Business
Lifetime VOIP Phone Service for $399
Ooma is launching a new service which promises its customers an unprecedented offer of service for life.
Every month, pay the mortgage, pay the car payment, pay the utilities, pay the phone bill — right? Not if you are an Ooma customer.
Ooma is gaining ground by taking a unique approach in looking to VoIP service to the masses. Users better start eating right and exercising daily, as Ooma is offering a hub for $399 dollars, which allows the user to make a lifetime worth of phone calls.
This setup supplants typically high service prices with a high hardware price, a reflection on the drastically dropping costs of data transfer.
According to reviews, the service comes with nice perks including a second line built in (which allows for two simultaneous calls) and advanced voice mail features.
One downside is that you need to purchase separate scout units to connect extra phones in your house. The $399 package comes with a single scout unit, which connects to the hub and can be connected to two phones. Each additional scout can connect to two phones.
The hub can accept broadband cable or LAN connections and requires a power plug connection. Phones can directly plug into the hub. The phones can also be plugged into the scout, which the home telephone line plugs into. The scout requires its own power connection as well.
A household might enjoy the two line capabilities of the Ooma hub. While one resident was on the phone on a work call, the other resident could be checking movie times or calling relatives, freeing the household from single line woes.
The voicemail includes call screening features and allows you to listen to your messages remotely from your Ooma account.
One feature which users may want to reconfigure is the default caller id. It is set to anonymous by default. While some users may enjoy this cloak of secrecy, many will find that their calls are rejected by people with caller ID who do not answer anonymous calls for fear of solicitation. The caller ID is easily configurable, though, both on the phone and online.
One more possible downside of the service is that international calls are not free. You have to add money to your Ooma account to make international calls.
Ooma devices connect to each other on a peer to peer network, much like popular file-sharing programs. Each phone connected strengthens the network and expands its potential.
Overall initial users and testers have been very pleased with Ooma’s VOIP service. While it has some minor downsides, the picture is overwhelmingly positive with the setup’s full features and easy use. Soon many Americans may be leaving traditional carriers like AT&T and Verizon in the dust, as they jump to VOIP and free phone calls for life.
