Bluetooth Adaptor - Pay Up! - Why is it?

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Morpheus
Posts:67
Joined:Sun Feb 07, 2010 8:35 am
Re: Bluetooth Adaptor - Pay Up! - Why is it?

Post by Morpheus » Sat Jul 03, 2010 6:50 pm

Ooma will never maximize their potential unless they set back and look at how their BASIC customers can be accommodated with the necessary features for them to do basic service.

There is absolutely no reason for anyone to buy anything other than the Telo if all they require is the BASIC phone service. Ooma needs to figure out what it's going to take to make the Ooma handsets more appealing to the BASIC subscriber. The BASIC subscriber loses a bunch of feature by not using the handset.

I need a way to be on a 2 hour conference call and use my computer at the same time. Just try cradling the Ooma handset for an extended period of time.

Also while I'm at it, I really think that the BASIC subscriber should also have access to at least 5 blacklist numbers, and give Premier subscribers unlimited numbers. I don't know how it's done but I was having calls come in from my HOME number and I had to add my HOME number to the blacklist to get it stopped. I was getting several of these a week until I finally posted a topic in the forums and was told how to stop them.

Regarding BT; Ooma could always give the BASIC subscriber access to the headset function while giving headset and cell to the premier.

It's not necessary for Ooma to give it all away.

philw132
Posts:56
Joined:Sat Apr 10, 2010 5:16 am

Re: Bluetooth Adaptor - Pay Up! - Why is it?

Post by philw132 » Mon Jul 05, 2010 6:07 am

Morpheus,
With Buying the telo, and not using premier you ARE using basic phone service, low-level caller id, 1 phone line, call waiting, voicemail, etc. unlimited calling in the us. However if you where to ask At&t for their basic phone package, they would give you 1 line, no caller id, no voicemail, unlimited calling ONLY in the local calling district and depending where you live even your same area code is long distant (ive been with at&t so i know, and some parts of my area code are long distant) you would not be able to call them. For this i would call what ooma gives "extended basic" I havent checked but im not sure that 3-way calling is part of the basic package as i would assume thats what you are using to make your conference calls.

For basic phone service there is no need to buy the handsets. just stick the telo phone port (unless you have dsl then it gets more in depth) into the closest phone outlet in your house assuring the old phone company has been completely disconnected. this will allow you to use any phone, in any location of the house just as you have been with a previous phone company.

I don't own any handsets so I'm unaware of any features people would loose not using them. if you would share some of those features, i'd love to hear about it, even tho i am on premier i still am curious.

I do agree with some parts of your statement that ooma should incorporate more. however i think it would be served by offering a three tier system "Basic" (free for all, same features as basic is getting now) "Extended basic" (paid, maybe 3 bucks a month, but offers special perks) and their flagship "premier" (for everything else)

Ooma's business model is not to give people everything cause then they would go out of business, it takes lots of IT professionals, programmers, engineers, product manufacturers for all this to come together.. they expect to be paid. and being an IT myself, I can tell you the cost of having an IT department on-board is very expensive.
Morpheus wrote:Ooma will never maximize their potential unless they set back and look at how their BASIC customers can be accommodated with the necessary features for them to do basic service.

There is absolutely no reason for anyone to buy anything other than the Telo if all they require is the BASIC phone service. Ooma needs to figure out what it's going to take to make the Ooma handsets more appealing to the BASIC subscriber. The BASIC subscriber loses a bunch of feature by not using the handset.

I need a way to be on a 2 hour conference call and use my computer at the same time. Just try cradling the Ooma handset for an extended period of time.

Also while I'm at it, I really think that the BASIC subscriber should also have access to at least 5 blacklist numbers, and give Premier subscribers unlimited numbers. I don't know how it's done but I was having calls come in from my HOME number and I had to add my HOME number to the blacklist to get it stopped. I was getting several of these a week until I finally posted a topic in the forums and was told how to stop them.

Regarding BT; Ooma could always give the BASIC subscriber access to the headset function while giving headset and cell to the premier.

It's not necessary for Ooma to give it all away.
Customer Since: 4/6/10
Service/Hardware: Telo w/ bluetooth
Premier Expires: 6/02/12
Comcast Port: 4/15/10 - 5/17/10
Internet: Comcast Cable Top Speed Tier
Setup: Motorola SB6120 -> Cisco E3000 -> Telo
Phone: Vtech DECT 6.0 3-Handset / 1 Telo Handset

Morpheus
Posts:67
Joined:Sun Feb 07, 2010 8:35 am

Re: Bluetooth Adaptor - Pay Up! - Why is it?

Post by Morpheus » Thu Jul 08, 2010 6:23 am

Like I said; "They don't have to give it all away".

Just a couple of items lost on the handset that I can think of right now;

1) Contacts
2) Voice mail notification, and all remote VM commands
3) Find lost handset from base

I'm sure I could add to these if I just thought about it.

Almost all phone systems have Voicemail built in, a contact list, and a way to find a miss-placed handset.

It doesn't matter at this point because the issues I had with Ooma revolved around their handsets and I have now replaced their handsets with a Siemens SL785 handset, and this is an absolutely amazing handset, expensive, but amazing. The Siemens SL785 is definitely one of those 10 year phone systems, where the existing Ooma handset will be obsolete in 1 to 2 years, if they last that long.

User avatar
bw1
Posts:1781
Joined:Wed Mar 18, 2009 9:06 am
Location:MI

Re: Bluetooth Adaptor - Pay Up! - Why is it?

Post by bw1 » Thu Jul 08, 2010 6:47 am

Morpheus wrote:Like I said; "They don't have to give it all away".
They don't give anything away, everything costs. :)
The basic/core service is included with the price of the base system (Telo or Hub/Core) and is good for the life of the system. If yours lasts 5 years it's a great deal. If it's only a year or two, maybe not so great.

A customer can always get an extended warranty (additional 2 years for $69.99 - https://www.ooma.com/support/knowledgeb ... e-warranty)
Morpheus wrote: Just a couple of items lost on the handset that I can think of right now;

1) Contacts
2) Voice mail notification, and all remote VM commands
3) Find lost handset from base

I'm sure I could add to these if I just thought about it.

Almost all phone systems have Voicemail built in, a contact list, and a way to find a miss-placed handset.
The Telo handsets include contacts, voicemail notification (flashing light and message) and access to voicemail with commands to play previous and next, delete, etc., and paging (find lost handset).
Morpheus wrote: It doesn't matter at this point because the issues I had with Ooma revolved around their handsets and I have now replaced their handsets with a Siemens SL785 handset, and this is an absolutely amazing handset, expensive, but amazing. The Siemens SL785 is definitely one of those 10 year phone systems, where the existing Ooma handset will be obsolete in 1 to 2 years, if they last that long.
Looks cool, glad you like it.

philw132
Posts:56
Joined:Sat Apr 10, 2010 5:16 am

Re: Bluetooth Adaptor - Pay Up! - Why is it?

Post by philw132 » Thu Jul 08, 2010 10:58 am

Using the PHONE port connecting to a standard phone will get you vm notification,
All remote access to the telo vm.

Most cordless phones since the early 90s has a "pager" to find the handset

And most modern phones have the abillty to have a contact list. Some like mine
Even use bluetooth to transfer a contact list from ur cellphone.
I can export the contact list to gmailI, then
use google sync to sync my cellphone contacts to the telo.
Then I can transfer the contact lisr via bluetooth to my homephones
Morpheus wrote:Like I said; "They don't have to give it all away".

Just a couple of items lost on the handset that I can think of right now;

1) Contacts
2) Voice mail notification, and all remote VM commands
3) Find lost handset from base

I'm sure I could add to these if I just thought about it.

Almost all phone systems have Voicemail built in, a contact list, and a way to find a miss-placed handset.

It doesn't matter at this point because the issues I had with Ooma revolved around their handsets and I have now replaced their handsets with a Siemens SL785 handset, and this is an absolutely amazing handset, expensive, but amazing. The Siemens
SL785 is definitely one of those 10 year phone systems, where the existing Ooma handset will be obsolete in 1 to 2 years, if they last that long.
Customer Since: 4/6/10
Service/Hardware: Telo w/ bluetooth
Premier Expires: 6/02/12
Comcast Port: 4/15/10 - 5/17/10
Internet: Comcast Cable Top Speed Tier
Setup: Motorola SB6120 -> Cisco E3000 -> Telo
Phone: Vtech DECT 6.0 3-Handset / 1 Telo Handset

Morpheus
Posts:67
Joined:Sun Feb 07, 2010 8:35 am

Re: Bluetooth Adaptor - Pay Up! - Why is it?

Post by Morpheus » Thu Jul 08, 2010 2:05 pm

bw1 wrote:They don't give anything away, everything costs. :)
The basic/core service is included with the price of the base system (Telo or Hub/Core) and is good for the life of the system. If yours lasts 5 years it's a great deal. If it's only a year or two, maybe not so great.

A customer can always get an extended warranty (additional 2 years for $69.99 - https://www.ooma.com/support/knowledgeb ... e-warranty)
What, this is why I buy from Costco whenever possible. You get a lifetime warrantee from Costco for free. There policy is return it at anytime if your dissatisfied for any reason. Every company that sells through Costco knows their policy and MUST respect it. It's all part of the privilege of selling through Costco. Costco actually cares about it's customers.

murphy
Posts:7554
Joined:Tue Jan 27, 2009 12:49 pm
Location:Pennsylvania

Re: Bluetooth Adaptor - Pay Up! - Why is it?

Post by murphy » Thu Jul 08, 2010 2:14 pm

Morpheus wrote:What, this is why I buy from Costco whenever possible. You get a lifetime warrantee from Costco for free. There policy is return it at anytime if your dissatisfied for any reason. Every company that sells through Costco knows their policy and MUST respect it. It's all part of the privilege of selling through Costco. Costco actually cares about it's customers.
They have stepped back from that all out warranty.

We guarantee your satisfaction on every product we sell with a full refund. The following must be returned within 90 days of purchase for a refund: televisions, projectors, computers, cameras, camcorders, iPOD / MP3 players and cellular phones.
Customer since January 2009
Telo with 2 Handsets, a Linx, and a Safety Phone
Telo2 with 2 Handsets and a Linx

Morpheus
Posts:67
Joined:Sun Feb 07, 2010 8:35 am

Re: Bluetooth Adaptor - Pay Up! - Why is it?

Post by Morpheus » Thu Jul 08, 2010 4:14 pm

murphy wrote:
Morpheus wrote:What, this is why I buy from Costco whenever possible. You get a lifetime warrantee from Costco for free. There policy is return it at anytime if your dissatisfied for any reason. Every company that sells through Costco knows their policy and MUST respect it. It's all part of the privilege of selling through Costco. Costco actually cares about it's customers.
They have stepped back from that all out warranty.

We guarantee your satisfaction on every product we sell with a full refund. The following must be returned within 90 days of purchase for a refund: televisions, projectors, computers, cameras, camcorders, iPOD / MP3 players and cellular phones.
Yes, but we were talking Ooma. Reguardless, if I'm looking for a particular item and Costco has it, even at a more expensive price, I will buy from Costco. They have by far the best customer return policy in the business. I think Sam's Club also has this policy?

EX Bell
Posts:401
Joined:Fri Jan 20, 2012 10:42 pm
Location:Toronto, Ontario

Re: Bluetooth Adaptor - Pay Up! - Why is it?

Post by EX Bell » Thu Feb 16, 2012 7:46 pm

I knew I saw a thread somewhere where several people were whining about the cost of the Ooma Bluetooth adapter, but I couldn't find it again until now.

This BT adapter from Aizo works identically to the Ooma adapter at half the price.
Customer Since: 1/17/12
Service: Premier 1/30/2012
BELL Canada Port: 1/30/12 - 2/13/12
TekSavvy via BELL FTTN: 25 Mbps/10 Mbps
Setup: Sagemcom 2864 > Cisco E2000 > Time Capsule v1 > Telo
Handsets: Panasonic KX-TG6655S DECT 6.0

OomaLurker
Posts:3
Joined:Tue Feb 21, 2012 2:53 pm

Re: Bluetooth Adaptor - Pay Up! - Why is it?

Post by OomaLurker » Tue Feb 21, 2012 3:07 pm

I HATE posting to forums. However, they are how I get most of my tech help. So, when I run across a solution, I try to share.
With regard to OTHER branded bluetooth dongles functioning with Ooma, I just assumed that a normal dongle would work.
So, I inserted an extra ASUS brand that I have. Of course, in the Ooma configuration, it showed that there were no compatible bluetooth dongles attached.
I searched my stash of tech stuff... I KNEW I had a couple other dongles that I got from CHINA. Found one. Installed it.
Works FLAWLESSLY. Wooo Hoooo.... pairing, etc. All as it should be.

So, I had to go back through my ebay history to TRY to find this freaking EXACT bluetooth dongle. Of course it was too long ago to see the ACTUAL listing. So, I did a quick search of the seller's other items. He still sells the bluetooth dongle.
*** DISCLAIMER *** Your mileage may vary. He MAY have changed to a different supplier. They MAY be different dongles. But... for $1.29 SHIPPED..... How can you go wrong? The picture looks EXACTLY like the one I bought from him. So, I hope that EVERYONE who wants one, gets what they want for a REASONABLE price.
Ooma... $30 for a bluetooth dongle? SHAME ON YOU!
Here's a link to the guy's most current sale:
(Matter of fact... for $1.27, I'm gonna buy a couple more - RIGHT NOW)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Smallest-USB-2- ... 3a53bd9e3b
GOOD LUCK!
And... do NOT blame me if you waste $1.29.
OomaLurker

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