in your assessment of this bold new concept. What you say, as read carefully, isn't inaccurate, it's just your opinions resonate alot of skepticism while your scant mentionings of the advantages are few, and come off quite flat, at best. Also, you are well aware that OOMA has undergone significant changes and improvements since your first review, and you seem to have no interest in taking a fresh look at OOMA and modifying your 1+ year old opinions, which sorely need updating. Your comment which states: "But, if the company ceases to exist or they are required to change the model to survive, then it is less of a value" is an example of the negative foreboding that seems to permeate your every comment about OOMA. Certainly, if the comapany, like ANY company, goes under, their service will be of NO value, but the second part of your statement implies that OOMA is "barely" a good value as it is, and if they "change their model" it will likely NOT be a GOOD value at all. That's the implication in your tone, NOT that you specifically stated that, which seems disingenuous. OOMA could "change" it's pricing structure a LOT, and still come out WAY cheaper than the price charged by Vonage, as OOMA is starting off as free. Heck, even if they eventually had to MATCH Vonage's price, that STILL would be a bargain in my book as the quality and value of OOMA seems to outperform Vonage and other Voips by a wide margin. Moreover, with OOMA offering a guarantee of at least 3 years of completely free service, the typical $1500 savings that would be realized by cancelling land-line service would go a long way toward helping pay toward for whatever small fee OOMA may eventually start to charge, if they EVER do. If you want to express risks to your readers, why not mention that if they get OOMA and cancel their landline, they will recoup their FULL investment in the OOMA purchase after only 4-5 months. That's all ANYONE is risking: a $200 investment betting that OOMA won't go out of business in 4-5 months. After that, you've broken even and could go back to your landline with no money out of pocket. If OOMA survived for a year, you'd still be WAY ahead than if you'd not bought and sat around "waiting" instead. It's examples like these that I feel would offer a much more balanced perspective to your readers in assessing the perceived "risks" of something like OOMA. Lastly, OOMA will likely sink or swim based on the PERCEPTIONS that people have of them; perceptions generated by the opinions of reveiwers like yourself. Thanks to OOMA, we are on the cusp of having free telephone service a reality. If not ultimately completely free, close to it. We should be encouraging folks who like that idea to strongly consider supporting companies like this who have the guts to take on the billion dollar big boys. As technology has made delivering data cheaper every year, the big-boy companies have only taken advantage of these efficiencies to enhance profits, and pass very little of the cost savings on to the consumer. OOMA, on the other hand, is starting from the honest reality that delivering voice data is SO CHEAP, you can actually GIVE IT AWAY, charging only a little for enhanced services, and STILL make a reasnable profit. If that isn't a consumer friendly approach, nothing is. You can bet the big-boy companies are watching OOMA very closely, as they are nibling at the heart of their over-priced billion dollar market base. Here's a fact: if half of the country would go buy an OOMA box today, the world in telecommunications pricing and service would change overnight, forever. That's the power the consumer is holding in his hand, right now, in this arena. If they succeed, we will all win. I for one, would like to see a concept like this succeed, and hope you can acknowledge the potential benefits if they do, and express those advantages in future opinions. I look forward to reading more from you.

6. Joe Says:
   February 27th, 2009 at 12:06 pm

   Hi Andre,

   Thanks for your content rich comment.

   From a consumer advocacy standpoint, I would love to see the model of free or very cheap phone service become a reality. I also generally agree with you that we should support companies that push the envelope towards getting us there.

   The ooma value proposition has evolved quite a bit since the the company first launched nearly two years ago (from totally free to basic free with premium services at an additional cost, for example). At this point, we want to see where the product, service and pricing models end up over the next few months before we make any specific recommendations about the service to our users.

   Thanks for adding your viewpoint to the conversation. It is much appreciated and a valuable addition to this discussion.

   Thanks,
   Joe
   NextAdvisor.com

7. Krish Says:
   February 28th, 2009 at 12:54 pm

   Andre:

   You don't have to take it personally — unless you are an investor in Ooma, or you work for them. may be you disclosed it elsewhere and I didn't see it.

   The skepticism of people like Joe, and frankly myself included, comes from the fact that with the current business model there is no incentive for ooma to think about their "basic" service customer base, as the cumulative future revenue from them being zero or very close to zero.

   I have been in business meetings enough to know what goes on in those meetings. The people who are running the show currently may be optimistic, wide-eyed idealists. But ultimately it will becomes a "normal" business where resources will be directed where the (future) revenues come from.
   And the people who paid upwards of $200 for hardware to make "free" calls will have a cool looking paper weight that blinks a nice shade of red.

   I am skeptical of any business model which asks you to pay all the amount upfront, but you are still dependent on their service for ongoing functionality of the product. I own a couple of replay TV boxes which I paid close to $600 for, which refuse to "call home" any more and are totally useless although they can very well function as a manual DVR; Replay just chose to castrate the box so that it will not work without talking to their server, although there was no monthly fee.

   I think Joe is fully justified in being nervous because once you spring for the box you are completely at their mercy. If you port you number to ooma, even more so.

   They may still turn out to defy logic and be a very good deal. But that is still a chance people have to take with all the risk on their side.

8. Daryl Says:
   March 4th, 2009 at 8:46 am

   I too have thought of buying an Ooma system, but your advice and warning makes sense to me. The alternative for me is Phone Power. But how confident can consumers be concerning them, as their present special of buy one year, get one free is precisely like that of Sunrocket. And yes, I was a Sunrocket customer (loved it!), but was dismayed when they went under (and I was on vacation). It was ugly. But heck, I'm leary of Vonage right now. So, since you sound like the Ooma system is almost destined to fail, can you give more than speculation concerning those you recommend? Seems like the other fellow is "speculatating" re: Ooma might be around at least 4 months or so, but after the Sunrocket ordeal, I'd like to know if a reasonable two years of staying in business is attainable. Can you "speculate" on that with the others?

9. Ron Kay Says:
   March 5th, 2009 at 1:17 pm

   I have an ooma hub for 9 months now. It has paid for itself even if they go out of business today.
   This reminds me when I bought my first Dumont 12" Television.They said,TV would not last.Its's just a fad,. I bet there are people waiting for it to still be perfected just like they are waiting for ooma to go out of business.

10. Joe Says:
    March 5th, 2009 at 1:28 pm

    Thanks for topping by and for the comment, Ron.

    I just wanted to make two things clear:

    1) We are definitely not waiting, hoping or rooting for ooma to go out of business. The concept of ooma is great for consumers and we certainly hope that service like this thrive.

    2) I have said repeatedly in this thread and others that ooma test unit is absolutely still functional and works as well as the day we first used it.

    Thanks again,
    Joe
    NextAdvisor.com

11. cliff Says:
    March 17th, 2009 at 5:38 am

    My phone bill from verizon is about $40 to $60 per month of which about 1/3 is tax. Sunrocket was better than a landline 98% of the time but on rare occasions needed tech support to make it work again. While PhonePower offers a good deal at $100-119/ Year for the first two to one years, it then cost $200/yr. I am giving Ooma a try. Compared to Verizon, payback is 3-4 months. Compared to Phonepower (at $200/2yr) about two years. I would like to see a review of the new Ooma Telo. It looks like they will be in business (at least for payback period) as they gone $16 million in VC money last fall and are introducing a new improved system with Telo.

12. Denise Says:
    April 6th, 2009 at 5:46 am

    I am also going to try OOMA. Costco has it for $219 right now for the next week or so. I currently have Vonage. While I like the many features it has, the call clarity etc. is quite frustrating. With almost each call I can hear the person on the other line but they can't hear me for 30 – 60 seconds at a time. I am tired of it and I'm sure my friends are too.

    My parents are missionaries overseas and I can't just use a cell phone. My international phone calls would be outrageous! When I had local phone service it was $4 a minute to where they live!

    I do like that Costco stands behind their products. If I decided that I don't like it I can get a full refund. Amazon.com has it cheaper but I'm not sure if they will give a refund if you don't like it.

13. allan Says:
    April 6th, 2009 at 5:18 pm

    I have been trying to get 2 questions answered. one I understand ooma is coming out with new phones, will the current hub work as well with the new phones or will there be a new or updated hub. If I port my phone number to ooma and they go out of business can I retrive the number back to att or whoever?I have been told if you have a copy of a bill with your number then you can but ooma send no statements and I feel this is a major problem if it gone. I will need a correct answer before I will purchase one.

14. David Says:
    April 18th, 2009 at 6:49 am

    I started looking at VOIP several months ago when intrigued by those late night MagicJack ads. I purchased and used a MagicJack, and although I really can't complain about the value, I could not see it as a viable replacement for a landline.

    Now, I have two ooma lines, two T-Mobile lines and one AT&T line at my desk.*

    My assessment of the three VOIP services (ooma, T-Mobile and MagicJack) with which I am familiar:

    MagicJack: Least expensive by a long shot, but IMHO, not a viable alternative as a primary service… it is o.k. as a supplement to avoid distance calling charges, but the service is sporadic in call quality and calls are frequently dropped or just not completed. Oh yeah, computer must be on to use it.

    T-Mobile @home service: Call quality is equal (or at least equal by my standards) to ooma, (both of which are as good or better than my AT&T landline). T-Mobile adds a couple features (voicemail, call waiting and call forwarding) which operate similar to AT&T. Relatively simple to use. Entire system is very stable (now that I have replaced the crappy 2Wire modem that AT&T sold me). $10 per month per line for all distance (U.S.) calling… so $20 per month for two lines. Porting my numbers was fairly quick (about a week) and painless. This service is very good, but it is offered only as a supplement to T-Mobile's cell phone service which was not really a problem for me as I was ready to switch cell service providers. I am very satisfied with this service.

    ooma: Great call quality (like T-Mobile) and the system is very stable once I rewired the system to avoid interfering with the speed of my internet service. Loaded with features that just are not available with MagicJack or T-Mobile.
    While T-Mobile may have a slight (make that very slight) price advantage during the first year (their @home modem is only $50), ooma is the clear price leader in subsequent years if you want two lines. While ooma is easy to use, there is a learning curve associated with their unique features, but well worth the investment in time. I am also very (make that very, very) happy with the ooma system.

    If I had to choose between T-Mobile and ooma, I would go with ooma, particularly if I were either unable or unwilling to go with T-Mobile's cell service. Thus, within the next few months, I will be providing a VOIP service to my son and his family who live in the New England area. Based upon my experiences, he will be getting an ooma system.

    *I have retained one AT&T line as a back-up line in the event of any internet or dsl disruption of service which I believe would also disrupt any VOIP service.

15. laloman Says:
    April 20th, 2009 at 3:40 am

    Well, like any company that provides free service there will be luck or mishaves…. Remember the free internet era 10 years ago… Netzero was nothing but started getting notice and a smart move by them giving free instalation cd's with every new pc purchase… although the free internet era crashed till this day Netzero is alive and strong! OOMA like Vonage is now being sold in almost every major store like: Walmart, Fry's, Bestbuy, Kmart, J&R electronics, Buy.com, Amazon, eCost.com, Costco, etc… obviously they made it with word of mouth which is the most proven, most powerful, most affected, free advertisment in the world! With the thousands of customers that have the premium service at $13 a month or $99yr compare to Vonage $15 basic service, OOMA still kicks butt… Even if they sell their service at $5 bucks a month for basic they still make a wonderful profit with the thousands and I do mean thousands of customers they have and new to come. OOMA can become a real strong competition to the Monopoly old tired ATT and others like them.

16. JamesPS Says:
    May 3rd, 2009 at 10:20 am

    I just purchsed an oome and it is by far the best landline replacement i;ve seem. clarity is great and if i send one to family overseas, they can also call anywhere in the US for free with no iternational rates.

    Seems strange that you did not include it in your review. something going on here.

17. latoussaint Says:
    May 12th, 2009 at 11:16 am

    I agree, there is something fishy in OOMA not being reviewed. I live in the Bay Area and sooooooo many people have OOMA and love it. I am actually purchasing one today. As a former dot.commer, this article raises my eyebrow as to why you would not include OOMA. My fiancee is director of a leading software co. here, I will have to ask him what he thinks about this. It is sort of disgusting if it is what I think it is…… ugh. Money changes everything!

18. Sam-Ozone Park NYC Says:
    May 14th, 2009 at 6:52 am

    I agree that there is something fishy here about OOma not being reviewed. I am buying it today and I intend to buy another one if I like it. I have 2 different phone lines in my home. Do I need to buy 2 different OOMA's or can both numbers be ported to the one system. Thanks Sam Ozone Park

19. snegoviksukablyat Says:
    August 2nd, 2009 at 5:03 am

    hello
    im new on this forum….

20. Thomas Says:
    August 20th, 2009 at 1:25 pm

    I too find it disappointing Ooma is not reviewed and compared. The comments by Joe above sound a bit biased – which is not like the other writings. From what I have read elsewhere Ooma has changed their backbone from using IP/PTSN to something similar to Vonage (no PTSN needed). The call quality on Ooma has been reported as superior to Vonage. The break-even point on buying the service is a few months to a year for most buyers. It seems the risk is minimal for the potential benefits.

    Ooma has their second phone system, Telo, launching soon. They have plans to add in home automation and security products that will plug into their systems. Those systems come at an additional cost. They offer great basic service for free but charge for the premium services. It seems like Ooma has many revenue streams to keep them in business from the sale of new hubs to the monthly premium service fees and potential new products with service fees.

    Even with the revenue streams mentioned above to keep them afloat Ooma has received several new VC infusions of money. One of the investors is TDF. That's right, the FCC recently has invested in Ooma through their fund and the FCC chairman now sits on the Ooma board. Not reviewing Ooma because Joe thinks they don't have staying power seems short sighted. The FCC is willing to put money behind Ooma and Joe isn't even willing to compare its offerings vs other products.

    How about more reasons Ooma will likely last the 6 months to break even and possibly much longer. Ooma has gained much of its customer base by word of mouth and direct sales. Now its sold in major retailers including Best Buy, Radio Shack, WalMart, Target, Amazon.com and too many more to mention. The potential for future sales is huge compared to its direct sales channel and will likely help it produce a profit.

    I do not work for Ooma, am not an Ooma investor and I am not currently an Ooma user/owner but I plan on buying a Telo unless I read bad reviews. Unfortunately if Joe has his way I won't be reading the review here. I learned all the above information by doing research on the company as I wanted to make sure they had saying power. I have no concerns in getting my initial investment in an Ooma hub back and then some. The company has a bright future.

    Joe please do a new review of the Ooma and compare to other products. List your negative feelings about staying power in your review if you feel so strongly they wont last the year. But dont let your gut, with no facts to back it up, skew your review or stop you from writing one. If you can get your hands on an Ooma Telo I will be very interested in your review – minus the baseless staying power argument. There are many more facts on why Ooma will be around a while than there are speculation on why it won't last.

21. Joe Says:
    August 20th, 2009 at 2:29 pm

    Hi Thomas-

    Just to be clear, as stated in the original post, we did review ooma and the review is still available (again, linked to from the original post). As I stated previously, our experience with the service was quite positive and I believe our original review reflects that. We simply made the decision to remove the review from our main VoIP comparison because it didn't seem to fit with the other more traditional VoIP services.

    Thanks,
    Joe

22. Thomas Says:
    August 21st, 2009 at 9:44 am

    Joe, thanks for the reply. I have read the review even though it was done back when Ooma was still using PSTN. You should re-do the review since their backbone has changed to be just like Vonage (actually the new device will be more secure than Vonage calls as it uses a secure tunnel to prevent DPI). I still don't understand why Ooma isn't in the comparison charts as it competes directly with the likes of Vonage. They are both VoIP services with hardware and online tools offering many phone features.

    Ooma is just as viable a landline replacement as Vonage. The pricing model for Ooma and Vonage are different but that shouldn't prevent it from being compared.

    Your excuse was Ooma may not last so you don't put it in the comparison chart. Re-read my other comment and you will see Ooma undeniably has staying power. Plus, its likely to get more popular with the release of the new device and retail sales partnerships. So, why is it not compared to the other similar VoIP solutions?

23. Walt Says:
    October 17th, 2009 at 11:36 am

    Joe,

    Give it up. The rest of you read this fast it's bound to get trashed. Ooma works fine. I started off with Vonage in 2002 out of Endicott, NY(you know, the home of IBM only it ain't there anymore, except for "The last 300") Yes, Vonage was around then. But when I moved to Knoxville, TN Vonage couldn't give me a number in my area code. I kept checking with them and finally gave up. I even told customers at "The Shack" (as if Radio is really gonna go away…ha)that it was worthless to buy Vonage cause every call would be long distance. I even threw a Vonage rep out the door when she asked me why I wouldn't sell them. Holy crap they didn't even do their own demographics. Well, I have to admit they resolved that problem. You Knoxvillians can now get Vonage with the right area code. Well, back to my story, if the monitor hasn't trashed this one for my frankness (That's the equivalent for bashing lobbyists er…sponsors}. Maybe that's why their is no recent review for Ooma, they're cheap..er economical. Joe, even if you refused to admit it, the jury heard it.
    Okay, here's what I did. I tried Packet 8 and they worked fine except they kept refusing to let my daughter call home from Okinawa. So I found the PC World review about Ooma and threw about $350 out to try the thing. I figured I could recoup my cost in about 8 months. That was in January of 2008. So I've been running fine since then. I even have a number in the Endicott area code that ports over to my Knoxville number for my NY business customers to call. All for free now. It's awesome. Now for those of you that have problems with these VOIP systems make sure it's not your router or your local broadband that isn't prioritizing you voice packets over the data. Another thing could be they are just to darn cheap to make their local networks more robust for voice. They are getting better. Sorry Joe, I couldn't resist. No hard feelings I hope.

    x zipperhead
    USMC sgt (sempre-fi)
    x OSHA inspector
    x ISO9000 auditor
    x Technology Engineer
    x New and Used Car salesman (we're all crooks)
    x Radio Shack sales associate(cellphone salesman)

    New career – Creative Writing..HA

    Walt

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