Mr. FG and I have always tried to keep our phone bill low, which means we’ve tried all sorts of different phone companies.
For the last 7 years or so, we’ve been with Vonage, a voIP phone service. We were happy for a while, but our bill with them has slowly crept up over the years and we decided it was time to try something else.
We do both have cell phones, but since we’re with Ting, and Ting functions sort of a pay-as-you-go service, we’d ring up a pretty large Ting bill if we gave up our home phone.
We thought about Magic Jack, but opted to give Ooma a try instead.
What’s Ooma??
Ooma, like Vonage, is a VOIP (Voice Over IP) phone service, which means you need high speed internet to use it.
Like Vonage, it comes with caller ID and voice mail, but unlike Vonage, once you buy the Ooma device, there’s NO monthly bill aside from taxes and regulatory fees.
(Even Magic Jack has small monthly fee in addition to taxes and such.)
How much does Ooma cost?
The Ooma device costs between $99 and $129, depending on what type you buy.
Once you buy the device, if you don’t mind getting a new Ooma-provided phone number, you’re DONE spending money.
(love!)
We wanted to keep our phone number for simplicity’s sake, though, so we opted to pay the one-time $39.99 number porting fee.
The set-up and number porting was super simple, and our call quality through Ooma has been as good or better than what we had with Vonage.
And best of all, we have no more home phone bill…just a few dollars in taxes and regulatory fees every month.
Soo, we have a $30 or less cell phone bill with Ting and a $3 or so home phone bill with Ooma, which means phone service at this house is cheap, cheap, cheap.
This makes for a happy Kristen.
We were paying Vonage $35/month for service, so the Ooma box paid for itself really quickly. We were money ahead in 3 months and I just wish we’d switched sooner.
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Do let me know if you have any questions about Ooma! And if you’re an Ooma-user, do chime in with your experience.
Amber T
Monday 16th of January 2017
Wondering if your still happy with the service?
Find myself to paranoid to only have a cell phone with a toddler. Between dead batteries and misplacing the cell phone, it would give me peace of mind to have a "home phone."
Kristen
Monday 16th of January 2017
Yup, still loving Ooma!
Papa Oz
Tuesday 8th of March 2016
Is it practical to use Ooma (or voip in general) on a DSL connection (2Mbuts down, 500Kbits up)?
Kristen
Tuesday 8th of March 2016
Ooma says yes, you can use DSL: http://www.ooma.com/faqs/
Sue
Thursday 8th of October 2015
Can you explain, to a computer illiterate person like me, in more detail how the majic jack and oomba things work? You plug them into the electric outlet and to our internet router, right? Then some how your telephonr rings when some one calls you? Or does your computer ring? How do you get emails from people calling you on the phone? Also, can you give me more info about "Ting"? Is it available in the US? Is it pay as you go? Does it compare to tracphone? Thanks!
Kristen
Thursday 8th of October 2015
Yep, that's how it works, basically! You plug the Ooma into the power outlet in your wall, plug the Ooma into your router, and then another cord runs from the Ooma into your telephone set.
So you use your telephone set just like you normally would and it rings as usual. Nice and easy.
Ting is indeed available in the US. It's a bit like a pay as you go plan, in that there's no contract and the amount you pay each month varies depending on how much you use your cell phone. You can read more about it at www.ting.com.
Jennifer
Wednesday 7th of October 2015
Who do you use for internet? We have a package deal and it's quite expensive for phone/internet/TV (which we don't even use the TV portion of).
Kristen
Wednesday 7th of October 2015
We use Verizon, which is a little on the expensive side, but there aren't a whole ton of cheap AND fast internet options out there! I saw Ting is starting to offer home internet, but it's pretty pricey too.
Cindy
Friday 2nd of October 2015
I would love an ooma code, if there is one still available. Thanks.