The OBI: a VOIP home phone work around (for FREE!)

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Many of you have questioned my decision in quitting my cell service #iquitATT, closing down my FB account & limiting the amount of services I use that many people consider necessities these days. This is part of a new resolution to maximize the effectiveness of my effort, my work, and my money. I also want to make sure that I am purchasing products from companies that I agree with.

In regards to the phone issue – I have found a work around. Free VOIP phone by utilizing my Google Voice number and a small box that ports it to a phone in my home. Meet the OBI.

By implementing the obi 110 and the Vtech Dect 6.0 I technically do not need a home phone line. This system gives you the very same service that most of cable companies are selling in a bundle with cable and internet. This challenge with the phone company is following the sales promotion runs out – each service is about 20 to60 dollars – in addition to your cable tv and internet costs. The price jumps from 99.00 for everything – an introductory 12 month rate to a gargantuan loop at 180 bucks a month. When I asked to switch to another promotion, my cable company refused. This leads to jumping to another carrier, or just sucking up the costs and shrugging with the “it is what it is” statement.

I ended up researching on how I could achieve a cheaper preferably free phone service that did not require having a computer on always like Majic Jack.

Narrowing my search down to 2 choices, I’ve decided to share them with you here:

  1. Ooma: Ooma has a high installation cost, but if you are not very tech savvy and familiar with the internet this is probably the best choice for you. Installation of Ooma is very easy as I understand it. Its practically plug in and start calling. However the drawback as I mentioned is the 2-300.00 dollar equipment fee, and the 3 dollars a month they charge for some type of taxes that make no sense to me. They are not the phone company, and how does everyone pay the exact same amount 3 dollars and some change.
  2. The OBI.

Both of these phone solutions use Voip which is just an acronym for voice over the internet literally.

Anyway I found out about the Obi110 and saw its capabilities, and I was impressed. It met all of my criteria. Low cost equipment; the obi100 was about 40 dollars and the phone was about 15 so all together I spent just over 50 dollars. Set up can be intimidating to a novice, but it is do able. It should take a novice about 10 minutes if they follow the video. As long as you follow the steps for configuring the Obi with google voice on the ObiHai website you can enjoy a free phone service that runs through your high speed internet modem. Google voice integration is perfect.

I have used the exact same phone that I bought at other peoples house and I always hear this loud static in the background, and I struggle to hear the person on the other end. I chalk it up to the analog phone combined with the latency of the cordless phone. However, when I heard the clarity that Voip provided via the Obi100 and Google voice I was blown away. No monthly fees, no high equipment fees and fairly easy installation the Obi and Google voice are a no brainier. You can even get a local number or port your cell phone or some other number to Google voice.

If you want to ditch your phone bill and need a replacement solution that does not depend on a computer. This should be your first choice. Only draw back is that there is no emergency calls and 911 can’t find your location. I highly recommend, and if you read this entire review I am sorry for the length, but I tried to give a thorough review. Thanks.

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