After opening my Verizon phone bill last month I finally decided “enough is enough.” Two years ago I dropped all long distance on my land-line phone service because I now use my cell phone’s “anytime, anywhere” plan or Skype. Even after dropping the long distance on my phone Verizon has still been charging me a $5 per month “access” fee for the service plus state and federal taxes of $1.33. What a rip-off!
According to my phone bill I pay $75.96 per year for a service I don’t need or want. My Verizon “basic charges,” including seven different fees and taxes, total another $4.89 per month for a total of $58.68 per year. That’s $134.64 per year in taxes alone. The residential line costs $16.90 per month, $202.80 per year. Combine the phone line with taxes and the infamous long distance access fee and my annual phone bill skyrockets to $337.44.
A show of hands please: How many of you know you can get rid of your traditional phone service, keep your existing phone number and avoid paying a monthly phone bill? It’s true. You can spend $249.99 for an Ooma system (www.ooma.com) and pay a one-time fee of $39.95 to keep your current phone number. After installing the equipment you will have the freedom to make 3,000 minutes of phone calls from your home phone to anywhere in the U.S. for free.
The system works great but does require a high-speed Internet connection. In my case I previously had Verizon’s DSL service, which cost $31.99 per month plus taxes. I canceled that, too, to rid myself of the big Verizon monthly envelope demanding payment for overpriced, poor service.
My home sits just two blocks from cable TV and Internet service, but well within range of a wireless Clearwire service signal. Clearwire is as fast as DSL, very reliable and comparably priced to my former DSL plan at $29.99 per month plus taxes.
Installing the Ooma system takes less than an hour and offers the following features.
· Free calling to any U.S. phone number
· Caller-ID
· Call-waiting
· Voicemail
· Ability to use your existing corded or cordless phones without the need for a computer or headset.
· Clear and crisp, reliable acoustic performance.
· Choice to keep your existing phone number or choose a new number from any calling area in the U.S.
· Fast setup
· Flexible voicemail from the home unit or from the Internet. Ooma lets you control and store your important voicemails online.
· 30-day money-back guarantee
Unlike other VOIP (voice over Internet protocol) options such as Vonage, once you pay for the Ooma equipment you will have no monthly charges, making Ooma the best option available today to rid yourself of expensive home-calling plans.
Ooma also offers a more powerful premium service for $99.99 per year that includes free existing phone number transfer, multiple voicemails, instant second line, multi-ring and more. For more information check out this highly rated, digitally advanced phone option at www.ooma.com.
What you’ll find in the box. You’ll find the main Ooma hub and a scout unit. The main hub connects to your high-speed Internet connection and your home phone. At no time do you ever have to have any computers running, as the Ooma hub handles everything. If you want an additional hard-wired phone connected to the system, plug the scout unit into a telephone plug and then connect your phone to the scout. Some people choose to connect cordless phones to their scout. If you choose this option, use your single cordless phone or one of the new VTech pair of phones mated to the same frequency. This option gives you an additional phone on your VOIP system.
Be sure to visit OU online next month and learn how to get powerful word-processing and image software computer programs for free. Until then, I’ll be wandering the Internet for more high-tech digital advancements to save you time and money.
John L. Beath is first vice president of OWAA and owner of Pacific Lure Communications. He is a writer/photographer and owner/editor of 14 Web sites and 10 online stores. For more information about getting connected on the Internet, visit his site at www.webuildyourwebsite.net.
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Switch to Ooma to save moolah
