Ooma is a one time fee VoIP good looking device that was introduced on the market for the first time in September 2007. Today, Ooma is introducing new features to its Hub and Scout bundle priced at $249.99 for unlimited US calling (low-cost International). The Hub can support one phone handset and each additional phone handset need to be connected via a Scout, one Hub can support up to 4 Scouts ($69.99 per additional Scout). This time, customers will be able to get the ooma from retail stores like BestBuy.
The new features are included in the ooma Premier service that will cost you $12.99 a month or $99.99 a year: - Virtual phone numbers: a second "free"phone number is included in the ooma Premier service and you can add up to nine numbers, but for each of the other eight, you need to pay a monthly fee of $4.99...
- Voicemail attachments: now you will be able to listen to your voicemail from your email, this feature has been standard for a while in our Lingo service. It delivers Wav files that are larger than the mp3 files that we get from Lingo. This is standard for most VoIP services as well.
- Multi Ring: now you can configure the system to simultaneously ring or forward to a mobile phone or another phone, this feature is included in most VoIP services too.
- Personal Numbers and Private Voicemail: according to ooma, this is a unique feature: the service can route a phone call to a specific device. From the configuration web page (ooma Lounge), you can assign a virtual personal phone number to a specific phone. Each personal number has a separate voicemail box and a ooma Lounge account.
- Call Logs, Blacklist: From the ooma Lounge, you can view the information on incoming and outgoing calls and select specific phone numbers to blacklist. This feature is in beta and it was not accessible when I tested the service.
