Working for a software/services company headquartered over 600 miles away means a lot of long distance calls to clients.  A cell phone plan with 700 minutes does not last very long with 4 or 5 hours of phone calls in a single day.  Adding a land line to my TV/Internet bill would cost around $40 a month–Vonage would cost $25.  With Ooma I pay just $3.47 each month.

Unlike other VoiP services, Ooma offers “free” home phone service after the initial device purchase (more on why it’s “free” later).  As of this writing, Ooma is selling this device for $200 on their website, found here.  You simply plug the device into your router and plug your phones into the device.  Here is the complete list of the steps I went through setting up my Ooma device:

1. Go to Ooma.com/activate
2. Type in the Activation Code found on the back of the Ooma Telo device
3. Enter area code and prefix to select a phone number in my local calling area
4. Enter contact and address information (used for 911 services)
5. Enter billing information (here’s the “free” part again)
6. Pick a password and security question and click Activate Now

That’s it!  After those few steps I was up and running and making local and long distance calls on my new land line.  Here’s the “free” part I keep mentioning.  Visit Ooma’s Tax Calculator to determine what local taxes and fees you’ll be responsible for.  As mentioned previously, I only pay $3.47 per month.  Ooma estimates $3.50 as the average individuals’ monthly phone bill for their free service.

When compared to traditional land lines or other VoiP services, $3.47 is hard, if not impossible, to beat.  I’ve been using my Ooma device 6 months and have yet to have a single problem with it.  Crystal clear calls, no outages, and just $3.47 automatically deducted from my bank account each month.

Leave a comment below if you use Ooma or perhaps want to use Ooma but have questions.