Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I purchased three of these handsets, one from Amazon and two directly from the OEM (which had a slightly discounted two package deal). I was replacing an older Panasonic DECT system, which had worked well. But I wanted to try Ooma’s hardware out. I have generally been pleased with the service for which I had been an early adopter. The handsets do have some nice features which I won’t cover here, as others have already done. I will list the items I do not like as others may be equally concerned. The first issue is regarding firmware updates. They have been frequent and the customer has no control on when and whether they occur. Even worse the updates take control of your entire phone system making all of the equipment unusable for the duration. These updates have taken 1 - 1.5 HOURS each time. So, though I have three handsets I am unable to send or receive phone calls for an extended period of time, and I have no control whatsoever on this. I’ve had a couple of situations where I HAD to make/receive a phone call but was locked out. THIS IS COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE. I reached out to the company via their Forums but have received no response. If I needed to make a 911 call I’d be out of luck. The company needs to make the system work if you have multiple handsets. And the customer should be able to determine when updates are acceptable. Despite the claim by Ooma I do not find the voice clarity any better on these handsets vs. my old system, which was one of the things I’d hoped for. As well I actually think the sound via speaker phone is actually worse than my old system. Speaker phone use is a main feature I utilize. Ooma wants you to install their base ahead of any local router on your internet connection to ‘improve sound quality’. This is not secure and should not be requested. Furthermore, they use old technology on their Ethernet port which would restrict your internet speed. Their new equipment should use at least Gigabit Ethernet. I do think some of the features integration with their base are a nice improvement. But, all in all, I regret buying these handsets due to the issues mentioned. It’s a shame because I do like my other experiences with the company. Sadly, I cannot recommend buying this equipment. Update: I remembered another irritating issue that I hope the OEM will fix. Ooma (Premier) is a two line/number system. For years I have used one number for friends/family, and the other line for everything else. With my Panasonic system I could prefix the line code in the stored number for each contact to ensure I used a specific number to call them from. Using Ooma handsets you are forced to use their (IMO insecure) online Contact database, which strictly enforces 10 digit dialing and will not allow you to choose which line to use. Not at all what I want. I have also reached out to the company via Forums on this and have received no response (the forum is company moderated). Let us either add prefixes or program which line to use for each stored contact. They could do either/both but they show no movement as yet to satisfy on this matter. There does appear to be some rudimentary attempt to choose which line to use, but you have to apparently dedicate a handset to a given number, not at all acceptable.