second line limitations

[bigas]

I have seen in past posts that this was supposed to be released by now. But it is not yet so I thought I would ask:

I am a new customer. I had every intention of signing up for Premier. However, the limitations for second line make it useless for me. I created a second number for my wife. I planned for each of us to have our own voicemail and our own multi-ring. However, I can't do this which is a shame.

We DO NOT want to have to have a separate dedicated line for her.
We need either line to ring on all phones in the house (so using a scout just for her line is out of the question).

This is a major limitation and was not expected. We would not have signed up had we known this. And if this limitation goes away we will pay for premier.

Other VOIP providers have these features, I consider them a must for VOIP.

Is this going to be added anytime soon?

Thanks

[WayneDsr]

I believe this can be done using a 2 line cordless system or a 2 line corded phone using line one and line 2 wall jacks throughout the house.

Associate your second number to the scout. Place the scout and the hub next to each other, connect them using the WALL port on the hub to the WALL port on the scout using a short phone cable. This will give you both access to your own voice mail.

Using a cordless 2 line phone base with as many phones as you would need for your house, connect the PHONE port of the hub to line 1 and the PHONE port of the Scout to line 2.

In the lounge you would need to assign a number to the hub and one to the scout. Create a new log in to the lounge with the new number and this way you will have a separate account for voicemail, call logs, and multi-ring.

Using this same principle using corded phones would require some 2 line splitters where the hub and scout plug into the house wall wiring and making sure your wall plates are wired for 2 separate lines to plug corded 2 line phones into.
I would go with the cordless 2 line phone base/handsets. Easier setup and a phone anywhere you want.

In every case you will need Premier service.

I hope this fits your needs. I'm sure others will chime in here with ideas, but that's mine.

And may I give you a warm welcome to the ooma forum, there are plenty of users here (I'm a user, not employeed by ooma) that will be happy to walk you through your choices.

Wayne

EDIT: If you decide to go with a corded 2 line phone, you must disconnect the old land line wires from the house wiring. This can usually be done at the telco box on the outside of the house. Sometimes it only requires unplugging a jack. Even though the landline may be disconnected, there are voltages present that may interfer with the phones when using the house wiring.

[bigas]

Thanks..and a great idea. Except not for me. I have a 2 line system already (with about 10 extensions) and the second line is a landline I use for work.

I would really like to hear from someone at Ooma about this. Do you know of a way to get an official response from Ooma?

Thanks!

[southsound]

Like Wayne, I'm also just a customer - but I wonder if using ooma with Google Voice might not be a great solution for you. You would not need to use Premier unless you wanted it for other features. You and your wife would each obtain a Google Voice account. Since GV is limited to one account pointing to a "home" number, either you or your wife could call your ooma number a "work" number. You could also set up each account to ring your individual cell phones if you wanted to. Each account would have its own number, its own voicemail, and its own notification options. All for free. I have been using Google Voice with my ooma system for some time now and am very pleased at the pairing. Later this year, ooma will even be offering Premier Extensions for Google Voice - but right now it works great for my purposes.

[bigas]

Thanks for the reply. I think that would work great and, recently, applied for a Google Voice account. But since it is invite only I will have to wait until and if I am accepted.

That will work perfectly I think. I do, however, think it a shame that Ooma does not just have this capability native. We use VOIP at work (Vocalocity) and I love having all those settings available.

Hopefully I will get a Google Voice account soon.

[dtalwar]

Off topic, I know, but does anyone know how to get your invite accepted for a GV account? Have been trying for several weeks now without luck. Any tips and tricks?

[murphy]

Do you already have a gmail account? It appears to be required to get Google Voice. I got my Google Voice account in a couple of weeks. The email address I gave them for notification was my gmail address. Also check your spam folder in case it got dumped in there.

[Groundhound]

Thanks..and a great idea. Except not for me. I have a 2 line system already (with about 10 extensions) and the second line is a landline I use for work.

This can be made to work but you must have an available unused wire pair in your home wiring to carry the dial tone for the second line. Some more modern homes have more than two pairs in their wiring. If you pull a faceplate off a wall jack and look at how many wires you see in the box, you can tell if an unused pair is available. From your description it sounds like you would need to count at least 6 wires (they may not all be connected).

[bigas]

Not sure what you mean. I am using both lines on my 2 line phone. So there is no line available on the phone to carry a second Ooma line.

[Groundhound]

Not sure what you mean. I am using both lines on my 2 line phone. So there is no line available on the phone to carry a second Ooma line.

I see, since you want two lines for your Ooma, plus your existing landline, you would need a two line switch to handle all three lines on your two line phone. In any case, you will need at least three wire pairs (one unused) in your home's wiring.