1 two-line phone OR 2 one-line phones?

[gadgetnut]

Hello, all, I am brand new to ooma. I'm currently using a Philips Dect 6.0, two-line cordless phone system with 8 cordless handsets. I currently have the ooma hub's phone line plugged into line 1 of Philips base station, and ooma Scout's phone line plugged into line 2 of Philips base station... so essentially I'm operating a two line phone system.

Couple shortcomings I've noticed so far... when a call comes into the ooma line, both lines of all eight handsets are ringing at once and after you engage line 1, line 2 continues to ring for a second or a few seconds on the handset you are speaking in, which is disconcerting. Also, both ooma hub and ooma Scout are in the same room (near the broadband internet connection and the Philips base station) and this is kind of a waste having the ooma hub+Scout being adjacent to each other in the same room; I would prefer one across the house in the kitchen for easy access to Broadband Answering Machine functions, etc. (I know I could locate the Scout remotely if I used both of the two pair built-in home telephone jack wiring.)

Honestly, I don't love this Philips 2 line phone system-- very poor software and inconvenient to use-- and I'm thinking about returning it. I still have two complete sets of different brand, one line cordless phone base and handsets, and I'm considering retutilizing them with ooma.

Instead of the 2 line phone, I am thinking of plugging the Uniden one line base station into the ooma Hub in the office and plugging the Panasonic one line base station into the ooma Scout in the kitchen. In this scenario I'd have a lot of handsets all over the house... but with incoming calls you could answer the nearest phone because all (14) of them will be ringing for an incoming call (right?), and if someone in my home is already on the phone, I'd have to pick up one of the handsets of the other brand to get an outside line (right?) I think the Panasonic set has talking Caller ID, which would kind of be handy.

Any input on this? What I'm trying to achieve is trunk hunting/busy call forward, where if someone is already on the phone when an incoming call comes in, this 2nd call gets routed to other handsets in the house, and when if not answered, eventually routes to voicemail. Thanks.

[wase4711]

I was thinking of doing the exact same thing at my house..
What model number is that phillips phone?

have you found a panasonic, 6.0 dect system that does at least 8 handsets, and has talking caller id? I haven't found that yet..

[cathinst]

Hello,

I guess I'm just a little lost about using the ooma Scout with a cordless phone system. I have a cordless Uniden system.

Does anyone know how I should connect the ooma Scout so that I can have a second line.

Do I connect the scout to the ooma hub and then to a cordless handset.

Please don't tell me I have to buy a second cordless "base" !

[gadgetnut]

cathinst, the issue is that all of the cordless handsets of your current Uniden system "act" like one single telephone because they all are subservient to the base and that base is plugged into the ooma Hub. If you want to access the (enhanced, Premier featured) second line, you would need to connect a separate phone (or cordless base station) to the ooma Scout.

Practically speaking, you don't "need" to buy another Uniden base station & handsets; you could plug in any traditional telephone into the Scout.

[gadgetnut]

wase, I am using the Philips SE6591B/17 DECT Series 2-line Cordless Phone with Answering Machine. I like the idea of this phone but I don't like the quality of it, and I'm going to return it. I like my three year old Uniden phones much better. I also got burned because it advertises "eight handset capability" but you can only register seven remote handsets because the base handset counts as one of the eight!

I don't know which Panasonic model has DECT, Talking Caller ID, etc. While it doesn't have talking caller ID, I like this AT&T DECT 6.0, Six Handset Bundle currently offered at Costco because it looks like it's a good performer, a good value, and expandable up to twelve handsets.

Very germane to this discussion is ooma's own Telo handset, which I think is sort of like a single DECT handset+Scout all built into one. More info about Telo will be forthcoming soon I hope.

[wase4711]

I actually have that ATT set, except the model I have has 12 handset capacity!
Its awesum, except I miss talking caller id, so I am going to best buy now, to buy model TG9344T;, and hook the base set into the ooma scout, and use the other handsets throughout the house..
I will get the talking caller id feature I want, and, we can have a handset in every room, including the basement and the garage!

I am a phone junkie, if you couldn't tell!

[number9]

I searched for the topic of 'will my other phones work with the ooma hub' and this is as close to the topic I could find.
Everything seems to be working fine. It's been 2 hours. I have a 1 handset cordless (Uniden) and a corded phone. If I get a new multi handset DECT phone will all the handsets ring when I get a call, or just the one connected the hub & scout?

Thanks!

[hwgang]

New customer here. Uniden cordless 2-line phone with 7 handsets. I will NOT be able to use the Ooma service if it can't handle 2 lines "normally" (i.e. not all lines ringing at once). I'm having 2 numbers ported, so if anyone thinks (or knows from personal experience) this will NOT work, please pipe up. Ooma techs assured me it would with the hub connected to line one and a scout to line 2. I need to pick up any handset and answer either line. And I LOVE this phone system. Took me ages to find it before I had my "Goldilocks" moment: ahhhhhh this one is JUST right.

[hwgang]

It appears that tech support is working down the forum and may well chime in here, but I was able to resolve the problem with tech support a little while ago (YEAH, no DUMPING the call after 21 mins on hold!). Tech support IS knowledgeable, patient, cheerful and thorough when you get them.

Anyway, having 2 lines ring independently involves linking them on the Ooma Lounge site with serial numbers, no just in 3-D in your location and cords.

If you go to your lounge log-in and then to Phone Numbers you'll see "Add Device" in the bottom middle of the box. Click that, enter the last 5 digits of the "revision" code from the bottom of the Scout in the box that pops up and save that. Then go into "shared numbers" and associate your "line 2" (whatever number that may be" to the informal name you gave the scout (it will be in the drop down menu) when you associated it, specifically, in the "Add Device" window. Save and exit. Give it the recommended 3 minutes to associate.

Then it will perform as you expect it to. Line 1 ringing ONLY on Line 1 and Line 2 ringing ONLY on Line 2. Life is good!

[tmf]

I have a similiar set up at my house (and my office except i use 2hubs/scouts and a 4 line system - see topic: 2 Hubs - 4 line system... for my posting)
I use the ooma premier for my house with my 2 line Panasonic phone system. I assigned both phone numbers on my Hub and left my scout unassigned. When call comes in both lines ring but if line 1 is occupied and another call comes in, it only rings on line 2. When I had the scout assigned a number the call waiting kicked in and it didnt allow the hunt to work properly. Leaving the scout unassigned and assigning both numbers to the hub fixed it. The only down side it the call waiting sound. I need to ask if there is a way to disable the sound. So far seems like you can only disable call waiting sound when making a call but not when receiving a call. Hope that makes sense.
I have 3 ooma systems and its saving my approx. $5000 per year!
I have no complaints!