Comments on: ooma @ CES 2009 http://www.ooma.com/blog/2009/01/12/ooma-ces-2009/ Get behind the scenes with Ooma Mon, 24 Oct 2011 14:33:21 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Lee http://www.ooma.com/blog/2009/01/12/ooma-ces-2009/comment-page-1/#comment-7626 Lee Tue, 06 Oct 2009 18:07:40 +0000 http://www.ooma.com/blog/2009/01/12/ooma-ces-2009/#comment-7626 I find it interesting that the "5000" minutes domestically is now in effect. In researching Ooma, it was always "unlimited" calling. Not that I will ever approach the 5000/mo., but....perhaps I missed the fine print somewhere. Let me preface this by saying that I AM now an Ooma fan. But it wasn't always this way (the screen becomes all blurry and wavy as we flashback to an earlier time): Ooma claims that as soon as you're up and running that you can kiss your phone company and monthly bills goodbye. This is simply not completely true. In my extensive research, you will still be paying for your ISP and/or cable internet provider. Most, if not all, independent ISP's require that you maintain basic phone service to receive their service because your local big brother phone company (mine is ATT) bascially "own" the lines in your area. In fact ATT is not even offering stand-alone, or "dry-loop", svce to many of its customers. In my area, they would, but as long as I maintained my basic svce and paid a $10.00/mo. upcharge...and if I'm maintaining my basic svce, then it's really not "stand-alone", is it? They would give me stand-alone DSL for no add'l charge if I bundled my package with DirecTv. This is the route I took since it was cost-effective and I think Comcast is the devil. So I dumped Comcast, and killed two birds. Next, regarding service: Again Ooma claims that you're basically Plug 'n Play. They advise that u keep your current phone svce intact until your number is ported, if you wish to keep your number...but once you've hooked up the hub correctly and you hear the Ooma dialtone, you are good-to-go and you're making free domestic calls. Uh, wrong! Mine was hooked up correctly, but the Ooma answering machine was non-functional, I couldn't make any toll-free calls, and I couldn't make 95% of my local calls. So it was essentially useless. I had to keep my home answering machine on and use my current ATT phone svce. During this time, I had placed about 4 or 5 different calls to Ooma support totalling approx 8 HOURS. I spend endless amounts of time on hold listening to the same droning hold music as the techs in the Phillippines swore they were documenting all my concerns, but each time I called they put me on hold only to come back on the line and ask me the same questions and perform the same diagnostic hardware procedures.I would like to add, that the techs required I keep the Ooma system online so that diagnostics could be performed. So, this 8 HOURS of frustrating call-in time was made on my CELL phone. Fortunately, I had enough rollover minutes, although on one call I did run out of battery. I must say that all cust svce techs were polite and friendly, but their efforts were fruitless. Finally, I called Ooma corporate stateside, and demanded someone whose first language is english to address my concerns. Again, they were prompt and polite. However, I was shocked when I was informed that all of my svce issues were normal, and when the porting process was complete, the issues would go away.When asked why no one on previous calls could put my mind at rest, I was flabbergasted to be told "that I have to realize that these people are Level 1 techs"! So, I guess no one in the Phillippines got the memo about these incredibly frustrating, and common, problems. Two of the Level 1's told me they would escalate my issues to the next level, but I never received a call back. (pant, pant) Needless to say, Level 2 stateside was correct. (the screen goes blurry again and we return to the present) My issues did go away once my number was ported. But 8 hours of frustration, monotony, and a near-miss where I almost packed the hub and scout back up in the box could have been easily avoided had someone simply explained the process. And quite frankly, the online and product manual claims of supposed Plug 'n Play are misleading. I'm sure it differs from area to area, BUT A SIMPLE DISCLAIMER STATING THAT FACT COULD HAVE AVOIDED A LOT OF ANGST. I share this lengthy story because I truly do want to believe in Ooma, they're product, and what they do...and my system seems to perform admirably now. I just feel that the new user must be informed, and the current documentation from Ooma does not address these possible issues. The long and short of all this is that the system now works well and I still have ATT, but I am saving money(approx $100/mo!) because of Ooma and an ATT bundle package. Now you've got the facts people. Spread the word. I find it interesting that the “5000″ minutes domestically is now in effect. In researching Ooma, it was always “unlimited” calling. Not that I will ever approach the 5000/mo., but….perhaps I missed the fine print somewhere.
Let me preface this by saying that I AM now an Ooma fan. But it wasn’t always this way (the screen becomes all blurry and wavy as we flashback to an earlier time): Ooma claims that as soon as you’re up and running that you can kiss your phone company and monthly bills goodbye. This is simply not completely true. In my extensive research, you will still be paying for your ISP and/or cable internet provider. Most, if not all, independent ISP’s require that you maintain basic phone service to receive their service because your local big brother phone company (mine is ATT) bascially “own” the lines in your area. In fact ATT is not even offering stand-alone, or “dry-loop”, svce to many of its customers. In my area, they would, but as long as I maintained my basic svce and paid a $10.00/mo. upcharge…and if I’m maintaining my basic svce, then it’s really not “stand-alone”, is it? They would give me stand-alone DSL for no add’l charge if I bundled my package with DirecTv. This is the route I took since it was cost-effective and I think Comcast is the devil. So I dumped Comcast, and killed two birds.
Next, regarding service: Again Ooma claims that you’re basically Plug ‘n Play. They advise that u keep your current phone svce intact until your number is ported, if you wish to keep your number…but once you’ve hooked up the hub correctly and you hear the Ooma dialtone, you are good-to-go and you’re making free domestic calls. Uh, wrong! Mine was hooked up correctly, but the Ooma answering machine was non-functional, I couldn’t make any toll-free calls, and I couldn’t make 95% of my local calls. So it was essentially useless. I had to keep my home answering machine on and use my current ATT phone svce. During this time, I had placed about 4 or 5 different calls to Ooma support totalling approx 8 HOURS. I spend endless amounts of time on hold listening to the same droning hold music as the techs in the Phillippines swore they were documenting all my concerns, but each time I called they put me on hold only to come back on the line and ask me the same questions and perform the same diagnostic hardware procedures.I would like to add, that the techs required I keep the Ooma system online so that diagnostics could be performed. So, this 8 HOURS of frustrating call-in time was made on my CELL phone. Fortunately, I had enough rollover minutes, although on one call I did run out of battery. I must say that all cust svce techs were polite and friendly, but their efforts were fruitless. Finally, I called Ooma corporate stateside, and demanded someone whose first language is english to address my concerns. Again, they were prompt and polite. However, I was shocked when I was informed that all of my svce issues were normal, and when the porting process was complete, the issues would go away.When asked why no one on previous calls could put my mind at rest, I was flabbergasted to be told “that I have to realize that these people are Level 1 techs”! So, I guess no one in the Phillippines got the memo about these incredibly frustrating, and common, problems. Two of the Level 1’s told me they would escalate my issues to the next level, but I never received a call back. (pant, pant)
Needless to say, Level 2 stateside was correct. (the screen goes blurry again and we return to the present) My issues did go away once my number was ported. But 8 hours of frustration, monotony, and a near-miss where I almost packed the hub and scout back up in the box could have been easily avoided had someone simply explained the process. And quite frankly, the online and product manual claims of supposed Plug ‘n Play are misleading. I’m sure it differs from area to area, BUT A SIMPLE DISCLAIMER STATING THAT FACT COULD HAVE AVOIDED A LOT OF ANGST.
I share this lengthy story because I truly do want to believe in Ooma, they’re product, and what they do…and my system seems to perform admirably now. I just feel that the new user must be informed, and the current documentation from Ooma does not address these possible issues. The long and short of all this is that the system now works well and I still have ATT, but I am saving money(approx $100/mo!) because of Ooma and an ATT bundle package. Now you’ve got the facts people. Spread the word.

]]> By: Juliet http://www.ooma.com/blog/2009/01/12/ooma-ces-2009/comment-page-1/#comment-7622 Juliet Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:35:42 +0000 http://www.ooma.com/blog/2009/01/12/ooma-ces-2009/#comment-7622 I may never used 5,000 residential call a month, but wonder of those famalies with children? I and other family/friend members think that Ooma should be more honest and up front and not lead the public to believe that there is unlimited calling and then its worded in the agreement different? bottom line that is false adverstisement. The only reason i know of this, it because they send us an email. May I add that i do enjoy the clarity of voice and other features. No premier for us I may never used 5,000 residential call a month, but wonder of those famalies
with children? I and other family/friend members think that Ooma should be more
honest and up front and not lead the public to believe that there is unlimited calling and then its worded in the agreement different? bottom line that is false adverstisement. The only reason i know of this, it because they send us an email.
May I add that i do enjoy the clarity of voice and other features. No premier for us

]]> By: Guy Antoine http://www.ooma.com/blog/2009/01/12/ooma-ces-2009/comment-page-1/#comment-7475 Guy Antoine Tue, 29 Sep 2009 17:07:04 +0000 http://www.ooma.com/blog/2009/01/12/ooma-ces-2009/#comment-7475 I found the new OOMA TELO for sale this morning (at my local Best Buy). It's being sold for $250. It's just the base unit, no handset bundle. They did not yet have the handsets for sale. From what I read on the Net, I was expecting the sale to start on October 1, so it actually started two days early, after a long, long wait. I found the new OOMA TELO for sale this morning (at my local Best Buy). It’s being sold for $250. It’s just the base unit, no handset bundle. They did not yet have the handsets for sale. From what I read on the Net, I was expecting the sale to start on October 1, so it actually started two days early, after a long, long wait.

]]> By: Chris http://www.ooma.com/blog/2009/01/12/ooma-ces-2009/comment-page-1/#comment-7351 Chris Thu, 24 Sep 2009 20:04:06 +0000 http://www.ooma.com/blog/2009/01/12/ooma-ces-2009/#comment-7351 I called OOMA today and they still DO NOT KNOW the release date of the new TELO system. Looks like they are having major problems with getting it ready for market, hopefully they will at least have it out before the holidays? I called OOMA today and they still DO NOT KNOW the release date of the new TELO system. Looks like they are having major problems with getting it ready for market, hopefully they will at least have it out before the holidays?

]]> By: Oprah http://www.ooma.com/blog/2009/01/12/ooma-ces-2009/comment-page-1/#comment-6834 Oprah Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:59:41 +0000 http://www.ooma.com/blog/2009/01/12/ooma-ces-2009/#comment-6834 Rumor has it the Telo is supposed to be available in October with the retailer holiday inventory resets. Rumor has it the Telo is supposed to be available in October with the retailer holiday inventory resets.

]]> By: Logo Shirt http://www.ooma.com/blog/2009/01/12/ooma-ces-2009/comment-page-1/#comment-6632 Logo Shirt Sat, 22 Aug 2009 15:42:53 +0000 http://www.ooma.com/blog/2009/01/12/ooma-ces-2009/#comment-6632 It's Aug 22, 2009 and still no word on the Telo release date. I would love to buy OOMA, but when will it be for sale? It’s Aug 22, 2009 and still no word on the Telo release date. I would love to buy OOMA, but when will it be for sale?

]]> By: VBob http://www.ooma.com/blog/2009/01/12/ooma-ces-2009/comment-page-1/#comment-4214 VBob Tue, 26 May 2009 18:17:35 +0000 http://www.ooma.com/blog/2009/01/12/ooma-ces-2009/#comment-4214 oomaTelo will have the capability to support G.711 and iLBC, which are the codecs the current ooma Hub supports. oomaTelo will also support an HD voice codec shortly after release. oomaTelo will have the capability to support G.711 and iLBC, which are the codecs the current ooma Hub supports. oomaTelo will also support an HD voice codec shortly after release.

]]> By: tran cho http://www.ooma.com/blog/2009/01/12/ooma-ces-2009/comment-page-1/#comment-4127 tran cho Sun, 24 May 2009 03:11:58 +0000 http://www.ooma.com/blog/2009/01/12/ooma-ces-2009/#comment-4127 TELO's release has slipped a quarter now. The original 400 price of the core + scout has dropped in half to 199. Still no Telo though - and no word about its comming around. I'd like to know what codec they are using. G.711 is pretty much equivalent to the phone company, but if they use a gsm based codec it will sound buzzy. By not telling you what codec is used you can not predict the product quality. Does the TELO use a better codec than the core/scout? It would be better to go strait digital from the base input to the digital cordless than to go through an analog port in between, so Telo's concept is like the skype / netgear sph200d which runs skype digitally from the base (no usb just ethernet) directly to the dect 6.0 cordless set - sound quality is excellent. TELO’s release has slipped a quarter now. The original 400 price of the core + scout has dropped in half to 199. Still no Telo though – and no word about its comming around.

I’d like to know what codec they are using. G.711 is pretty much equivalent to the phone company, but if they use a gsm based codec it will sound buzzy. By not telling you what codec is used you can not predict the product quality. Does the TELO use a better codec than the core/scout?

It would be better to go strait digital from the base input to the digital cordless than to go through an analog port in between, so Telo’s concept is like the skype / netgear sph200d which runs skype digitally from the base (no usb just ethernet) directly to the dect 6.0 cordless set – sound quality is excellent.

]]> By: Bill http://www.ooma.com/blog/2009/01/12/ooma-ces-2009/comment-page-1/#comment-1920 Bill Thu, 19 Mar 2009 09:55:07 +0000 http://www.ooma.com/blog/2009/01/12/ooma-ces-2009/#comment-1920 Like many on here, I am interested in Telo, and would get it right now were it available. I would get the Core now if I knew what the trade up arrangement will be, assuming it is advantageous. Ooma sounds like an excellent development in phone communication, from what I've read, but they need to straighten out their customer service issues and inspire some confidence in potential buyers. Promising a specific trade up as an incentive to buy now would be a start. I have also read, though a while ago now, that Ooma was on shaky ground and held off for fear of getting a service that would then disappear. They need to get past these kind of questions so that people are not afraid to buy. If they don't, they maynever get off of shaky ground, and will perish. That would be a shame, but if they do not give people like me a reason to buy, they will likey vanish. Like many on here, I am interested in Telo, and would get it right now were it available. I would get the Core now if I knew what the trade up arrangement will be, assuming it is advantageous. Ooma sounds like an excellent development in phone communication, from what I’ve read, but they need to straighten out their customer service issues and inspire some confidence in potential buyers. Promising a specific trade up as an incentive to buy now would be a start. I have also read, though a while ago now, that Ooma was on shaky ground and held off for fear of getting a service that would then disappear. They need to get past these kind of questions so that people are not afraid to buy. If they don’t, they maynever get off of shaky ground, and will perish. That would be a shame, but if they do not give people like me a reason to buy, they will likey vanish.

]]> By: Ron http://www.ooma.com/blog/2009/01/12/ooma-ces-2009/comment-page-1/#comment-1823 Ron Sun, 08 Mar 2009 04:54:06 +0000 http://www.ooma.com/blog/2009/01/12/ooma-ces-2009/#comment-1823 Purchased Ooma a few months ago. The service is exceptional; however customer service sucks. Any time I needed to contact customer service, it took approximately 20-30 minutes before a customer service rep got on the line. I have read on various sites that the company is on shaky ground (that may explain the customer service issues)-so at this point I will wait to port my landline over. I do hope that the company can sustain itself because the features of Ooma are excellent. I am recommending the service to all my friends because in my opinion there is no better VOIP service out there in terms of cost vs features. Hopefully, they will clear up the customer service issues and make it an exceptional service overall. Purchased Ooma a few months ago. The service is exceptional; however customer service sucks. Any time I needed to contact customer service, it took approximately 20-30 minutes before a customer service rep got on the line. I have read on various sites that the company is on shaky ground (that may explain the customer service issues)-so at this point I will wait to port my landline over. I do hope that the company can sustain itself because the features of Ooma are excellent. I am recommending the service to all my friends because in my opinion there is no better VOIP service out there in terms of cost vs features. Hopefully, they will clear up the customer service issues and make it an exceptional service overall.

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