At his best, a gentleman defends virtue and fights wickedness. We at G@H, therefore, must intervene. If you have a landline telephone, you are getting bilked. Swindled. Duped. Hoodwinked. The time for rebellion has come. Oppressors beware.
Let us present two avenues to liberty. First, you can use your cell phone exclusively. This will save you money in a world of unlimited cell minutes. But, that might be untenable. You may have poor cell reception at home or need the ability to fax. You may simply prefer the familiar heft of a cordless phone. Enter the second option: the Ooma Telo.
The Telo from Ooma is an impressive little black box. Although it might not survive a plane crash, it will allow you to call across the United States for free. It operates via your internet connection and plugs into your network of home phones. You get a dedicated number. You get caller-ID and call-waiting. You get 911 service and voicemail. You even can listen to voicemail and view call logs online. Make calls per usual but do not expect a monthly bill from Ooma. You buy the Telo ($149.00 on Amazon.com). After that, you pay only governmental fees and taxes.
A G@H editor has used Ooma since 2010 and recently purchased the Telo. We offer only praise for the service’s reliability and audio quality. Setup is easy. Ooma customer support worked with our editor to accomplish exactly what he wanted done. The online dashboard is pretty niffy too.
As for negatives, we identified only one. Because Ooma runs through the internet, if you lose power or internet connectivity, you lose phone service. On dark and stormy nights, keep handy that cell phone.
For $40, you can transfer your current phone number to Ooma. Power users may opt for Ooma Premiere at $9.99 per month. Among other features, it offers a free second line, three-way conferencing, and call blocking. You can have voicemails sent as audio files to your email. You can configure your office or cell phones to ring simultaneously when someone calls your Ooma number. Ooma Premiere even integrates with Google Voice.
Liberate yourself from that landline. If you can survive on cell phone alone, congratulations. If you need a home phone, get an Ooma Telo. It is a legit product, not a harebrained gadget. And, it will save you a bundle of cash.
2 Responses
G@H,
Do you find any delays when talking? I’ve looked into landline alternates from cell providers, and they have all had the same awkward pauses in the conversation you get from cell calls. I love the idea of ditching the landline (solely because of the ridiculous bill) but am hesitant to make the hardware investment.
We have experienced no difference between how a conversation sounds with Ooma and on a conventional landline. No dropped calls. No cutting in and out. No weird voice modulation. No delay. That said, we are not fervent conversationalists and typically engage only in abbreviated chats.
Looking to Amazon reviews, people do not complain widely of delays. And, some complaints were corrected with proper linking of Telo to the router.