Ooma: Can it replace your landline—and save you money?

Thinking of ditching your landline phone? A service called Ooma promises to make that decision easy and inexpensive for you.

For an initial outlay of around $ 250, you’ll receive equipment from Ooma; you plug your home phone and high-speed Internet connection into the Ooma hub. Then for a small monthly fee ($ 3.50) going forward, you can make calls anywhere in the U.S. (You can make international calls for a “low cost.”) You also get free voicemail, caller ID, call waiting, 911 service, and “clear, landline quality voice,” the company claims. You also have the option of keeping your current home phone number, for an additional fee.

Consumer Reports ordered an Ooma hub and service to try it out; we can tell you what we found in terms of setup, call quality, and ease of use. But we also emphasize that you have some math to do before you can determine exactly how much you’ll save if you switch over to Ooma! So check out our video, below, to see whether Ooma might be the solution you’ve been looking for.

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