Good Riddance, Phone Bill!

A couple of months ago, I was complaining to my family about how CenturyLink, (formerly Qwest, formerly known as something else that I can't remember) had raised my bill-- not by just a little, either. It had gone up from $65 for internet and phone to $85!!  

Of course, this happens, and for years we always called and whined and insisted they give us a better price and they usually got us on a better deal, but I'm tired of that game, so I was saying that I wanted to switch ISPs (since in our area, CL's download speeds are notoriously horrible) and get rid of the phone. I was debating whether to buy another cell phone to have stay home or to just be rid of the phone... I hadn't decided what to do at that point.

They were so excited to tell me about how their phone bill is now only about $3 in taxes a month, since they bought an Ooma! As soon as they had gone home, I went online and researched it for myself, and the tax amount for my area is $4.45. That's it. 

Well, okay, that's not precisely it. You have to shell out nearly $200 for the Ooma phone thingy, but they do have it at Costco for less than full price.

We decided to go for it-- dump the regular phone and take a leap with the Ooma. It's an internet phone, so it is dependent on the power being on and the internet working well, but with our new Comcast cable internet (much faster and more reliable than Centurylink was) we figured it would be worth it. And, just as awesome, Ooma forwards calls to my cell phone if the internet/power is ever out, so I don't really miss calls, even then. 

We got ours at Costco for $130-ish, which is a decent deal, and I saw that on Black Friday they had it for only $99! Much better... Plus, you don't have to buy a phone- it works with what you have already. All you need is the base. So far so good. It includes call waiting, caller ID and long distance in the US. Yep. For under $5.00.

Complaints? A couple. First of all, there is a slight delay, kind of like when you talk on a cell phone, between you and the person on the other end of the call. It kind of drives me crazy, but I'm getting used to it, and I have hope that Ooma will improve the technology over time and it will go away. It isn't severe, and it's only slightly noticeable, but I look forward to them solving that. Second, there is occasionally an echo, again, like a cell phone, and I can't even talk with that going on. If I can hear myself after everything I say, I can't even focus. 

However, I am all about the money, and to go from $85 a month to $40 for my internet and $5 for my phone is worth a little inconvenience.