How to get cheap home phone service with Ooma
Mr. FG and I have always tried to keep our phone bill low, which means we've tried all sorts of different phone companies.
For the last 7 years or so, we've been with Vonage, a voIP phone service. We were happy for a while, but our bill with them has slowly crept up over the years and we decided it was time to try something else.
We do both have cell phones, but since we're with Ting, and Ting functions sort of a pay-as-you-go service, we'd ring up a pretty large Ting bill if we gave up our home phone.
We thought about Magic Jack, but opted to give Ooma a try instead.
What's Ooma??
Ooma, like Vonage, is a VOIP (Voice Over IP) phone service, which means you need high speed internet to use it.
Like Vonage, it comes with caller ID and voice mail, but unlike Vonage, once you buy the Ooma device, there's NO monthly bill aside from taxes and regulatory fees.
(Even Magic Jack has small monthly fee in addition to taxes and such.)
How much does Ooma cost?
The Ooma device costs between $99 and $129, depending on what type you buy.
Once you buy the device, if you don't mind getting a new Ooma-provided phone number, you're DONE spending money.
(love!)
We wanted to keep our phone number for simplicity's sake, though, so we opted to pay the one-time $39.99 number porting fee.
The set-up and number porting was super simple, and our call quality through Ooma has been as good or better than what we had with Vonage.
And best of all, we have no more home phone bill...just a few dollars in taxes and regulatory fees every month.
Soo, we have a $30 or less cell phone bill with Ting and a $3 or so home phone bill with Ooma, which means phone service at this house is cheap, cheap, cheap.
This makes for a happy Kristen.
We were paying Vonage $35/month for service, so the Ooma box paid for itself really quickly. We were money ahead in 3 months and I just wish we'd switched sooner.
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Do let me know if you have any questions about Ooma! And if you're an Ooma-user, do chime in with your experience.
This sounds great! I do have a question- how does this work if we have to call 911? Will they be able to find our location through the call or is it more like the cell phone where they just get a general idea of where the call is coming from? We keep our landline for peace of mind, just in case of an emergency but getting that phone bill every month hurts.
A lot of it has to do with updating your address through Ooma. And of course, if power is out, then your phone won't work. Lots of details are here: http://www.ooma.com/911-2/
Our landline connection was always awful since we moved in (terrible static, no one could fix it) so we've had VOIP service for 10 years now, and we've called 911 several times without a problem.
I've considered setting this up for my parents but they are stuck in the "What if the power goes out?" mode. They won't even switch to a cable provided VoIP solution because they are worried about the cable going out. I pointed out in the chance that it happens, you use your cell phones. Of course they point out that the cell phones don't get super coverage in the house and you have to go out on the porch to use it.
Always excuses with some people. :-/
I have no idea why that replied to your comment. I meant to post that as its own comment. Guess I need caffeine. 🙂
They make battery backup power supplies that would keep their connection going. My folks wanted to switch too but were worried about loss of power. The battery backup keeps their laptop & phone going during a power loss. They use Verizon and a data plan so they would have service providing cell towers were not out.
I can't speak for Ooma but I have used Magic Jack for about 10 years and you can set MJ up for 911 with your address so once the call to 911 is made it reflects your street address. Although we always use our cell phone it is handy to give companies your MJ phone # so you don't get unwanted calls to your cell #. I have my MJ calls go directly to my email so I know (if not home) that we got a call.
I have had an Ooma for about three years now, bought the telio handset with it. Sound clarity is great , better than old phone line which is important because where I live the cell coverage is about two bars and gets static at times. I have shared this with several friends that have been very happy with my frugal find. I have internet only service at home. Have an antenna for 16 local channels and an Apple TV box with Hulu+. One friend was paying over $250 a month for a "bundle". I pay $55 a month for my three, and saving $200 over being bundled.
Yes! Our landline has something wrong with it that no one could figure out, so our calls through it always were staticky. Thank heavens for VOIP!
It's not that no one could figure out what the problem was; it's that no one wants to alienate you as a customer by explaining why it won't get fixed.
The problem of static on your line was one of three things: 1) phone cabling inside your house (your problem to fix, expensive because it involves fishing new line all over the house and paying the telco to redo the connection to the main box outside); 2) damaged copper in the final run of line to your house (the telco's problem, but rarely repaired for 'mere' static because they have to dig up and replace all the cable); 3) the connection box on the side of your house (also the telco's problem, but they run about $50K a pop, so the telco is understandably reluctant to replace them when the line is still technically working).
Oh the things I learned working home phone customer service at my local telco!
Yeah...fishing new line through the house would have been horrible.
VOIP came around at such a good time for us!
I had a similar Problem with cable tv about 15 years ago at my old house. Static in the Picture and they blamed internal house wiring. One day I saw the repair van down the street Working on a pole. I turned on the tv when I gIt home and the picture was clear. I called customer service to thank them for finally fixing my tv picture. They told me they had no service call in, but I explained that I had Complained and they told me it was internal wires and It would cost $75 plus additional labor and materialS to fix it. Well it proved they had no clue what the problem was. But that it Was a connection down the Street causing the problem.
If there are still codes available, I would like one! We have not had a land line for years but now that my oldest is at the age where he can stay home alone, we need a phone solution for him for in case of an emergency. We were debating getting him a cheap cell phone and adding it to our Ting plan but this might be better. He doesn't really need his own cell phone for social reasons yet.
Emailed you!
Especially if you were able to use the home phone yourself instead of your Ting phone (during the times you're at home, obviously), then having an Ooma might be the cheapest option.
I was also considering just taking an old phone and adding it to Ting. You only just pay the $5 device fee per month, right? I was thinking that might be a better option than a home phone since our boys can take it with them when they go on bike rides, out with friends, etc.
It's actually $6/device, so you were close!
As long as you knew your kids wouldn't use up a bunch of minutes/data/SMS, then this could be a great way to have an emergency phone for them.
If they're wanting to do more than just emergency talking, then Ooma would definitely be cheaper.
Hi, I would love love an Ooma code. I am Canadian and have checked and it seems Ooma also works for Canada. We've had Vonage for 2 years now and we like it, cheaper than regular phone, but Ooma would be awesome. If a code is availabe, would appreciate receiving one very much! Thank you.
Emailed you!
I have had Ooma in Canada for the past couple of years, and it works great. At first there was a lot of delay/interference on the line so the sound quality was not great, but I was willing to put up with it for $4/month phone service. For the past year or so, the sound quality has been great. Ooma has been good to deal with. They periodically send emails wanting me to sign up for premiere service (which primarily allows you to block unwanted callers), but I have never bothered. I changed my phone number when I started with Ooma because I didn't want to pay the $40 switching fee, and the unanticipated bonus was that the telemarketer/robocalls were reduced by about 95%.
When you call 911, does your call get answered by a secondary service that then has to route your call through to the actual 911 call centre in your area? Typically, if you have VOIP that's what happens. I'm curious to know if it's the same with Ooma.
Seems my Ooma coupon was sent to spam folder. Here is a link with the Ooma codes. I dont get the $20 back, but hope it works for someone.
http://www.retailmenot.com/view/ooma.com
I'd love a code if you have any left. We use vonage, but as you said the price keeps going up!
Just emailed ya!
I would love a code if you have any left. Thanks! 🙂
Emailed you!
We have had Ooma for a year and a half now and have been pretty happy. My only complaint, is that we had caller ID as part of the basic free service until a few months ago, and now it is no longer working. Otherwise, supper happy!! We were able to buy our unit at Costco for $99, so for those that don't get a code, you might want to check Costco.
Ooh, good to know! We never even thought of checking at Costco.
We also have had Ooma for a year now. Am so pleased with it and the price is even better. Where can you get phone plus long distance for $4.28 a month. It is sso clear and have had not a lick of trouble with it. If you are looking for a cheaper phone service this is a deal.
I just bought one a month ago for $109 on Amazon. I guess I caught it at a good time, because it's the exact model that is $129 now. So far I would say it's ok. I have a lot of issue with delay, and I work from home, so it's kind of a big deal. I had VOIP before without this delay, so I don't think it's an internet connection speed issue, but this is a lot cheaper. I'm going to stick with it for a bit and see. I would say I'm in the not wowed category, but it's not bad enough to give up yet.
Thanks for sharing your experience with delay. Was thinking of this for my parents but my dad works from home as well and that would be an issue.
If anyone has been weighing the options and also considering MagicJack, here's a mini-review. I'm a Canadian but these prices are in USD.
The device costs $50 to buy (one time cost) and hooks up to your router and home phone.
It cost $10 to choose a (Canadian) phone number. We didn't have an existing home-phone so I'm not sure if the porting fee would be similar or more expensive.
After that service costs $35 for a year, but there's also a $100 for 3-years plan. And a hidden fee (hate those!), of $10 a year to renew your phone number. I think that's also discounted if you buy a 3-year plan.
I love the fact that MagicJack results in no monthly bill at all. There's also voicemail which conveniently shows up in my email inbox.
I hate the design of MagicJack. It is a device that plugs into the wall and sticks out about 3 inches. The design is poo and the poor thing gets weighed down by the lines connecting it to the phone and router, twice ours has started to bend and then break and both times we needed to have it replaced. In their defense, MagicJack was great about sending a (free) replacement, but the problem still persists.
Another qualm, I live in a rural location (population of my town is ~3,000), and I was unable to get a local number. This results in a lot of people mistaking my home number for a cellphone, since it's the area code of a city some 5-hours away.
Ooma looks elegant and like it might take up a little more space than the MagicJack but be less likely to break. Also, that name is fun to say. I am a sucker for a good name.
Super helpful info-thank you!
And the Magic Jack is portable... we took ours along on a road trip to Florida, along with a handset. Worked nicely for calling home to Canada.
Our Internet connection at home is not good enough to use VoIP devices. We have wireless via a tower, but watching videos can be painful. Previous VoIP phone experience was very painful. Comparable to a very bad cell phone connection... choppy, frequently dropped call, or one party couldn't hear the other at all. 🙁
So we still pay $63 to $68 per month to Bell Canada for a landline with call display and all the trimmings. Cell phone reception in our home is fairly poor, too, so no thoughts of going cell-only.
Thanks for sharing these very helpful tips, Kristen, and thank you to the commenters for additional insights!
Sorry to go off topic, but do you have any ideas why I'm not getting your email subscriptions anymore?
I'm working on it! For some reason, my feed is updating in services like Feedly or Bloglovin', but it's not going out via email. We changed a setting yesterday and will see if the feed goes out today. If not, we'll keep trying to figure out what has gone wrong!
We love our Ooma and highly recommend it to all!
This is awesome! I have been meaning to do some research in this area because I am also tired of the creeping increase in our Vonage plan. We both have work provided cell phones, but we also like having a land line. I personally find my iPhone to be very uncomfortable to hold a conversation on for more than a few minutes. I will have to check on these at Coscto when we are there in a couple weeks.
Happy Ooma users here since...gosh, maybe 2010 or 2011?
Oh wow-you guys hopped on the Ooma wagon quickly. I sure wish we'd switched sooner.
I e-mailed you early this morning, but didn't get a response. Assuming all the codes are gone now? 🙁
I would love one. I just bought my own house and am living alone. Haven't had a landline for years, but I would feel better with one now. Thanks
Do you have to leave your computer on to use these services or does it just connect through the router?
I have Comcast voice and at first it was TERRIBLE, but I finally got them to replace the router/gateway thing and now it's perfect. Nervous about switching because I spend 3-4 hours per day on the phone, so good service is pretty important to me... but the cost savings would be huge. Hmmm... thanks for this post!
Yup, it just connects through the router.
I wish there was a way to try ooma for a trial so you could decide!
There is an Ooma as a Gold Box Deal on Amazon today for $90 -- I'm not sure it's the same as you mention above though:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/goldbox/ref=pe_837390_150431590_dotd_h_t
Ooma is available through Costco on-line (at least in Canada)! $109.99 plus taxes. Also has 47 reviews.
Any Ooma codes left?
Oops, never mind. I just saw your edit 😉
I would love an ooma code, if there is one still available. Thanks.
Who do you use for internet? We have a package deal and it's quite expensive for phone/internet/TV (which we don't even use the TV portion of).
We use Verizon, which is a little on the expensive side, but there aren't a whole ton of cheap AND fast internet options out there! I saw Ting is starting to offer home internet, but it's pretty pricey too.
Can you explain, to a computer illiterate person like me, in more detail how the majic jack and oomba things work? You plug them into the electric outlet and to our internet router, right? Then some how your telephonr rings when some one calls you? Or does your computer ring? How do you get emails from people calling you on the phone?
Also, can you give me more info about "Ting"? Is it available in the US? Is it pay as you go? Does it compare to tracphone?
Thanks!
Yep, that's how it works, basically! You plug the Ooma into the power outlet in your wall, plug the Ooma into your router, and then another cord runs from the Ooma into your telephone set.
So you use your telephone set just like you normally would and it rings as usual. Nice and easy.
Ting is indeed available in the US. It's a bit like a pay as you go plan, in that there's no contract and the amount you pay each month varies depending on how much you use your cell phone. You can read more about it at http://www.ting.com.
Is it practical to use Ooma (or voip in general) on a DSL connection (2Mbuts down, 500Kbits up)?
Ooma says yes, you can use DSL: http://www.ooma.com/faqs/
Wondering if your still happy with the service?
Find myself to paranoid to only have a cell phone with a toddler. Between dead batteries and misplacing the cell phone, it would give me peace of mind to have a "home phone."
Yup, still loving Ooma!