Fixed - Looking for a "Normal" telephone experience

[southsound]

In case you don't get to page 3 of this thread, ooma has fixed my problem with echo. They did a lot of work behind the scenes to completely understand the cause of the problem, even going to far as to set up a test ooma system with a number 1 digit off from my number. On March 18, they had succeeded in curing my problem. In involved some serious rerouting and work with their "partners". Current call quality is great. ooma ROCKS!

I'm about to give up. I love the ooma concept. I love the look and feel of the hardware. I know it can take a long time to reach customer support, but when I do, I love the fact that the person on the other end understands my native language (English) and seems to really care. What I wish I could love is the total ooma experience.

First, I cannot get a local number and the echo is really bad. They fix the echo and I used a Beverly Hills number (can't afford a house there, but it was great to have a phone there for a minute.) Bobby B was quick to help out and they acquired some numbers in my local area. Great. But when I was transfered to the new number, the echo came back. I called tech support and they took care of it again. Life was good.

I went away on a 2-day vacation and came back to a new treat: when I would call a local number it would ring, then the announcement: "A call from this phone number is invalid. Please call nexlink customer service for assistance. Seattle 58." Then the call would connect. Happened only on local 360 area code calls. I did a google to see who nexlink was and I think xo communications took them over. ooma does business with xo. So I call ooma again and they say they will fix it. A couple of days later they call and say, "It's fixed!" Except that it was not and I had to call back again to tell them so. Then, a few days later, it disappeared.

But of course, after the strange recording disappeared, I had my echo back. Called it in on the weekend. Now, on Tuesday after ooma has gone home, the echo is still here.

Bottom line, the phone company and its constant nickle-dime to death mentality sucks. But when there was a problem, it got taken care of. And most times, without some other surprise.

ooma, all I want is a phone that works. I don't care about lots of features, a choice of tones when someone picks up the phone, or even call logs. All I want is a clear conversation with the person I call. No echo, no static, no strange recordings. Is that too much to ask?

[Dennis P]

I hear your pain, and no, it's not too much to expect that it should "just work". We strive to provide a consistently high-quality service and it looks like we have failed for you. We'll obviously continue to work with you to fix any problems you may report if you choose to continue, but I can't guarantee you won't run into any more over time. Our service requires the cooperation of a number of partners, both on the Internet and interconnecting with the phone network. In some respects, there will be some safety in numbers. Picking a number out of a major metropolitan area will reduce your chances of experiencing problems because there are more people using the service there. That means if there is a problem, it will be reported and fixed more quickly. You may not even notice that the problem appeared in the mean time. I know it is much less convenient for the folks calling you because the number will be out-of-area, but it may be something you want to consider.

[WayneDsr]

Most of us pay high dollar for cell phone service and I rarely have a conversation that does NOT contain noise, static, echo, and drop outs.
ooma is on the edge of technology and both ooma and the technology it utilizes are experiencing growing pains.
For the cost of ooma vs. all other phone services I believe I'm getting a pretty good deal. I'm a 30 year landline customer and I will certainly put up with a few issues considering the price: FREE!

If I decide I want "perfect service" I'll sign up for landline again at $80 a month.
The choice is pretty "clear" to me!

Thanks ooma please keep up the good work.

Wayne

[southsound]

WayneDsr and others,

Please don't misunderstand. I LOVE the ooma concept and the people who are making it work. From my original post I had hoped to convey that. I will give my existing number a few more days to allow ooma's techies time to work things out with their partners. I has worked wonderfully in the past. Before I went on our mini-vacation, it was awesome. It was after getting back and discovering the strange announcement, then echo that I became discouraged. If ooma can't make it work with the local number I suppose I will try to get a number in a larger rate center like Dennis P suggested.

I don't intend to use the phone much - it is to replace a second line I used for ocasional long distance calls, emergencies and convenience. I also use a cell phone but my reception stops in my driveway. Since I don't use it for incoming calls, maybe I should have kept the Beverly Hills number (grin).

[WayneDsr]

That's what you get for taking a vacation!

Wayne

[southsound]

Update - After waiting a reasonable time for the folks at ooma to do something with my echo problem, I tried to take on some of the troubleshooting myself. I added a number from a major metropolitan area since Dennis P (from ooma) suggested that it would reduce my chances of experiencing problems because there are more people using the service there. So I added a number from a large city that was filled with people who know what good service sounds like. Beverly Hills. That worked for me before ooma had a local number avaialble. So you would think that calls from this new 424 245-xxxx number would be stellar, right?

Sorry, but the echo is still terrible on the old and new numbers. The only difference is that I now have two numbers I cannot use for outgoing calls. I was able to reach customer service in less that two minutes today. The fellow I talked with was wonderful. I just wish that the ones who deal with the problems and technology were as successful as he was nice.

Please, please, please - I WANT to keep ooma. I WANT to make local and long distance calls without an echo. If any other users can help, feel free to chime in.

//rant over//

[Dennis P]

Can you clarify one thing? Is the echo on outbound calls, inbound calls, or both?

[southsound]

Outbound only. It is virtually the same from either of my numbers. The party I call cannot hear it - but it is lound enough that I cannot carry on a conversation with it. When I first installed the hub, I had a similar echo. I called into customer support and they did something that made it go away after about a second or so. Then things were clear. That has not been the case since I got back from my vacation and found the new "A call from this number..." recording and had support work to remove it. When the announcement went away, the echo appeared.

I hope this helps. I have an open ticket cs7165 that may give more details. Again, the rep with whom I spoke was wonderful - but things are still not usable with the echo.

[southsound]

Another update on my attempt at troubleshooting my echo problem. In an earlier post I described how I added an additoinal number in a high density rate center per Dennis P's suggestion. I set it up for Beverly Hills, California. I had a number there when I first got my system (as a joke - nothing local was available) and after a call to CS and some tweaking, it worked well. Then Bobby B was able to get me a local number so I abandoned the Beverly Hills primary.

I thought that by adding a 424 area code number I could test if it made a difference. It did not, and I think I have discovered why. It seems as though your primary number determines what rate center is used by ooma to go from VOIP to POTS. The added numbers are translated by their system's routing tables for incoming calls, but the caller ID is "spoofed" on outgoing calls - they still go through your primary rate center, but show whatever CID you specify - either by assigning the number to a scout or using the **0 or **1 before calling out.

If my theory is correct, then no matter what I do on this end, the system is going to act the same. I'll be calling ooma again to see what progress they are making, but since some are following my problems, I thought I'd post what I have observed.

[Dennis P]

My suggestion would only help if you were getting echo on inbound calls (sorry I misinterpreted your problem). Because you are getting it on outbound calls, something else is in play here. Can you run a quick test:

http://ndt.iupui.nuq01.measurement-lab.org:7123/

Click start and let the test run. After it is complete, click on "statistics" and post your results (you can obfuscate your IP address). I want to rule out any network latency issues that may contribute to the problem. Thanks.