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

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?

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

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.

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

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.