Geek and Cheap » Technology

OOMA — Say goodbye to monthly phone bills forever!

admin — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 23:05:51 +0000

For a year or so I have been eyeing another VOIP alternative called Ooma. Over the years I have tried other VOIP providers such as Vonage and Magicjack but was intrigued by the one-time fee from Ooma. I am a huge Costco fan and when I saw it in the store for $179.99 I decided to pull the trigger. I figured that with Costco’s impeccable return policy, I could take it back if I disliked it or had buyer’s remorse.I still use Magicjack from time to time, but I have been searching for something that is a more viable VOIP alternative and does not require a computer.

In case you are unaware, the Ooma device looks like an old fashioned answering machine. It connects directly to your router and you then connect ANY phone to the Ooma device. It took me roughly 20 minutes or so to get the device up and running. You use a web-based utility to do most of the setup which was very user-friendly. I was able to pick a phone number in my local area and was calling out in no time.

Some Positives of the Ooma system:

No monthly fees!
Easy installation
Ability to port your existing number for a one time fee of $39.99
Works with your existing phones.
Online playback of voicemail messages.
Unlimited calling to any US Number.

Some Negatives of the Ooma system:

You run the risk of the company going bust
Integration with alarm systems is untested
You lose phone service if you lose your internet connection

When I went back into Costco recently they were out of the Ooma devices. There are two different versions of the Ooma system. I bought the Ooma hub which is the older version of the device. The newer device is the Ooma Telo which allows you to use Ooma’s proprietary handsets that allow you to access voicemail and other features. I chose the Ooma hub because I was not interested in the Ooma handsets.

Costco apparently no longer sells the Hub online and only is selling the Telo for $199.99, which still seems like a good price. Amazon has the Hub for $204.95 and the Telo for $222.99.

Overall, I am pleased with the device and am hoping that Ooma is here for the long haul. I think the company has an interesting business model, and I just hope that others are willing to try something new and unproven.

Magicjack review

admin — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 20:35:12 +0000

Several months ago, I posted about a new VOIP technology called magicjack. At the time my local area code was not available and so I decided to hold off on testing it. A few days ago I noticed that my area code had become available and I decided to take advantage of the 30 day free trial. I received my “jack” on Tuesday and plugged it in as instructed. The instructions tell you to essentially plug it in to a USB port, plug in a phone and you should hear a dial tone. Unfortunately, this did not happen for me.

I could not get a dial tone at all. I used different phones and tried all sorts of things with no success. I was able to call out using the phone application but not directly with a phone. So, I thought let’s try tech support. Well, magicjack does not offer phone support, they only offer support via live chat. I spent the next SEVEN hours chatting with 4 different supposed techies. I became incredibly frustrated and never found a solution to my problem. Finally it was determined that I had a defective magicjack and they said that they would send me a new one.

I also emailed the CEO of Magicjack, Dan and one of his assistants promptly emailed me back and said that they would indeed send me a replacement and would refund my original shipping charge since I needed to send the original defective jack back to them.

We will see how the second try goes. I will keep you posted, but am a little discouraged. I was so excited about the new technology and thought it would be a better solution than Skype, but that remains to be seen.

Have any of you had any experience with Magicjack? What are your thoughts?

http://www.magicjack.com

Palm Centro – Sprint’s newest competitor to the Blackberry

admin — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 13:01:01 +0000

I have been a Blackberry user for the last 2 years and for the most part have nothing but good things to say about it. The only downside to the service is the huge extra monthly fee to use the Blackberry service. With my cell phone provider it cost me $40 extra per month for a sufficient data plan to send and receive email as well as surf the web. That is a LOT of money. So, after my contract expired I have been looking around for a cell phone and plan that would still allow me to receive email and surf the web.

I think I have found the answer. It is Palm’s newest treo-like device, the Centro.

It has everything that the Blackberry offers and I am able to get a data plan through Sprint for only $15/month. That is a big savings for me. The Centro is currently only offered through Sprint, and I am not sure what your feelings are on Sprint but if you are a current subscriber this may be a good option for you.

As far as the functionality goes, the Centro has everything that a Treo or Palm has — datebook, email, contact manager, etc.. It also handles Microsoft Office documents incredibly well with a full version of a popular product called Documents To Go. This program allows you to view Word, Powerpoint, Excel and PDF files very easily. My Blackberry didn’t do such a good job of this.

The Blackberry has become so popular mainly because of it’s ability to handle email very well. Sprint was smart and included a full version of a program which they call Sprint Mobile Email but which was actually created by a company called Seven. This program actually pushes email to your Centro just like the Blackberry. While the Blackberry “pushes” the email to your phone a bit faster than the Centro, there is really not much difference at all.

The Centro blows the Blackberry out of the water with it’s Blazer web browser. I am able to get broadband like speeds with ease. It is so much faster than AT&T’s EVDO network which is what Apple’s Iphone uses. Sometimes browsing the web can be somewhat of a drag depending on your device, and the Centro makes it easy to get directions or find a restaurant’s phone number or anything else you might want to do while you are out and about.

Overall I have been extremely happy with my choice to move from the Blackberry to the Centro. I will keep you updated on my usage of the phone over the next few months.

Cheap VOIP Options

admin — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 04:48:23 +0000

Over the past few months I have been keeping my eyes out for cheap alternatives to a land line at home. I currently just have a cell phone, but wanted something to use in the early evenings to minimize my cell phone bills. I have been looking at two different VOIP options that are a great deal cheaper than services like Vonage which cost at least $20+/month.

The first is MagicJack which is a nifty device that plugs into your USB port and acts as a phone jack. The device is similar to a USB flash drive but allows you to plug in any type of phone to have telephone service. This device is incredibly inexpensive at $40 which includes the device and an entire year of service. The only reason as to why I haven’t signed up for this yet is because the service does not offer a phone number in my area code as of yet. Apparently they are adding more area codes each week, but I am still waiting on a North Carolina area code.

The second option is a long time player in the industry—Skype. Skype has been around for several years and offers fairly clear phone calls over their network. You can use your computer to make Skype-to-Skype calls or to call other people who are not on Skype. I signed up for Skype and have been using it for several months. So far, I have spent around $30 for 3 months of service which includes voice mail and a local North Carolina number. The only thing that I really do not like about Skype is the fact that when you call someone your number shows as Unavailable on a Caller ID enabled phone. This can easily cause people to not answer the phone, because they think that you are a salesperson. Skype’s technology is fairly reliable and I have not had any calls dropped or much interference at all. If they can fix this Caller ID issue I would be happy to stick with them. Apparently, this feature is available internationally, but not in the US.

I really think that both MagicJack and Skype have an incredible opportunity to change the face of the telephone industry. I know that the typical mega-phone company is shaking in their boots as they see small companies offering incredible deals on services that have been relatively expensive for years. If you don’t get anything out of this post, at least investigate whether you can save money on some sort of VOIP provider as opposed to a monopoly phone or cable company.

http://www.magicjack.com

http://www.skype.com