Telo Handset Contact List

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Tomcola
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Joined:Sun Jan 17, 2010 1:26 pm
Telo Handset Contact List

Post by Tomcola » Sat Jan 23, 2010 1:34 pm

How do I get my contacts and numbers on my handset from my list in my Account?

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highq
Posts:421
Joined:Fri Dec 25, 2009 10:11 am
Location:New York, NY

Re: Telo Handset Contact List

Post by highq » Sat Jan 23, 2010 1:46 pm

This gets asked several times per week, and the answer remains:
when Ooma is ready to update your Telo with software that can actually do the job.

(Or did not you not notice the word "Beta" that is still attached to Contacts?)

JTalbert
Posts:276
Joined:Tue Jan 12, 2010 8:37 am

Re: Telo Handset Contact List

Post by JTalbert » Fri Jan 29, 2010 11:28 am

highq wrote:(Or did not you not notice the word "Beta" that is still attached to Contacts?)
BETA, does NOT mean that the functionality would not be in place. BETA means they are TESTING the feature, TESTING the functionality. BETA does not mean that the contacts your put online would NOT get downloaded to the handset. BETA means this is a new feature thats still being worked on and non guarantee that it will work. I think Ooma was a little too forward to calling this feature beta. Since all of the intended functionality is not in place, and there is no way to transmit your contacts from the website, down to your Ooma, and then to your handset, I think it would be more honest, and more truthful to call this feature an ALPHA feature.

When I looked at Ooma, and bought the handset, it was my impression, from the documentation included with the handset, that this feature was in place and working. I was highly disappointed, after I spent 45 minutes entering all my contact data into the website did I find out BETA really meant ALPHA and the feature does not work as being sold and advertised.

I have been a BETA tester for MANY years. Both Software applications and hardware. I am very familiar with a BETA and this contacts Beta is NOT a true beta.
Jeff
McLean, VA
Cox / Ooma Telo / Apple AEBS (Time Capsule) / Ooma Handset / Premier
CompTia A+ CE
MCITP: Windows 7 Enterprise

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ggilman
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Location:Panama City, FL

Re: Telo Handset Contact List

Post by ggilman » Sat Jan 30, 2010 1:08 am

JTalbert wrote:BETA, does NOT mean that the functionality would not be in place.
Beta does generally mean complete functionality, generally stable with some bugs, both known and unknown. However, who's to say that current functionality isn't complete for phase 1 of contacts? Where does it say on the Contacts Beta page that you can download to your handset? I don't see it. I'm sure you can find somewhere else that where it mentions downloading these contacts but does it say that functionality is part of this beta? Hard to say it's not a fully functioning beta when it never says that that is part of the beta.

For the current beta, it seems fully functional to add contacts to my list. Admittedly, there would be far greater functionality if I could then sync them into my handsets somehow, as I'm sure I'll be able to do later, but does it say that that is part of the current beta functionality?

If we're going to beat up the difference between Alpha and Beta testing, we should realize that you Beta test a certain scope of defined functionality, not additional future functionality. The developers define the scope, not the users.

JTalbert
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Joined:Tue Jan 12, 2010 8:37 am

Re: Telo Handset Contact List

Post by JTalbert » Sat Jan 30, 2010 6:05 am

ggilman wrote:
JTalbert wrote: Where does it say on the Contacts Beta page that you can download to your handset? I don't see it. I'm sure you can find somewhere else that where it mentions downloading these contacts but does it say that functionality is part of this beta?
In the contacts list online beta, it does not.

BUT..

Do you own a handset? Have you read the documentation with it? It states it there, I dont have the documentation in front of me right now, but it Ooma advertises this feature on OOMA.COM. NO WHERE ONLINE does it say this is a future feature.

Take a look here.

https://www.ooma.com/products/ooma-handset/features

Here is the text from Ooma's own website.

Online Phonebook
Download your phonebook to the Ooma Telo Handset and also access it online.

To me that is false advertising, its one big reason I bought the handset, I wanted this feature, so hope you can understand my disappointment.

As for my Beta comments and what you said, Beta's are usually full featured products. On rare occasions some new features may be added, but all the core included features are active. The downloading contacts to the phone is a core feature of Contacts. Having an online contacts would be pointless imho otherwise. The handset was released when? I think November? So its been avail for atleast 60 days. With the contacts still not being an active feature, it shows they dont care about offering the features advertised for their product.
Jeff
McLean, VA
Cox / Ooma Telo / Apple AEBS (Time Capsule) / Ooma Handset / Premier
CompTia A+ CE
MCITP: Windows 7 Enterprise

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ggilman
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Location:Panama City, FL

Re: Telo Handset Contact List

Post by ggilman » Sat Jan 30, 2010 10:53 pm

JTalbert wrote:Here is the text from Ooma's own website.
That reference seems more valid for your arguments. I just didn't like the earlier argument about alpha vs beta and didn't think it fit, but I think you got dragged into that by the previous post calling the "missing link" a beta issue, which it is not. As for the reference you post, it does fully appear as a current feature, no reference about the future so I don't see any way to argue the point on ooma's behalf. At the very least, they should change the text there to denote some of these features don't currently exist.

Anyway,I simply wanted to point out that "beta" as seen in scope of that page and being fully functional within itself is fine. The term on that page does not imply that it hooks into anything else, even though you can draw the lines yourself that it should at some point. I do concede, however, that there are other references which clearly imply the feature exists while it does not.

JTalbert
Posts:276
Joined:Tue Jan 12, 2010 8:37 am

Re: Telo Handset Contact List

Post by JTalbert » Sun Jan 31, 2010 7:00 am

ggilman wrote:Anyway,I simply wanted to point out that "beta" as seen in scope of that page and being fully functional within itself is fine. The term on that page does not imply that it hooks into anything else, even though you can draw the lines yourself that it should at some point. I do concede, however, that there are other references which clearly imply the feature exists while it does not.
Valid point. You are correct, calling the contacts on the web a beta, with no mention of the reason for contacts, as in downloading to the Ooma handset is a valid. But with the mention on not only the product box this is a feature, as well as the web, I still do not call it a beta. The reason for this feature IS to download to the handset. To have the online contacts otherwise imho is utterly pointless, unless at a later date they were going to add Skype type features to the web.Then again, all the features would not be in test to be tested. The reason I believe the second part of feature is not avail, downloading to the handset, is its still too buggy, its in its alpha stage.

This all may change as early as this week. Rich Buchanan. the chief Marketing officer for Ooma on this twitter page says they hope to have Pure Voice and GVE avail Feb 1st, which will be a download to the base, will the contacts feature be included in this update, or will it be pushed back anymore? I have a feeling it wont. I have a feeling that Ooma decided to put all their engineering efforts into the Pure Voice and GVE that they put the contacts feature on the back burner. My reasoning for this is I have emailed Rich about the contacts feature and all I got was ignorance, no answer, via both Twitter comments and email, and Ben, the admin on here, who sometimes answers question has completely ignored this topic. With it being talked about, and asked about as much as it has, and the utter importance of it to the handset, its a shame they wont comment.

This feature is an utter importance to the handset. Without it, the way you enter phone numbers into the handset is a joke, the firmware for the phone does not feel like a 1.0 release, it feels more like a 0.8 version release. Not to mention last night I had to reset my hub because my handset stopped working. I even pulled the battery out of the handset to try to reset it with no avail. I also had some other issue with talking on the phone I will be posting in the appropriate forum for help.

Guess we will see maybe this week, if PV and GVE are released, if contacts and the firmware of the handset are also updated.
Jeff
McLean, VA
Cox / Ooma Telo / Apple AEBS (Time Capsule) / Ooma Handset / Premier
CompTia A+ CE
MCITP: Windows 7 Enterprise

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