Michigan Radio & TV Buzzboard

...is Ooma!

Bought mine nearly 3 years ago.

Know how many telemarketing calls I've received since then? ZERO!
Know how many political robo calls I've received since then? ZERO!

It blocks them ALL. It does so seamlessly. The phone doesn't ring once or twice like the Comcast call block technology. The robo/telemarketing calls never reach my phone. I love it!

Call clarity is good. No difference versus traditional landline or broadband.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/ooma-telo- ... Id=3404027

Don't know what it is, but it seems like what I need. Twice in the past three weeks, I've been awakened by the phone at
5:30 AM. Of course, we don't answer it. But when I get up around 9:00 and check the call display, it's from area code 518.

518 is upstate New York. They're in the same time zone as we are. Why would they be calling at 5:30 in the morning?


When I click on the link it just takes me to the Best Buy home page.

Turkeytop wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 03, 2020 7:30 pm

When I click on the link it just takes me to the Best Buy home page.

Don't Click on any link like that!!!
Now they know there's someone at your number.
Now they'll continue to call you.
Now they've got a route in to your personal data.

I was referring to the link in MW's original post.

Probably because you're in Canada, Turkeytop.

There must be some sort of auto re-direct happening to you based on IP.

Perhaps Ooma isn't available in Canada?

MWmetalhead wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 05, 2020 9:25 pm

Probably because you're in Canada, Turkeytop.

There must be some sort of auto re-direct happening to you based on IP.

Perhaps Ooma isn't available in Canada?

That's it. When I clicked the link it took me to Best Buy. There was a Canada flag and a US flag to click on. I clicked the Canada flag. An it just took me the the Best Buy Canada home page.

I just now went back and clicked on the US flag. It took me right to it.

It might not be available Canada, but could just register at your Florida address.

Ooma does appear to operate in Canada. Here's their website.

I will have my Ooma 9 years in January and I love it. I have it because I have a Fax machine, I also use my Ooma number for people or businesses that I don't want to give my cell number out to. $5.64 a month is worth it compared to an AT&T land line I had for local calls only for $53. It's paid for itself many times over. I have saved $5,628 since January 2012 compared to my old phone bill.

How do you think this compares to MagicJack? I had two units eons ago, one USB portable that I could take on the road, and one home unit. Seems like any inbound calls were free, but if you wanted to make more than "X" outbound calls or calls to certain numbers (like teleconference numbers) you had to pay an annual fee. I don't remember what it was, but I'm thinking it was ~$20/year. I only did that for one of the units, as I just used the other for inbound calls. As Big Signal states, I would give that number out to businesses or anyone that I didn't want to give my cell number to, and every now and then I would get a voicemail on it.

EDIT.. just looked up their current plans. $39/yr for one year or $99 for 3. Probably still a good deal.

I forgot to mention that the $5.64 a month is the Universal fee and 911 service. That fee may be added to the $39 a month for Magic Jack. That is a guess because I've never had Magic Jack.

Big Signal wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 27, 2020 8:05 pm

I forgot to mention that the $5.64 a month is the Universal fee and 911 service. That fee may be added to the $39 a month for Magic Jack. That is a guess because I've never had Magic Jack.

It's $39 per year, not per month

Oops, I meant a year, sorry.

I just poked around a bit. Looks like MagicJack does charge the USF fee (not sure how much) but only sends a bill for E911 if the local jurisdiction requires it. However, they don't seem to care if you pay it. If you don't, they disable the 911 function. Not sure why you'd need or want that function on a secondary line you use for a FAX machine anyways.

I also ran across some comparisons between the two platforms. This one appeared to be pretty thorough: https://www.thevoiphub.com/residential/ ... k-vs-ooma/

Here is their verdict:
"The overall verdict is closer than expected. In terms of services there is little to separate both devices.

While Ooma offers a host of cool VoIP features at an additional cost, MagicJack is certainly a great value for money for the price tag and the amount of ‘free features’. On Technology and Price front MagicJack is a clear winner, though some of the tech options are available for Ooma too, for the Premier package.

Ooma takes the honors (albeit marginally) for customer service, upgrades and scalability options.

However keeping in mind that MagicJack also offers greater portability, a free smartphone App and ease of installation and registration, we’d have to say that MagicJack edges this contest."

audiophile wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 12, 2020 12:41 pm

It might not be available Canada, but could just register at your Florida address.

That's where my VPN comes in handy. If ya can't access a site from one country, just switch to another.