Ooma the best?

Hi,

Coming to Ajijic for four months beginning January. Ooma was recommended to me as the best phone setup. Is there general agreement on this?

Michael

That was the choice of I believe the majority of those of us who considered it and other options at the Friday morning computer club meeting at the LCS (Lake Chapala Society)

Just what is Ooma?

It's a VOIP service.

David wrote:Just what is Ooma?

Ooma is a VOIP phone similar to Vonage or Magic Jack but, in my opinion, better than either of those.  I just switched from Vonage to Ooma and like it very much. If you want to know more here is a link to their website
http://www.ooma.com

Net Talk is what I have used to four years.  Worked much better than majic jack.  Also works on very slow .8 download Telmex DSL line.

With MANY free minutes worth of calls NOB on the TelMex plan - not really unlimited but MANY free calls - how many calls would you need to make for bothering with this to be worthwhile?

Flamingo wrote:With MANY free minutes worth of calls NOB on the TelMex plan - not really unlimited but MANY free calls - how many calls would you need to make for bothering with this to be worthwhile?

I agree about making calls to the US and Canada free. However, I use the Ooma VOIP phone to receive calls from Canada and the US as well as to be able to make 1-800 calls which you cannot do using the Telmex system.

Flamingo wrote:With MANY free minutes worth of calls NOB on the TelMex plan - not really unlimited but MANY free calls - how many calls would you need to make for bothering with this to be worthwhile?

I do work NOB and I tried the TelMex service. Gave it up after a few hours and went back to Vonage. The quality is OK to talk to your friends but not your customers. I got complaints of it breaking up. I also had trouble getting enough volume to hear my customers.

My Vonage works well, rarely a poor connection for friends and family calling here. My Telmex works fine for me calling USA, Canada, and Europe. Why change?

Hi Michael,  I made the switch to Ooma just under a year ago in Seattle after having been with Vonage for over 10 years.. Main reason for the switch was that my Vonage bill had gone up over time to right at $40US/Month with taxes.  We have been using Ooma here Lakeside for a couple of months now and it works flawlessly as it did in Seattle. No dropouts, no echo, no one way conversations, etc.. Yes, you have to buy the hardware but after that it's a great bargain and I ask myself why I didn't switch earlier. Our monthly bill is about $4US .. So, in the first year, the cost savings was enough to pay for the box and pocket the rest.. As with any VOIP your IP needs to be free of artifacts and operate with enough throughput. Our TelMex DSL is working better so far than the Centurylink DSL we had in Seattle.  

Cheers !

With so many cell phone companies offering unlimited free cell and text calls to the US, Canada & Mexico - why add on additional cost with a VOIP phone service?

sir wrote:With so many cell phone companies offering unlimited free cell and text calls to the US, Canada & Mexico - why add on additional cost with a VOIP phone service?

For the reason I gave above - so that family, friends and business contacts (e.g. banks) NOB can contact us in Mexico without incurring long distance charges.

Stillwaters wrote:

sir wrote:With so many cell phone companies offering unlimited free cell and text calls to the US, Canada & Mexico - why add on additional cost with a VOIP phone service?

For the reason I gave above - so that family, friends and business contacts (e.g. banks) NOB can contact us in Mexico without incurring long distance charges.  

Agreed, plus cell phone audio is awful while Ooma HD sounds very good.. It cheap and you can't have too many ways to communicate !

I love mine. Be sure to program it in the US so you have a US phone number for your friends in the US to call. I've had mine several years and no problems. It also functions as an answering machine. I found the best price was at Costco and Amazon.