Brief Review, One Year Out
So...a year out with Ooma Business -- what do I think now?
I really have nothing with which to compare having been on analog service previously through AT&T.
Pros: 1.) Voice quality is wonderful for me, without a hitch. Ever.
2.) I love the GUI. While not perfect, it most closely approximates what I seek as a small business owner.
Cons: 1.) Fax. Fax, fax, fax, fax, fax. My business is personal healthcare, and faxing, as archaic as it may be, is a staple. I think that the Ooma sales force misrepresents the capacity of their system to physicians and healthcare offices when they do not convey that faxing with this system is really not reliable. WAY too many FAILED faxes or IN PROCESS faxes for my comfort level, and poor image quality overall on send/receive.
2.) I think that the usability could be tweaked to be a bit more intuitive. It took a while, for instance, to figure out that the best way to deal with forwarding phones was to have a "dummy" station (in my case, the base station) that is always configured to forwarding to a certain number (mine) to which the "Office Assistant" can point when directed. It just seems easier to work and understand that way. I dunno. Maybe I have it all wrong.
My local provider tried to get me to switch to his VoIP solution, offering an uncertain GUI as well as other uncertainties. I've already put a bit into Ooma, so I'll stick it out for a bit. I like Ooma. But the market competition is heating up!
All the best,
J
I really have nothing with which to compare having been on analog service previously through AT&T.
Pros: 1.) Voice quality is wonderful for me, without a hitch. Ever.
2.) I love the GUI. While not perfect, it most closely approximates what I seek as a small business owner.
Cons: 1.) Fax. Fax, fax, fax, fax, fax. My business is personal healthcare, and faxing, as archaic as it may be, is a staple. I think that the Ooma sales force misrepresents the capacity of their system to physicians and healthcare offices when they do not convey that faxing with this system is really not reliable. WAY too many FAILED faxes or IN PROCESS faxes for my comfort level, and poor image quality overall on send/receive.
2.) I think that the usability could be tweaked to be a bit more intuitive. It took a while, for instance, to figure out that the best way to deal with forwarding phones was to have a "dummy" station (in my case, the base station) that is always configured to forwarding to a certain number (mine) to which the "Office Assistant" can point when directed. It just seems easier to work and understand that way. I dunno. Maybe I have it all wrong.
My local provider tried to get me to switch to his VoIP solution, offering an uncertain GUI as well as other uncertainties. I've already put a bit into Ooma, so I'll stick it out for a bit. I like Ooma. But the market competition is heating up!
All the best,
J
Joseph
Re: Brief Review, One Year Out
Received a note from staff at Consolidated Communications that their porting department informed me that there is NO AGREEMENT with "Info Telecom" or some such. Looked up the latter which appears, I guess, to be a designation for other VoIP outfits or something? Anyway, huge headache, as I have marketed with one fax number and now need to change to another. Sigh. Still holding onto the Ooma digital fax line for a month or two more, though it really is a SIGNIFICANT problem. Like the other Ooma funcationality, however, and will try to continue using it.
Joseph
Re: Brief Review, One Year Out
Jogoyolo,
Thanks for posting this. How would you say things are going now? Any update would be appreciated. We are looking to making the switch to Ooma Office.
Thanks for posting this. How would you say things are going now? Any update would be appreciated. We are looking to making the switch to Ooma Office.
Re: Brief Review, One Year Out
All-in-all pretty stable. Switching to VoIP is different, but not necessarily in a bad way. Just different workflows. Service seems reliable for phone use. Would not rely on their fax solution, though, unless it has changed in the last 8 months or so.
Joseph
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Re: Brief Review, One Year Out
Same here. Wonderful phone service, fax not so much... we have switched to scanning/emailing these days anyway so that's not an issue. We love Ooma because of the flexibility it offers.
Re: Brief Review, One Year Out
Agree! And the new "British" Office Assistant is just so awesome!
Joseph