There are definitely great financial savings in telephone charges when you switch from the plain old telephone system (POTS) to a Voice over IP system (VoIP). Ooma Inc is one of the leading providers of excellent VoIP telephony solutions with two great products - the Ooma Hub and Ooma Telo.
When people want to buy Ooma products, they generally look at both Ooma Hub and Ooma Telo. However many people are not sure which of these two products to buy. As such, this Ooma Telo review will be more meaningful when references are also made to the Hub in areas where there are differences so that you can make an informed decision.
However for the sake of readers who are not familiar with Ooma Inc and who stumbled upon this Ooma Telo review, I would like to give you a very brief summary of what the Ooma Inc and Ooma Telo is all about before going into the details in this Ooma Telo review.
A Short Overview Of Ooma Inc
Ooma Inc is a company that focuses on VoIP service. They have been around since 2004 and its previous flagship product was the Ooma Hub which had tremendous success in the consumer VoIP market. Ooma Telo has since replaced the Ooma Hub as its flagship product and Ooma is slowly phasing out the Hub.
The idea behind Ooma's telephone products is to provide a mostly-free telephone system. Mostly free because you will still be paying taxes on the service to the government after the first year. Ooma targets customers who want to save money on their phone bills but at the same time don't want to pay high costs for VoIP services like Vonage users do.
Instead it sells its products at a slightly higher initial cost to offset the "nearly free" price of the VoIP service. However it also provides a premier service at a monthly rate. You don't require this service if you are only using the basic functions.
What Are The Things That You Look Out For Before You Buy Ooma Telo
I would like to highlight in this Ooma Telo review some of the things that you should be aware of before you buy the Telo.
- You make free calls for the first year. After the first year it is also free but you have to pay a $12 annual regulatory fee to the government. This regulation was only enacted after the Ooma Hub was released, so Hub users do not have to pay this fee. However do note that Ooma just introduced a monthly outgoing talk limit to 5,000 minutes per month, after that you must pay 2 cents per minute. Incoming talk is still unlimited
- When you first register your Telo, you have to decide whether you wish to port your existing phone number or use an Ooma provided number. You have to pay $40 if you decide to port
- The Telo has fewer basic features (no voicemail for example), it also doesn't seem to support incoming caller-id name on the basic plan. Do note it is the caller-id name that is not supported and not the caller-id itself. You can get this feature by subscribing to the premier service.
What Are The Plus Points For The Ooma Telo
- Modern stylish look that will get you compliments
- Lighter than the Ooma Hub allows you to take it with you and use in hotels etc
- Online Phonebook - Allows you to manage contacts over the Internet and then synchronize them automatically to your Ooma headset. This is an excellent feature for putting in a lot of numbers at once with names, email addresses, home addresses and photos. There are also plans in the future for the Ooma headset to support picture ID calling and contact organization
- Ooma Headsets - The headset allows you to take a phone call anywhere in your home. This is a great asset especially when you need to multitask
- HD Voice - The Clear Voice feature that Ooma rolled out is only available in the Telo. This is great as the voice quality of the Telo even surpasses the average mobile phone. However do note that you need to have sufficient bandwidth to enjoy this quality
- USB Port - The USB port also supports Bluetooth technology
- If you have an iPhone you can download the Ooma app in the Apple store and then completely bypass your regular call charges on voice plans.
The Ooma Telo is definitely great for both consumers and business. You tend to save money in the long run even if your current telephone bill is low. If you run a business, your investment in Ooma can also be written off as a business expense.
I hope that you will find this Ooma Telo review helpful for you to make an informed decision to buy Ooma Telo. Making the switch from POTS to VoIP is wise decision not only from a money-saving but other perspective as well because you also stand to gain many useful and productive features not found in POTS. Many people who have made the switch to Ooma looked back to say "why didn't I make that switch earlier?". So why hold back? Make the switch now and get a head start on enjoying the benefits.
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