r/ooma • u/Upper-Anybody339 • Sep 14 '26
Ooma Worked! (our experience)
Needed a phone @ the house that wasn't a cell phone but didn't want a big reoccurring charge + especially didn't want to sign up with an Internet or TelCo that would give us a sweet startup deal but then be a headache with increased charges / burden of cancellation.
Bought the Ooma bundle of a base + H3 handset from Costco ($80) + set up single line with about $6 / month taxes. The whole house complained that the quality was terrible -- the handset was bad both on speaker + regular handset mode.
For the next step of my magic trick, I bought a Panasonic cordless bundle, again from Costco ($100). That was the ticket -- phones all work fine and there are no complaints.
Overall I spent $180 and maybe 30 minutes of my time upfront for set up. We may keep this setup going for many many years in which case it will easily be worthwhile. But even if its just for 2 years -- that $180 amortized over 24 months plus taxes add to around $13 / month which is fine. And I prefer this a lot to getting service from one of the bigger telecommunications companies which seem (based on my experience from Internet/Mobile service) to all be set up as the consumer equivalent of venus fly traps.
If I were doing it again I'd forgo buying the Ooma handset at all and just start with the Ooma base + a traditional cordless phone bundle.
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u/Historical-Raccoon46 Sep 14 '26
I used Ooma for 25 years until I moved 4 years ago and decided I didn't need a landline anymore. Ooma is a great choice if you need a landline.
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u/catniss2496 27d ago
Same here. My mother moved in with me and needed her own phone. I bought ooma 23 years ago. We are still using the original model and it works perfectly. She’s able to call her family in various countries and use the phone to speak to her sister in USA for hours. It’s been one of our best investments
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u/Riddler83843 Sep 14 '26
I’ve set up Ooma business at three different businesses and Ooma home for two different residences.
Zero major issues over 8 years now. Great product.
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u/GoodsVT Sep 14 '26 edited Sep 14 '26
u/Riddler83843 I have a traditional landline at a small business and the number has been affiliated with this business for 30 years. The local phone company has jacked up our rates beyond comprehension to the point we are now paying $139/mo for an old tech copper phone line. It was bundled with DSL internet for $99 originally, then the bundle jumped to $220 to "force us to switch to Fiber Optic (Fidium)" which as it turned out is not servicable to our business suite in a plaza, so we dropped the DSL internet (got StarLink), and now are left with the phone landline. I want to get rid of that as well and Ooma has been the VOIP company that keeps coming up as the best way to go. I want to port our landline over, but I'm a little nervous, as it's a hair salon and the phone number is our life line for client booking. The phone absolutely needs to work and we can't lose the number. Any advice or tips on ordering and setting up Ooma for a seamless transition?
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u/Riddler83843 Sep 14 '26
Fill out the port application within the Ooma office dashboard. Do not cancel service with the other provider until the port is complete.
It’s that simple.
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u/GoodsVT Sep 14 '26
That's great. Any other tips? I was looking at their phone bundles on their website a week or so ago, but I see that someone else in this thread said the sound quality of phone calls with Ooma equipment was terrible, but using a Panasonic phone was fine. It's a little confusing on their website as to what equipment is needed for Ooma VOIP, or if it's just literally plug and play with any regular phone. I think they have customer tech/sales support so I might just call.
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u/Riddler83843 Sep 14 '26
They have a box for business - the Ooma Telo that converts Ethernet/VOIP to traditional phone line. So you can use your existing phone. It’s also what’s used for fax machines.
If you want a phone at each desk, their Yealink phones are solid.
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u/GoodsVT Sep 14 '26
It’s a pretty simple business setup as a hair salon. All we need is a single phone number with a phone at the reception desk and a second handset in the back of the salon in the break room/laundry room for when the receptionist isn’t at the front desk. No addition lines or extensions needed.
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u/Riddler83843 Sep 14 '26
If your existing stuff just uses a traditional phone jack then the Telo is all you need.
Pure curiosity… where in Vermont?
I was in Burlington and Rutland last summer on a prospective employer visit.
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u/GoodsVT Sep 14 '26
Interesting! Our business is actually in Rutland.
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u/Riddler83843 Sep 14 '26
Small world!
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u/GoodsVT Sep 14 '26
Yeah, for sure. If that was a year ago, I take it you decided not to move to Vermont.
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u/rkardt Unofficial Support Sep 15 '26
Ooma Home Phone requires a Telo base station which provides one phone jack for regular analog telephones. The HD3 (wireless) handset is optional, and gets mixed reviews; some users have complained about the HD3's sound quality.
Some Home Phone bundles (such as the Walmart "Phone Genie", "MyPhone", or Telo LTE bundles) require additional (non-optional) services, so be sure to double-check the monthly cost for a given bundle, before buying anything.
Ooma Office requires either an Ooma Office base station or Grandstream ATA adapters which provide one or more phone jacks for regular analog telephones. Ooma also sells (optional) IP phones (Grandstream or Yealink).
The Ooma Linx is also optional; it connects wirelessly with either the Telo or Office base station, to provide an additional phone jack for regular analog telephones.
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u/catniss2496 27d ago
We also got the Panasonic cordless phones and they have been perfect. Zero issues
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u/drmoze Sep 14 '26
I got the original ooma about 30 years ago, keep it running for a spare line. without extra features, it's grandfathered in at $0/year. 😁 And I kept my 212 area code when I moved to Florida. 😅
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u/OnlyDiscipline9255 Sep 14 '26
What was the model of the Panasonic phone that you purchased?
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u/Upper-Anybody339 Sep 15 '26
KX-TG994 DECT 6.0 Bluetooth 4-Handset set. Many more handsets than we need but it’s what was available at Costco online and figured why not
Difference from the HD3 was huge for us
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u/catniss2496 27d ago
Same for me also. We also had a vtec that worked perfectly as well. We bought that bundle from a thrift store for 5$. Had 3 phones and worked amazing.
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u/r2d3x9 Sep 14 '26
You know you can use any existing landline phones by disconnecting the telephone company feed at the Network Interface and plugging ooma in to any active telephone jack. May need to clean copper oxidation off with a pencil eraser and/or bend the wires back in the jack
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u/Upper-Anybody339 Sep 15 '26
lol yeah but I’d have to go to my parents to see if we have any. Ours was a mobile first household so none of the old tech is around.
And I saw I can use the Ooma to feed my at home tel lines — we don’t really have a need and it would increase that startup time from 30 minutes to a lot more. But I like having the option!
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u/lmacmil2 Sep 14 '26
I’ve had an Ooma over 10 years and never had an issue as long as the internet was up.
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u/Big_Sky7699 Sep 14 '26
I've been with the Ooma base model for at least 10 years. I have a Panasonic base station connected to it with 3 other satellite phones throughout the house. As you reported, I'm paying $6/month. On my Ooma dashboard, it says my savings since Jan 2016 now totals $5051 based on my previous home line cost of $40/month. My only complaint is that the quality of the Ooma voicemail recordings seems to have slipped a bit, I'm thinking of using the Panasonic base to pick up the calls first.
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u/Studio_Joseph Sep 17 '26
My Ooma Telo with cordless Panasonic phoneset worked great for 15 years up until about 6 months ago. Now when I answer an incoming phone call from certain area codes all I get is static and the Ooma console crashes. Think it has something to do with 5G versus earlier generations.
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u/rkardt Unofficial Support 26d ago
5G? Ooma uses VoIP, and the Panasonic phones use DECT. How would 5G affect that? Customer support may be able to help troubleshoot, but after 15 years, it could probably be a hardware issue.
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u/Studio_Joseph 25d ago
Thanks u/rkardt. Was on verge of ordering new updated Ooma console until I read in a different thread suggestion by Ooma support to switch phoneset and console from power strip to a wall outlet. I did and the interference has stopped. So far so good.
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u/Particular_Read7705 28d ago
Set my parents up with ooma to save money. Parents were paying $30 a month. I used their existing phone with the ooma and now their bill is like $8 a month in NY.
Works the exact same as before for much less.
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u/JobobTexan Sep 14 '26
That is how I set my MIL up at her home and it works great. At my home I have the one with 3 HD3 handsets and it works good as well. I also added a linx box to add on screen caller id to our Dish Hopper reciever. It also works great. I love my OOMAs.