No Google Voice for original hub

[crpeck]

If I may quote from the email I just got from Ooma Support:
[quote=]Hello,

Any new extensions or new features will be supported by the Telo, not the hub.
The is because the Telo has a faster processor which will allow these expansions, the hubs processor would not support these.

If you have any other questions please feel free to contact our sales line at 1-866-452-6662

Gina
Ooma Sales Support[/quote]

So, unless Ooma Support is totally clueless (it did take 9 days to get that response from them), we Hub users appear to be screwed. I guess I'll ride Premier out to the end of the year, and, then drop to free mode, that is, unless they can entice me in some other way.
-chris

[crpeck]

I was going to let email from support slide, but, I couldn't stop myself from responding...

I really wonder what they are telling people that are purchasing the Hub NOW.

Gina,

Thank you getting back to me, although that is not the information that I wanted to hear. I don't know if anyone at Ooma reads any of the Forums online there, but, there is a considerable number of us Hub users that are quite upset about this. We feel, based on previous announcements, that Ooma had promised Google Voice Extensions for Premier users (which includes Hub owners). This press release from March 18, 2009 makes it pretty clear that the only requirement for GVE would be Premier - since it references "current and future" products.


From https://www.ooma.com/media/press-releas ... experience
"Palo Alto, Calif — March 18, 2009 —
ooma, Inc. today announced a set of ooma Premier™ Google Voice Extensions (GVE) compatible with its current and future home phone systems planned for summer release. ooma simplifies the Google Voice user experience, enabling consumers to take advantage of the complementary capabilities found in both offerings, for a truly integrated and seamless phone experience – regardless of phone type or location.

(text describing GVE removed)

An ooma system consists of the ooma Hub™ connected to a broadband connection and an existing home phone. The ooma Scout device extends the benefits of the ooma system to additional phone jacks in the home. The ooma system is a $249.99 hardware bundle that includes an ooma Hub and ooma Scout. ooma Premier is an optional level of service offering multiple advanced telephony features for the ooma system and costs $12.99 per month or $99.99 per year. ooma Telo is the second generation ooma hardware platform and will be available with optional DECT 6.0 wireless handsets in the third quarter of 2009."

I spent a considerable amount of time researching phone systems before deciding on the purchase of the Ooma Hub & Scout, and, since I just purchased my Ooma Hub late last year, when the Telo was available, I would have purchased the Telo, had I known that the GVE would not be available for it. While I believe that you will continue to see sales of both products, people purchasing the Hub now will be very upset when they discover that they cannot utilize some of the announced features (it is still NOT clear that GVE will not work with the Hub).

I feel this is deceptive at best, and, I'm quite disappointed in the company.

Anyone considering any Ooma product at this point, should be very careful, as I would expect a newer product in a year or two, that will then replace the Telo, making it obsolete as well.

A very disappointed customer,
crpeck

[southsound]

ooma should offer free upgrades or refund Premier charges. Being cheated by former vendors is what sent me to ooma and is what will send me to the next vendor.

If you REALLY feel like you have been cheated, then I am sad for you. I have been enjoying wonderful phone service from my hub for about 11 months and my Telo for about 4. I don't feel cheated. I feel blessed that I am able to avoid phone bills and use Google Voice as a front end for my systems. I have two GV numbers - a personal one and one for the non-profit I run. Both work very well with ooma. I think it will be great when the GV extensions available - but since I am already happy, it will be added blessing. And it does not bother me that I will not have them for my hub. I still use GV with it every day.

[crpeck]

southsound,
I am happy that you are happy, other than a few minor glitches, our Hub has been great. I expect to break even on the purchase in a few more months. I certainly don't feel cheated on my purchase - however - I am not a happy camper. As I've said before, my purchase of the Ooma Hub was well researched, and, based on the information that was available from Ooma's website & News Releases I truly believed that when GVE was released I would be able to easily use Google Voice with my Hub & Scout system. (It's not that I cannot use Google Voice, it's the rest of my family). Had I known, I would have simply purchased the Telo originally, but since the Hub & Scout appeared to provide more capability at the time, and, they were a little cheaper I went with them.
Believe me - I am used to buying obsolete equipment, I've been buying or building computers since 1978. I'm pretty sure that while I could still use the Apple II I used to have, I don't expect Apple to release software updates for it
'nuff said,
crpeck

[VicMatson]

Any reason that you can't resell hubs to people why could care less about Google Voice? I'm new to Ooma, but I've used Craigslist for such things in the past. Yes, I like new toys!

[murphy]

Any reason that you can't resell hubs to people why could care less about Google Voice? I'm new to Ooma, but I've used Craigslist for such things in the past. Yes, I like new toys!

You can sell a deactivated hub if you want. Just be sure that the purchaser understands that there is a $60 reactivation fee.

[VicMatson]

Any reason that you can't resell hubs to people why could care less about Google Voice? I'm new to Ooma, but I've used Craigslist for such things in the past. Yes, I like new toys!

You can sell a deactivated hub if you want. Just be sure that the purchaser understands that there is a $60 reactivation fee.

Well, there you go! Craigslist is great for this kind of stuff, it gives the buyer an inexpensive way to try Ooma, and if it's not for them back to Craigslist it goes.

[BlueHeeler]

What you are proposing as a resolution completely misses the point. Would you be happy if you bought a great car, but company decide not to give you the options package you were sold? The car is still great, but you'd still be quite upset. And when you complained, if the company responded with "you might not have got the options package, but you still got such a great car", you'd be more upset. Next if the company said, "well if you really want the upgraded features, you can sell your used car to someone who doesn't need the features (at your loss)and buy next years model (at your cost)" you'd be more upset. I don't think there is anyone in the US who would think this is an acceptable response or treatment from a company . The expectation would be for the company to somehow make things right. The burden should be on ooma to resolve and not the consumer. The consumer did nothing wrong.

Ooma not only said they would deliver GVE for the hub, but in the same GVE press release they encouraged people to go out and buy the current model (being the hub). As a consumer, we shouldn't have to jump through hoops,and take a loss on investment, to get the features we were promised.

I bought ooma simply for convenience and for the GV functionality, not to save money as I was going to forgo a landline at my new place and stick with my cell phone and Google Voice. Due to what I was promised ,what was delivered and the company's response, I now feel duped with my purchase, no matter how great the product is.

[crpeck]

Yes - I can sell my Hub on E-Bay or Craigslist or where ever I so decide.

murphy - Thanks for the note on the $60 reconnect fee, I'd hate to be like Ooma and sell my Hub to someone, only to have them find out that they have to pay more money to get what they paid for

BlueHealer - nice analogy

I'm just going to sit on my Hub, run out the Premier, never pay them a cent after it runs out. I would have gladly paid for Premier for the updates I was promised (or is it alluded to)...

[SDGeek]

As far as i can tell, the GV extensions were a proposed feature to go through Beta testing and then eventually reach the general user population as a premier feature. If you are at all familiar with Beta software and hardware releases, you would not have expectations that the Beta product or even the proposed design of a product / feature make it into the final release. I think you are holding the Ooma folks to a pretty high standard to deliver on something that was announced in a Blog. There was nothing in the Terms in Conditions that I aggreed to that promised this feature.

I do not discount that you are upset, but this feature is something that only a small subset of the user base will ever use. Google Voice is not even open to the public at this time without an invitation.