My Ooma Telo does not have a "wall" jack

[hpepper]

...I'm still a work in progress but I have definitely changed for the better...

Southsound, I have met or come across 1,000's of people in my life and I have yet to meet one person who is not a "work in progress"... Myself most of all - My wife will verify that.

[njarif]

Here is the official response from OOMA support team:

"Good day! We apologize for the inconvenience and confusion this may have caused you. Please know that the Ooma Telo you purchased which doesn't have a "wall" port is the NEW Ooma Telo we are releasing on the market. We have stopped manufacturing Ooma Telo units that have "wall" ports"

[Bobby B]

Newer Ooma Telos from Amazon.com and Costco.com don't have the WALL port on them. During activation, you'll only see the option to choose a new phone number. Also, the setup guide was updated to remove references to the WALL port.

The decision to remove the WALL port was made for several reasons - but the three main ones were:
1. Only a small % of customers use the landline integration option (and this % is decreasing).
2. Given (1), it made sense to save on the landline component costs, rather than have a customer bear the costs for something they likely wouldn't use.
3. Simplified setup for the vast majority of customers who weren't using a landline.

I believe Best Buy and Frys still have inventory of Telos with the WALL port, but eventually they'll switch to selling Telos without the WALL port.

Just purchased new Ooma Telo from Amazon and got it Apr 27 2011. I noticed that it came with "Phone" jack only and no "wall" jack as depicted in the documentation. Did I get an older model? Should I return it since I will not be able to use landline integration as a backup?

Thanks

[nn5i]

The decision to remove the WALL port was made for several reasons - but the three main ones were:
1. Only a small % of customers use the landline integration option (and this % is decreasing).
2. Given (1), it made sense to save on the landline component costs, rather than have a customer bear the costs for something they likely wouldn't use.
3. Simplified setup for the vast majority of customers who weren't using a landline.

To me it seems that those are all sound arguments, both from an engineering standpoint and from a marketing standpoint.

One assumes your point (2) means you're going to lower the price.

With fewer components, also, the device will be more reliable (fewer points of failure).

Also, if it means some code can be eliminated from the firmware, less memory will be consumed and reliability will again improve. The mantra is the same as the one I've heard used by designers and builders of airplanes: "Simplificate, and add lightness."

Besides, SS and I -- and others too -- have frequently suggested eliminating landline integration. No doubt the credit is all Robin's.

[lbmofo]

Friends don't let friends use Landline Integration

The power of signature!

[dawgfan]

I have 2 Direct TV DVR's that need a phone line. My new Telo (without a wall jack) is located at one DVR but the other DVR is upstairs. I was planning on using Landline Integration to get a phone line to the upstairs DVR as well as phones through out the house. Can I use a splitter coming out of the phone jack from the Telo with one line going to the 1st DVR and then the second line used for Landline Integration? Any other suggestions to accomplish this. Thanks!

[nn5i]

Dawgfan, it appears to me that you have a mistaken understanding of Landline Integration, whose only purpose is to allow Ooma devices to use a conventional wired telephone line that you have in addition to Ooma -- instead of Ooma, really. To do that, you would connect the WALL jack to the conventional telephone line from the conventional telephone company. The WALL jack was an input to the Ooma device -- not an output from it.

By the use of splitters, you can provide service from Ooma's PHONE jack to any number of devices that think they're connected to a conventional telephone line -- all sorts of phones, answering machines, and apparently the devices you mention in your post. You can distribute the service from your Telo's PHONE jack throughout your house without using or needing a WALL jack; that's not what the WALL jack was for, and the WALL jack could never have been used for that; wouldn't work for that.

[dawgfan]

Dawgfan, it appears to me that you have a mistaken understanding of Landline Integration, whose only purpose is to allow Ooma devices to use a conventional wired telephone line that you have in addition to Ooma -- instead of Ooma, really. To do that, you would connect the WALL jack to the conventional telephone line from the conventional telephone company. The WALL jack was an input to the Ooma device -- not an output from it.

By the use of splitters, you can provide service from Ooma's PHONE jack to any number of devices that think they're connected to a conventional telephone line -- all sorts of phones, answering machines, and apparently the devices you mention in your post. You can distribute the service from your Telo's PHONE jack throughout your house without using or needing a WALL jack; that's not what the WALL jack was for, and the WALL jack could never have been used for that; wouldn't work for that.

Thanks for setting me straight. I certainly had it wrong. I'm new to Ooma. Just got my Telo a few days ago and I'm learning a lot from this forum. Thanks again!

[lbmofo]

dawgfan as in u-dub dawg fan?

[philw132]

Dawgfan,

How old are your Direct TV DVRs? I just did a pre-install for a buddy in preparation for the dishnetwork. wired his house with cat5e wire, he was getting 2 dishnetwork boxes and they were to have ethernet ports on them.
seeing you own an ooma, i would assume that you have highspeed internet. Depending on if your unit is new enough to have ethernet ports, why not run an inexpensive cat5e wire (look at partsexpress.com for real good deals on cat5e wire) to each directtv box, connected to a router or switch..like with the dish you get special options and faster guide updates if you connect it directly to your highspeed internet instead of the phoneline.

As far as getting a dialtone to all the phones in the house, there is alot of documentation in the forums on this topic, you can simplely connect your PHONE port to a phonejack in the house AFTER you disconnect the old phone companys feed into your house.

I have 2 Direct TV DVR's that need a phone line. My new Telo (without a wall jack) is located at one DVR but the other DVR is upstairs. I was planning on using Landline Integration to get a phone line to the upstairs DVR as well as phones through out the house. Can I use a splitter coming out of the phone jack from the Telo with one line going to the 1st DVR and then the second line used for Landline Integration? Any other suggestions to accomplish this. Thanks!