Ooma Hub No Longer Allows Playback of Voicemail

Having trouble placing or receiving calls or using your voicemail system on Ooma Telo VoIP Phones? Post your questions here.
syculmaun
Posts:8
Joined:Tue Apr 06, 2010 10:14 am
Re: Ooma Hub No Longer Allows Playback of Voicemail

Post by syculmaun » Fri Jan 21, 2011 2:40 pm

I have the same problem, I have a hub with two scouts. The hub and one of the scouts speakers are dead, my warranty expired on January 15th. I don't consider it a big problem because the working scout is where we recieve most of our calls. The bad hub is in my sons bedroom where his pc and all electronics are and the messed up scout is in my wifes office in the basement. If the working scout fails we will use our phone answering machine. We will stay with the premiere service for the two phone numbers with the different rings.

cbrillow
Posts:18
Joined:Tue Dec 29, 2009 3:48 pm

Re: Ooma Hub No Longer Allows Playback of Voicemail

Post by cbrillow » Tue Jan 25, 2011 3:23 pm

@thunderbird:

Thanks for the suggestion. I've thought of that, as I was an electronic tech for many years and have extensive troubleshooting/repair & soldering experience. I was hoping to get a resolution from Ooma, but they have been inflexible and, no, non-responsive after my case was supposedly 'elevated' to a higher level.

I may open it up, but my suspicion is that the speaker is the only thing I can hope to test. I suspect that most of the functionality is built on an LSI chip, maybe even including the audio amplifier. Hopefully, it won't hurt to look inside.

cbrillow
Posts:18
Joined:Tue Dec 29, 2009 3:48 pm

Re: Ooma Hub No Longer Allows Playback of Voicemail

Post by cbrillow » Tue Jan 25, 2011 3:25 pm

@ktinca:

Very good suggestion -- the only one to this point that I hadn't already considered. Thanks!

I'll have to look at my CC accounts and see if we purchased it with a credit card, and then check the warranty provisions, if applicable.

cbrillow
Posts:18
Joined:Tue Dec 29, 2009 3:48 pm

Re: Ooma Hub No Longer Allows Playback of Voicemail

Post by cbrillow » Wed Jan 26, 2011 2:18 pm

I've found that I can playback the messages through my telephone base unit's speakerphone, (or the handset) which is mounted on the wall just above my Telo. When the Telo's 'messages waiting' arrow is flashing, I just turn on the speaker phone as if I were going to make a call, and press the flashing arrow. Pressing the 'Play' button on the Telo starts message playback and the other buttons work just as if I were listening on the Telo.

This is an acceptable workaround for the time-being. It doesn't, however, allow me to use call screening, as this would have to play through the Telo's audio, which is defunct.

The next decision I have to make is whether to spring for another year of Premier service. That's a tough one, as there are some features that I would like to continue to have, including call screening, which I can't use. Since Ooma have not called me back as they promised to discuss my situation, my inclination is to say 'screw you, too' to them and not give them another penny.

I don't consider having to pay nearly $400/year a good value for a phone system that promises to drastically lower my phone costs. That's what it works out to when you have to buy a new Telo every year, which is what they are expecting me to do.

thunderbird
Posts:6388
Joined:Mon Nov 08, 2010 4:41 pm

Re: Ooma Hub No Longer Allows Playback of Voicemail

Post by thunderbird » Wed Jan 26, 2011 4:28 pm

cbrillow wrote:@thunderbird:

Thanks for the suggestion. I've thought of that, as I was an electronic tech for many years and have extensive troubleshooting/repair & soldering experience. I was hoping to get a resolution from Ooma, but they have been inflexible and, no, non-responsive after my case was supposedly 'elevated' to a higher level.

I may open it up, but my suspicion is that the speaker is the only thing I can hope to test. I suspect that most of the functionality is built on an LSI chip, maybe even including the audio amplifier. Hopefully, it won't hurt to look inside.
cbrillow:
I see you have a 'work-around' fix. But if you do open up the Ooma device, let us know what you find.
Good luck

cbrillow
Posts:18
Joined:Tue Dec 29, 2009 3:48 pm

Re: Ooma Hub No Longer Allows Playback of Voicemail

Post by cbrillow » Fri Jan 28, 2011 5:34 am

@thunderbird:

Under the circumstances, with this workaround, I will not be opening up the unit. Had I done it, I'd have taken pictures and reported back what it looked like inside, even if there were no concrete resolution to the problem.

cbrillow
Posts:18
Joined:Tue Dec 29, 2009 3:48 pm

Re: Ooma Hub No Longer Allows Playback of Voicemail

Post by cbrillow » Sat Jan 29, 2011 5:51 pm

Update:

To be fair, since I have criticized Ooma's support regarding this issue, I offer the following information regarding a resolution to my problem.

Yesterday, I received an email from Ooma notifying me of the expiration of the original warranty, and offering a limited-time opportunity to purchase an Extended Warranty for $39.99. Given that I'd already contacted Support and had also documented the failure in this forum, I was leery about the possibility that they may deny a claim against the Extended Warranty on a unit that had already been reported defective after the expiration of the original warranty.

I called Support to inquire as to whether they would replace my Telo under the Extended Warranty, and the reply was 'Yes'. So I paid the $39.99 for the Extended Warranty and then called back to request replacement of my Telo. I was told to expect the replacement within 7 to 10 business days.

While I still feel that Ooma could have been a bit more flexible considering that my failure likely occurred before the warranty expired, but I didn't report it right away due to the chaos of the busy holiday season, I do appreciate this gesture. It doesn't appear that the email I was sent was in response to my calls to support or the messages I've left in this thread, but the issue is moot. It's an acceptable solution -- I can handle paying nominal amount for a replacement unit. I would not have paid $199 - $249.

I'm still not 100% sold on Ooma, given the annoying delay that I often get, and have backtracked a bit from the initial enthusiasm that at first led me to heartily recommend Ooma to my friends and family. Any future discussions I have will be fairly tempered with candid remarks about some of the problems, small & not so small, that I've experienced during my first year of ownership.

Again, I thank those who took time to make helpful suggestions, and didn't attack me personally for expressing a critical view of Ooma Support.

cbrillow
Posts:18
Joined:Tue Dec 29, 2009 3:48 pm

Final followup and a new observation

Post by cbrillow » Fri Feb 11, 2011 7:44 am

I've received the replacement Telo that Ooma sent after I accepted their offer of an extended warranty for $39.99, and have placed it in service.

A comment: The unit arrived with only a sheet instructing me to return the defective unit within 14 days. There were no clues regarding connecting the new unit, or whether anything else needed to be done to activate the new device. Failing that, I just connected it in place of the defective unit and waited for it to boot. All is well -- nothing else had to be done.

I do have an observation, however, and it may be relevant for others who experience the same failure mine did. The backlighting, especially that of the Ooma 'flower' in the center of the Telo front panel, had dimmed noticeably on the defective one that I sent back. It's possible that this is symptomatic of a failed audio section on units that no longer play voice messages. It's also possible that this is entirely a coincidence. But the replacement Telo has bright backlights, just as the defective one used have to before it failed.

Hats off to Ooma for making the RMA process easy, and for supplying a postage-paid UPS label for the return of my defective unit.

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