Call Waiting Weirdness

[samoo451]

My setup is as follows: I don`t use a landline connection. I have the Ooma Hub connected to a two phone wireless base. From the Ooma hub I have connected the scout which runs a seperate two phone wireless base. So I have 4 phones running from the Ooma system, two from Hub and two from Scout.

My number was just ported tonight so this was the first real experience with Ooma without a landline.
I was on the phone with a friend and I was speaking on the wireless hooked up to the hub. Another call came in and actually rang on the other phone hooked up to the scout.The reception on the hub phone became distorted, I picked up the scout phone and I could hear the new caller perfectly.
The question I have is,how could the scout have taken a separate call even though there is no landline and will I be able to get a standard call waiting situation with my current setup ?
PS, as soon as I hung up the 2nd call, my hub based phone went right back to normal...What am I missing in this scenario ?
HG.

[trim81]

My setup is as follows: I don`t use a landline connection. I have the Ooma Hub connected to a two phone wireless base. From the Ooma hub I have connected the scout which runs a seperate two phone wireless base. So I have 4 phones running from the Ooma system, two from Hub and two from Scout.

My number was just ported tonight so this was the first real experience with Ooma without a landline.
I was on the phone with a friend and I was speaking on the wireless hooked up to the hub. Another call came in and actually rang on the other phone hooked up to the scout.The reception on the hub phone became distorted, I picked up the scout phone and I could hear the new caller perfectly.
The question I have is,how could the scout have taken a separate call even though there is no landline and will I be able to get a standard call waiting situation with my current setup ?
PS, as soon as I hung up the 2nd call, my hub based phone went right back to normal...What am I missing in this scenario ?
HG.

What you are experiencing the the ever-so-cool feature of the Ooma, called the "Free Second Line"

You can dial out, or take incoming calls, when line 1 is in use. -This is a Premiere feature..

To fix your call quality, I suggest you log into the Ooma Hub at 172.27.35.1 <----Ooma setup (or setup.ooma.com) and change the QOS on the unit.

[Dennis P]

Trim81 is right - you're taking advantage of the second line function of ooma Premier, specifically Enhanced Call Waiting. If you are talking on line 1 on the Hub and another call comes in, not only do you hear the call-waiting tone on your end, but the phone connected to your Scout will ring so that someone else could answer the call. You could then have two distinct simultaneous calls. Normal call-waiting still works, so if there is no one else to answer the second call, you can simply flash over to the second line and answer it. Also, if you are on line 1 of the Hub and someone else wants to make another call, they can simply pick up the phone on the Scout and make a second call. No fighting over the phone line anymore.

Each call does take approximately 32k of bandwidth, so as long as you have a decent upstream connection, you should not experience any degradation in voice quality.

[shampooguy]

I'm confused, so you need a Premier account to have the second line. I don't have ooma premier (that I'm aware of), but I can dial out of the scout while my wife is on the hub. Isn't the second virtual line a part of the free, basic service?

Trim81 is right - you're taking advantage of the second line function of ooma Premier, specifically Enhanced Call Waiting. If you are talking on line 1 on the Hub and another call comes in, not only do you hear the call-waiting tone on your end, but the phone connected to your Scout will ring so that someone else could answer the call. You could then have two distinct simultaneous calls. Normal call-waiting still works, so if there is no one else to answer the second call, you can simply flash over to the second line and answer it. Also, if you are on line 1 of the Hub and someone else wants to make another call, they can simply pick up the phone on the Scout and make a second call. No fighting over the phone line anymore.

Each call does take approximately 32k of bandwidth, so as long as you have a decent upstream connection, you should not experience any degradation in voice quality.

[Bobby B]

Hi Shampooguy,

The Instant Second Line and other enhanced features are included part of ooma Premier. You currently have this feature enabled because you likely have an active trial of ooma Premier. If you browse to Account->Services in the ooma Lounge you can check out how many days left you have in the trial and which features are included with ooma Premier.

Thanks,
Bobby

[samoo451]

Guys, Thanks for clearing up that mystery.
One last question on this thread.
If I don`t subscribe to Premier after it expires, will call waiting work just like a normal landline phone that is to say, will I hear a normal ( or Ooma style ) call waiting signal and if I flash and take the call will my second (scout) line be on the same line as the first ?
H

[trim81]

Guys, Thanks for clearing up that mystery.
One last question on this thread.
If I don`t subscribe to Premier after it expires, will call waiting work just like a normal landline phone that is to say, will I hear a normal ( or Ooma style ) call waiting signal and if I flash and take the call will my second (scout) line be on the same line as the first ?
H

Yes, call waiting is free (core feature)

It will work regardless with Premiere or not.