Comments on: VoIP goes Hollywood

The latest Voice over IP startup, Ooma, which will allow people to make free calls for life without the need for a subscription, counts Ashton Kutcher as one of its execs.

[doug526]

Punk'd

I feel like I've been Punk'd after reading about this.

[voipmeister]

Dude where's my VoIP?

So this entire system relies upon using other people's copper telephone lines to route calls?

Isn't that kind of like a really big violation of your agreement with your phone provider to allow 3rd parties to use your line for commercial purposes?

Take a look at who's going out of business and who's stock is near 0 in the telephone business... it's all VoIP providers who ship hardware and want to charge big fees.

Sigh.... Dude.

[rbiz]

Maybe

P2P is already becoming a viable infrastructure for lots of useful
ideas, above and beyond illegally sharing media content, and I
think this device will be yet another finger nail in the climb toward
the true demonopolization of the bells. I think it will become
another casualty in that cause, but not a meaningless one. It's an
important symbolic indicator of consumer's efforts to take control
of what we've already paid for many times over.

[chabig83]

The hidden cost...

Calls may be free, but to participate I have to pay a monthly fee to
my phone company to maintain my POTS line.

[bain411]

Any handheld receiver?

It reminds me of the 70's Charlie's Angels device.

[dargon19888]

That's not hidden.

The concept is that if you do a lot of long distance calling, then you'll use this device and keep your POTS for local calls.

But there's a major flaw.

First as you and the author point out, you need to keep your POTS line.

The second... local phone tariffs and your individual phone plan.

Depending on the city/state that you live in, some "local" calls aren't really local. Meaning you can get toll charges depending on the distance from your location, even if you're in the same area code.

So for example, if I live in the downtown loop area of Chicago, and I call a friend who lives out on the edge of the 312 area code by the airport. I may incur a cost per call instead of a flat rate.

[planet earth 2]

I agree ...

That's why Vonage is being Vonage. I have the
same idea as this one a few years back, but can't
overcome this particular problem.

[mfelmon]

I think Voip Is Indeed The Solution

Just based on the fact that I make a lot more long distance calls than local calls, I finally decided to use voip.

With the voip provider that I use, you don?t have to worry about the area code, so long as you are calling within the United States or Canada.
Indeed I have never been so comfortable making calls within the above named locations (I mean without any additional charges). It?s an evolution that has come to stay even though some voip providers are today out of business, will still not change the popularity of the service.

I have now been using voip for close to four months and enjoy the unlimited calling feature most and many others like: Keep your old phone number, Choose Your Area Code, Caller ID with Name, Caller ID Blocking, Call Forwarding, Three-Way Calling, Do Not Disturb, Anonymous Call Blocking, Follow Me, Find Me etc.

To me switching to voip is a good thought, especially if you are thinking of ever using voip, because it does not only save you money but you could spare yourself the Borden of writing checks month after month by simply chosen the Yearly plan ($199). In addition, their international rates are very moderate.

Check Packet8 by copying and pasting the below link into your internet browser, if you think voip could be a choice for you. They provide good services and a Thirty-day Money-back Guarantee.
http://www.telebay.com/callvoip/packet8.html

[Stating]

The Bells Love This Throwback

The baby Bells would love this throw back service because it means Ooma users have to keep their old analog lines. I think the stoners who dreamed up Ooma also dreamed up Ocho.

Skype charges $30 a year for unlimited call to the U.S. and Canada. Given Ooma's $400 cost, I can buy 13 YEARS worth of Skpye service. Oh, and I can use my $30 Skype account on any computer, unlike Ooma which requires me to shell out $400 for every location. Try using Ooma from your hotel room. Good luck on that! An airport? Video calling? For $400 you can't do video calling, but you can do it for free with Skype, Yahoo Chat, Live, etc.

The only thing that will save Ooma is a big fat government no-bid contract. Ooma, FEMA is calling on line 1.

[Free VoIP]

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[nurok8]

Do you want to call cheap? You can make free calls to other computers connected to the Internet. Cheap international calls. Catalogue of voip providers.
http://www.voip-catalog.com/

[nurok8]

Do you want to call cheap? You can make free calls to other computers connected to the Internet. Cheap international calls. Catalogue of <a href="http://www.voip-catalog.com/">voip providers</a>.
http://www.voip-catalog.com/