Ooma

As David Carnoy recently posted, voice over Internet Protocol company Ooma is now offering a $49.99 Wi-Fi adapter that enables users to place the required Telo base station anywhere within Wi-Fi range.

I had a chance to test the system in my house, and it works fine, even though it's a few rooms away from my wireless router. Installation requires temporarily connecting the Telo to an Ethernet port of a computer to configure your Wi-Fi settings.

Listen to a call To learn more and to demonstrate the voice quality of Ooma service, I called Ooma CEO Eric Stang … Read more

Attention all owners of the Ooma Telo VoIP phone system or anybody considering buying it: you can now go wireless.

The company has taken the wraps off a new $49.99 Telo Air Wi-Fi adapter that allows you to place the Telo anywhere in your home that's within range of your wireless network. That's a big deal for Ooma, because a lot of folks don't want to have to tether the Telo base station to a wireless router that's hidden away in a closet or situated in a less-than-ideal spot in their home.

For those who … Read more

These days a lot of people are using Vonage and other VOIP phone systems from their cable TV companies to make calls from home. But those services require a monthly fee. However, with Ooma's Telo, you just buy the base system, and then make calls anywhere in the U.S. for free (you pay only applicable taxes and fees). On top of that, you can also make international calls for very little money, and the Telo's call quality is impressive.

Normally, Ooma's Telo would cost about $250, but we're giving one away to one lucky winner. … Read more

You probably don't remember it, but way back in January, at CES, a little company called Ooma unveiled its next-generation phone system, the Telo, which combines DECT 6.0 cordless-phone technology with Internet-based (VoIP) calling. Well, after nearly 10 months of waiting, the Telo is finally landing in stores and is available for $249.99.

Ooma's claim to fame is that it sells VoIP phone systems that let you make free domestic U.S. calls and low-priced international calls. To help drive home the point that you don't have to pay for phone service, Amazon labeled Ooma's first product, which remains on sale, the Ooma Core VoIP Phone System with No Monthly Phone Service Bills.

Once you shell out the $250 for the Telo, you can make unlimited domestic calls for free, and such features as caller ID and access to online call logs are included at no additional charge. If you want to port your existing number, that will cost you $39.99, but if you want a brand-new number, you don't have to pay anything.

From a design standpoint, the Telo is sexier-looking than its predecessor and more importantly, improves on the feature set, as well as on the call quality.… Read more

When I met with Ooma representatives last month, I got a sneak peek at its next-generation phone system, the Telo, which combines DECT 6.0 cordless-phone technology with Internet-based (VoIP) calling. Well, Ooma officially unveiled the Telo at CES, and while no price has been announced, the it will arrive sometime in the first half of 2009, according to the company.

Ooma's claim to fame is that it currently sells a VoIP phone system that lets you make free domestic U.S. calls and low-priced international calls. (In Amazon's database, the product is in fact called the Ooma … Read more

You'd think it would've drawn crowds.

TechCrunch founder and controversial Valley 2.0 icon Michael Arrington was making a rare appearance in New York, moderating a panel at the DigitalLife trade show on Thursday night. And the panel in question, called "The Disruptors," included a few of the start-up world's hottest names: Napster, Plaxo, and Facebook veteran Sean Parker (currently of the Founders Fund); Oovoo CEO Philippe Schwartz; SpinVox co-founder Daniel Doulton; IGA Worldwide CEO Justin Townsend; and Ooma founder Andrew Frame. Considering the resurgence of tech culture and startup spirit in New York in … Read more

A few months ago, my co-worker Stephen Shankland took a look at a preproduction Ooma--the pay-once-and-you're-done phone service that's going on sale for real today. His experience setting up the Ooma hardware wasn't the best. I just got one of these gizmos myself and checked it out here at the CNET office. I found it to be pretty straightforward to get running, although my setup was much simpler than his. My take: This is a very cool, and very well-priced product. It's also technologically fascinating. It's not just a VOIP box.

I set up my Ooma by plugging it into the Ethernet in my office and to a spare telephone. That was the extent of it. After a few moments of blinking, the Ooma box settled down, and I was able to dial out straightaway. Inbound calls worked perfectly, too, to the number attached to my device. People I talked to said the calls were clear, and I didn't notice any lag on my calls (like you get with cell phones or bad VOIP).

Initially the Ooma setup instructions scared me. If you're installing it in your home, some of the connection diagrams are off-putting, especially installations for DSL customers. Ooma also wants to connect to your phone line. In fact, Ooma is being pitched as a great product for long-distance calling, not local calling, although its best payback is when you use it for everything. Ooma expects most users will keep their old phone line active for 911 calls. And it's the users that keep the old lines alive, and just let Ooma handle the long distance, that make the Ooma system work. That's where Ooma gets really interesting.

Here's why: Ooma uses a trick called "distributed termination" to run its system (read more on GigaOm). That means that when you call someone in another area code, the Ooma network routes your call over the Internet to the Ooma device of a user in that other area whose hardware is still connected to the landline. And then that box (the other user's) makes a local phone call out to the person you are trying to reach. Without a network of users connected to the phone network, Ooma's financial model doesn't work, as it has to pay for the calls itself. And this is why the company was so eager to give out Ooma devices to early adopters a while ago: It needed to build its network. CEO Andrew Frame assures me that this pilot program succeeded, and that the Ooma network is now fully operational and financially sound.

… Read more

I eatd mini cheezburger at the TechCrunch party at August Capital on Friday, as LOLCats would say. There were other morsels there too, some tastier than others.

Remember before the Internet came along, when you could call a 900 telephone number to talk to "Santa Claus?" Dial Directions feels nostalgic like that. Being directionally challenged, I consider it a gift. You literally dial "DIRECTIONS" on your cell phone and get a turn-by-turn text message. The service is available in San Francisco, New York, and Los Angeles during beta testing. It did a pretty good job … Read more

I spent about 90 minutes Monday night trying to set up an Ooma, a phone system that piggybacks both on your broadband Internet connection and land line. My experience: it was a pain to install, but now it works pretty well.

I've griped to acquaintances about how ordinary folks have had to become first system administrators and now, with broadband and multiple computers per household, network administrators. Setting up a review model from Ooma raised these hackles anew.

There was nothing seriously newbie-deterring like command-line utility, or even setup software. The Ooma system setup had two other afflictions instead. … Read more