Useful information for a prospective Ooma customer.
Telo
- Telo.jpg (5.6KiB)Viewed 39404 times
[/size]
Hub
- Hub.jpg (8.41KiB)Viewed 39404 times
[/size]
At a high level, Telo is a newer Ooma device, with beefier and more capable hardware than the Hub, getting firmware updates from Ooma periodically.
Hub is a discontinued older Ooma device on sustainment mode; don't foresee any firmware updates other than break fixes.
As of today, you can still get the Hub device online and elsewhere. Hence the question, what's the difference?
If you are like me, you are probably thinking you need more info than this
comparison and
Hub/
Telo features pages.
So, here it goes:
Regulatory Recovery Fee (RRF) or taxes:
Telo: RRF required
Hub: RRF required except Ooma Core (Hub/Scout combo)
Used devices: RRF required; requires reactivation fee (
$79.99)
Refurbished devices: RRF required except Hub originally from Ooma Core package (there is no way to tell; luck of the draw)
Bobby B wrote:To clarify there are two regulatory recovery fee (RRF) types out there:
- If your retail box says "...We need to charge roughly $11.75/year" - You have a $11.75 annual RRF starting the second year. Ooma picks up the RRF for the first year of service so you'd only pay starting the 2nd year.
- If your retail box says "...fees are billed monthly" - You have a monthly RRF (check this link for the amount) starting the second month. The only exception to this is if you activated before early April, in which case you'd have the $11.75/year RRF.
Ooma Core (Hub/Scout combo) with no RRF:
Update 7/8/14: Since 2012, for new activations, no matter what kind of device, Ooma required monthly taxes (Regulatory Recovery Fees).
Features Ooma Core gets that other devices don't with free/basic service:
Caller-ID Name (there are
reports of non Core Hubs getting this)
Voicemail Notifications
Anonymous call blocking
Partner Device:
Telo: Dect 6.0 Ooma Telo Handset (4 max)
Hub: Scout via HPNA through Hub's "Wall" port (4 max); Scout's "phone" port makes
"wired" 2nd line possible
With both Telo and Hub, you can
distribute Ooma dialtone, from the "Phone" port, throughout your home. If you have a Hub, you can combine the "Wall" port's HPNA signal with the Ooma dialtone, using a duplex splitter, and distribute so that Scouts will also work at all your phone jacks.
Telo capabilities that Hub doesn't have:
Bluetooth (Premier)
Google Voice Extensions (Premier)
Voice Quality:
Bobby B wrote:
- Advanced voice compression (iLBC codec on Hub and Telo)
- Adaptive redundancy (Telo only)
- Encrypted calls (Hub and Telo)
- QoS (Hub and Telo)
- HD Voice (Telo only)
If you intend to use a regular home phone with your Ooma, the voice quality on the Hub should be as good as the Telo unless you have suspect ISP with packet loss needing adaptive redundancy.
Landline Pass-through:
Whether in landline integration or standalone mode,
Hub: If the Internet or power goes out then phones connected to the Hub would just
pass through to landline dialtone plugged into the wall port.
Telo: Only if the Internet connection goes down.
Sending Fax:
Both Telo & Hub: You can enable high bandwidth codec G711 (3x higher bandwidth than normal iLBC) when sending fax by using dialing prefix *99
Receiving Fax:
Telo: To enable G711, need to go to
https://my.ooma.com/ to
enable Fax Mode for the phone number
Hub: G711 mode automatic
Incoming DTMF:
Telo: Works
Hub: Doesn't work
If I missed anything or revision is needed, please chime in.