Re: Port Disaster
Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 8:00 am
I agree with WayneDSR. I love my ooma system but I still recommend a separate landline for times when any VOIP solution is down. My cell phone works in my front yard but not in the house, so I understand your pain. You mentioned your young son and also a disability. Our children are grown (our youngest, 32 is visiting with us as I type) but I have a heart condition and would feel very unsafe without access to reliable 911 service. I used to have two lines when I was on dialup. In January, our island got DSL! I did some research and discontinued the second line and my $20 per month long distance plan. And in February I bought the ooma system.
For me things were rocky for a while. We had some terrible echo, but ooma worked with me to make things great. We are saving enough every month that in just 6 months the ooma is totally paid for and after that I have FREE long distance and FREE second line as long as I have the ooma. For my situation, not a bad deal.
My personal recommendation would be to keep a very basic landline in addition to the ooma system. You could either keep the two separate as I chose to do or you can "integrate" your landline with the ooma. The least costly is to keep them separate since you don't need to pay for any extra features on the landline. I use two separate cordless phone systems for our setup. If you integrate the landline with your ooma, you need to pay the telco for call forward busy.
Often, depending on your situation, you can get a basic landline for very little cost. They call it lifeline service in our locality, but it may have a different name where you are. It would be an ideal failsafe in case of an emergency.
There are a lot of great people on this forum. Sometimes we view things a little differently from a poster, but deep down, we're here because we want YOUR ooma experience to be a good one. I hope things work out for you and your experience can help someone else in a positive way.
For me things were rocky for a while. We had some terrible echo, but ooma worked with me to make things great. We are saving enough every month that in just 6 months the ooma is totally paid for and after that I have FREE long distance and FREE second line as long as I have the ooma. For my situation, not a bad deal.
My personal recommendation would be to keep a very basic landline in addition to the ooma system. You could either keep the two separate as I chose to do or you can "integrate" your landline with the ooma. The least costly is to keep them separate since you don't need to pay for any extra features on the landline. I use two separate cordless phone systems for our setup. If you integrate the landline with your ooma, you need to pay the telco for call forward busy.
Often, depending on your situation, you can get a basic landline for very little cost. They call it lifeline service in our locality, but it may have a different name where you are. It would be an ideal failsafe in case of an emergency.
There are a lot of great people on this forum. Sometimes we view things a little differently from a poster, but deep down, we're here because we want YOUR ooma experience to be a good one. I hope things work out for you and your experience can help someone else in a positive way.