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So for potential new customers like me who were watching the Telo closely over the past few months as an upgrade from my existing VOIP provider (my local ISP), the new terms and conditions appear to be a downgrade for basic "non-premier" service.

No voicemail after 60 days?
No call ID with name?

Seems like a step backwards and not an upgrade at all. A lot of the features in the Premier package are included in many VOIP providers basic feature set.

It seems like Ooma has killed a lot of goodwill and tarnished their image in one fell swoop of a terms & conditions change. I'll consider upgrading to Telo if it truly is an upgrade.

It may be a downgrade from traditional Ooma in regard to a few services, but in all, it is still the best deal and quality on all marks if you compare feature for feature, and cost. Pay for Premier, and do you feature comparison to your other options. You still win with Ooma.

I think they are moving in the right direction if you ask me. The only thing they need to do, which I'm sure they will over time, is significantly lower the price of the Telo base unit to get into more households. This will reduce their Premier subscription rate, but will increase their penetration and increase overall Premier subscribers.

Scott

What you have to look at too, is the difference between the Basic Telo and your isp's monthly costs and the Premier package with voicemail and your isp's monthly costs.

Wayne

As Wayne says, it bears mention that the ISP and Ooma pricing models are strikingly different. For example, a while ago, my ISP charged $12.99 a month (pre-tax) for phone service for the first year, and then $28.99 after that. The services offered by them are equivalent to Ooma Premier. This means that after two years, my average cost per month would be: $21 per month, and after three years about $24 per month.

With Ooma, the opposite is true. After two years, the total investment would be $250 + $220 + $12 (10 * 22 months - first 60 days of premier are free, 1 year regulatory fee), which is about $20.50 per month; in other words almost exactly the same as my ISP.

But after three years it would be about $17 per month, and continue to drop every year after that. After three years, the savings would be $84 (average per year).

Admittedly this is not as much as current hub owners have enjoyed, but nevertheless, significant over what at least my ISP offers. And for kick-ass service with the promise of better things to come - Bluetooth, WiFi, USB expandability, synchronization with cell phone etc. etc. - these benefits only Telo owners get, not hub owners.

Seems like a fine deal to me.

DG

Wait...you don't get voicemail after 90 days anymore without a Premier membership, or you just don't get "enhanced voicemail" after 90 days without it?

I know it's all a bit confusing right now, but I think for a new Telo customer, after the 60 day Premier trial is over and you don't purchase, you get NO voicemail. I hope I'm wrong, but I think this is correct. It is a new tier level, Telo Basic.

Wayne

I know it's all a bit confusing right now, but I think for a new Telo customer, after the 60 day Premier trial is over and you don't purchase, you get NO voicemail. I hope I'm wrong, but I think this is correct. It is a new tier level, Telo Basic.

Wayne

That is the way I'm understanding it as well...

I know it's all a bit confusing right now, but I think for a new Telo customer, after the 60 day Premier trial is over and you don't purchase, you get NO voicemail. I hope I'm wrong, but I think this is correct. It is a new tier level, Telo Basic.

Wayne

That is the way I'm understanding it as well...

I'm glad I bought when I did then. I have no need for the other premier features, and wouldn't have purchased it in the first place if there was no voicemail. It's just not worth the $200 initial investment + $9.99 a month for the definite risk of Ooma going under. I saw it with SunRocket and I'll see it again.

For me to upgrade my FiOS to include phone is $20 a month. Tha's a savings of $10 a month, which is 20 months to cover the cost of the box. I'm not willing to bet that money that Ooma will be in business another 20 months, just for me to break even. And even then I'm only saving $10 a month after that.

I can't imagine I'm the only one in this boat.

I know it's all a bit confusing right now, but I think for a new Telo customer, after the 60 day Premier trial is over and you don't purchase, you get NO voicemail. I hope I'm wrong, but I think this is correct. It is a new tier level, Telo Basic.

Wayne

This is correct. Telo comes with a different service level, Ooma Basic, which does not include voicemail. If you want voicemail, it is included in Ooma Premier. We will also offer it a la carte at $4.99/month or $49.99/year. The a la carte option also includes other voicemail options such as voicemail forwarding, call screening, send-to-voicemail and do not disturb.

For existing Ooma customers upgrading to Ooma Telo, you can "move" your current service level over to the new hardware. So if you have Ooma Core now, you'll have Ooma Core on your Telo.

I know it's all a bit confusing right now, but I think for a new Telo customer, after the 60 day Premier trial is over and you don't purchase, you get NO voicemail. I hope I'm wrong, but I think this is correct. It is a new tier level, Telo Basic.

Wayne

This is correct. Telo comes with a different service level, Ooma Basic, which does not include voicemail. If you want voicemail, it is included in Ooma Premier. We will also offer it a la carte at $4.99/month or $49.99/year. The a la carte option also includes other voicemail options such as voicemail forwarding, call screening, send-to-voicemail and do not disturb.

For existing Ooma customers upgrading to Ooma Telo, you can "move" your current service level over to the new hardware. So if you have Ooma Core now, you'll have Ooma Core on your Telo.

Dennis,

For existing customers who transfer their Ooma Core account to a new Telo, what is the status of their old Hub afterwords? Can they transfer it to someone else for the $59 fee? If so, what T&C policy with respect to VM will apply to that reactivated Hub?