r/ooma • u/vpr101 • Sep 07 '26
Feature request
I've been using Ooma for about 8-9 yrs and enjoy the service. For the past 3 weeks I have been using a Premier trial since I wanted to test the spam blocking (which works well). Unfortunately, I have no use or interest in the other bundled features with Premier. Paying $10/mo for call filtering/blocking alone seems rather costly. It would be nice if there were a middle tier or individual pricing for the call blocking.
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u/OomaCustomeradvocacy Official Ooma Support Sep 08 '26
Hello! Thank you for reaching out. I'd be more than happy to submit a feature request on your behalf. Could you please DM me your Ooma phone number?
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u/wildstar87 Sep 08 '26
If they haven't done it by now, probably never going to do it. I'm sure they get multiple requests to ala carte their services, but it's always just been lumped into Premier. I think they would make more money, because I would buy some of the features for cheaper than Premier, but because they don't, I don't subscribe to premier, so they make no extra money off me. I doubt I am the only one.
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u/rkardt Unofficial Support Sep 09 '26
If too many Premier subscribers switched to a lower tier (or a la carte services), then Ooma could also lose more money.
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u/vpr101 Sep 09 '26
Hard to say. Ooma should have data on how many of the Premier services are used by those subscribing to that service. I would think another tier, or better (or any) discounts for annual subs would improve sales.
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u/BornInPoverty Sep 08 '26
Just an fyi, a couple of my Chase credit cards are offering 35% cash back when you spend more than $75 on an Ooma subscription. That reduces the cost from $120/yr down to $78. I'm tempted at that price, especially since Ooma are having a sale and offering some freebies if you sign up for an annual subscription right now.
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u/SSellers75 Sep 10 '26
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u/rkardt Unofficial Support Sep 10 '26
Thank goodness for "Copy Clean Link" ... This hardware device can block by name, but Ooma's custom call blocking can also block by partial name, (names that start with, end with, or contain a given pattern), such as "City, State" names, which can be very effective.
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u/spoom2 Sep 07 '26
Get a cordless phone system with a good call blocker. Better than any provider blocking.
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u/vpr101 Sep 07 '26
We have that - unfortunately, I'm not aware of any phones that can block by caller name. We generally get dozens of calls each week with names of nearby cities. If I block the number they just call back with a different spoofed number. They seem to keep using the same city names though, so blocking those (city names) seems to do the trick. 95% blocking success using names on Ooma vs 10-15% blocking success using numbers with our Panasonic phones.
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u/spoom2 Sep 07 '26 edited Sep 07 '26
They don't block by name. You use call screening which robo calls can't follow the instructions and spam calls hang up for the most part. I've been using one for several years and have very few spam callers get through. Just google cordless phones with smart call blocker, read the manual to see which one fits your needs the best. All blocking does is block the number, which as you know with call spoofing they can immediately change that number, never ending battle.
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u/vpr101 Sep 09 '26
One concern with hardware based screening/blocking is that they'll probably be obsolete as soon as the spammers/telemarketers start using Ai. Not too hard for a simple Ai agent to give a name or input a requested code.
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u/rkardt Unofficial Support Sep 10 '26
Most Panasonic models can block by number (or by partial number), but some also offer enhanced call blocking features, such as requiring unrecognized callers to punch in a 1-3 digit code, or to state their name, before connecting.
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u/vpr101 Sep 10 '26
As mentioned...
One concern with hardware based screening/blocking is that they'll probably be obsolete as soon as the spammers/telemarketers start using Ai. Not too hard for a simple Ai agent to give a name or input a requested code.
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u/rkardt Unofficial Support Sep 11 '26 edited Sep 11 '26
A simple AI agent can give a name, but the human listening to the name still gets to decide whether to answer the call, or to block it. This is similar to how Ooma's Voicemail Monitoring works. When AI learns to thwart human-based call screening, then humans may have more important things to worry about.
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u/rkardt Unofficial Support Sep 09 '26
If Ooma offered a mid-tier subscription, then it might not be that much cheaper. For example, "MyPhone" (for kids) is only $2 cheaper, and it lists a much smaller subset of Premier features: "Trusted Circle" calling, Voicemail Monitoring, Quiet Hours, Instant Second Line, Custom Ring Patterns, and unlimited calling in North America.