My Ooma Phone Initial Setup Experience
I received my Ooma Hub/Scout phone system from Walmart today, and it is already up and running. Thanks for your comments, and here’s was my setup experience. It literally only took 10 minutes before I was both calling out and receiving calls on my new phone number. The best part is that I didn’t have to make any tech support calls to set it up!
- In the box, there is the Ooma Hub, the Ooma Scout, and the usual AC adapters and ethernet/phone cables. Since we only have one telephone base with 3 handsets, I haven’t even opened the Scout yet (eBay?).
- Before connecting anything, you go to Ooma.com/activate and type in an 5-digit ID code from the bottom of the unit. Then you can either go ahead an pick a free phone number (check number availability) or port your existing number. Porting costs $40 or is free with a 1-year subscription to their Premium service ($120). You can just pick another number for now to test call quality, and then port later.
- Next, setting up the hardware is pretty simple. If you are like my household and have a cable/DSL modem connected to a WiFi router, then you simply place the Ooma Hub between the modem and the router like so:
- After turning everything off and then on again, wait for the indicator light on the Ooma to go from red to blue to indicate that it is ready. You then connect your phone and listen for the distinctive dial tone. If you’ve already disconnected your POTS landline, you can plug the Ooma into any wall jack and use your existing home wiring to connect additional phones throughout the house.
That’s it, I was done! (Okay, setting up my free voicemail took another minute.) I like that they didn’t ask for credit card information, as I’m hoping to not pay anything ever again!
Made some long distance calls and so far the quality has been good. I’ll have to use it over the next few weeks to see how reliable it is and if it interferes with my broadband internet speed. If anything, I wish I bought this thing earlier.
Find more in Budgeting, Frugal Living | 12/10/09, 12:15am | Trackback
December 10th, 2009 at 3:08 am
So are you gonna port your number? $40 is a bit much….
December 10th, 2009 at 3:25 am
I eBayed my scout as I already had an expandable handset system setup. An easy way to recover $40 or so (can pay for your porting . . . )
December 10th, 2009 at 4:30 am
Does it light the Message Waiting Indicator on phones if they support that? I have SunRocket/Teleblend, and when I have a message my phone flashes.
December 10th, 2009 at 6:29 am
Yes, the Message Waiting indicator light does come on each of the phones when there is a message with my set up.
December 10th, 2009 at 6:31 am
How does the fax portion work. I am interested in replacing my vonage fax line. Looking at all options including iPhone apps.
December 10th, 2009 at 6:41 am
I just set up a new Ooma system with the Telo… my phones constantly indicate that there’s a message waiting, even if there isn’t one. I think it’s because of the unusual dial tone.
December 10th, 2009 at 8:14 am
When I saw the RSS link, I thought, “The Nobel Prize AND his own phone brand???” Then I realized it doesn’t actually say “My Obama Phone Initial Setup.”
December 10th, 2009 at 8:34 am
Don’t I still have to pay for either DSL or cable to use this product? If so, then the only cost savings would be for the actual minutes of long distance, right? My DSL company, AT&T, charges more for the DSL if you don’t also have a land line. I’m not sure how much the cable internet costs.
December 10th, 2009 at 11:02 am
How about magicjack? does anyone have experience with magic jack? how does it compare with Ooma phone?
December 10th, 2009 at 11:42 am
The magic jack requires a computer to be plugged in and powered on and I don’t think it has enough power to plug into existing phone wiring power remote hand sets. So this is basically the same technology except they are bundling in the computer and a power pull up to supply the power to the house wiring.
December 11th, 2009 at 4:03 pm
I didn’t like the credit card either. So I just never set up my voicemail and let it use the answering machine on the phone instead.
January 21st, 2010 at 5:03 pm
If you happen to have DSL service from a supplier that uses a combination modem/router, ooma call quality will be terrible (echo, delay, drops, noise, etc). If I could get my money back I’d do it, but I figure I’ll hold on to it for a year to recover my initial cost outlay.
September 30th, 2011 at 10:52 am
somehow i was automatically signed up for this service without making international calls. 4 months of billing for a service I don’t use. No refund offered on 3 months. Watch your bills.