Ooma Office

Ooma Office remains a solid business-class voice-over-IP (VoIP) service for small and midsize businesses looking for a modest feature set. It has a low entry price, and companies with tight budgets will like that it requires no annual contract. Ooma regularly adds new features to its service, and it has addressed some of the shortfalls we called out in our last review by implementing contact syncing, SMS messaging support, and video conferencing. The VoIP service lacks the fancier features offered by some of its competitors, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and deep integrations with other software. Still, Ooma remains a good option for companies that want to quickly get up and running quickly and enjoy a smooth, easy-to-manage experience. 

Ooma Office's Prices and Plans

Ooma's prices haven't increased, despite its various service improvements. The basic Ooma service starts at $19.95 per user per month, with no contract required. This provides all of the typical VoIP features you'd expect, including voicemail, call forwarding and parking, ring groups, and call logging.

The next level up is Ooma Office Pro, which costs $24.95 per user per month. This tier gives you access to some of Ooma's more advanced features, such as the desktop app, enhanced call blocking, call recording, voicemail transcription, and the new video conferencing function. Ooma says this is its most popular tier.

Ooma also offers an Enterprise tier for businesses of all sizes that have advanced needs, such as integration with call centers or hotel property management systems. That said, you must contact an IT shop or one of Ooma's channel partners to price that service level, and get it up and running.

The VoIP Experience

At its core, Ooma Office is about voice calling. Like most of the other VoIP services we reviewed, Ooma offers an app for iOS and Android mobile devices and, at the Pro level, for Windows and macOS desktops. Ooma also sent us a desk phone to sample, and it had solid construction and a clear display. We tested the Ooma mobile client, too, and found that it offers the same level of quality as the desktop experience. 

One feature we like is the ability to "flip" a call from your desk phone to any other device registered to your username. Dialing *44 on your desk phone causes all other devices to ring. To transfer the call, simply answer on the device of your choice and continue talking.

While the desktop client hasn't seen any significant user interface updates, Ooma addressed several missing features we called out in our last review. At the top of the list is the ability to connect with Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 to synchronize contacts. This was a glaring hole in the previous Ooma build that we reviewed, and adding this capability puts the service on par with most of the other products in this roundup in that respect.

The latest version of the desktop client also supports SMS messaging. You can now type messages using your computer keyboard and view message threads just as you would on a mobile device. Again, though, this just puts it on par with competitors that already had this feature, such as Editors' Choice winner Intermedia Unite.

What's more, Ooma's interface is still missing the many collaboration and productivity features found in competing services, such as Dialpad or our Editors' Choice winner RingCentral MVP. For example, Ooma lacks chat channels, and you can't track tasks or share files.

New Video Meetings

Since our last review, Ooma added video conferencing to the mix, bringing it more in line with the modern definition of a VoIP service. The new feature supports up to 25 participants for up to two hours per meeting. You need an Ooma Office Pro subscription to use this feature. 

Meetings worked well in our tests, even when launched from a web browser. Starting a meeting from the Ooma Office client opens a new window with a meetings-centric interface. Meetings options include the ability to join a meeting, schedule one for later, or launch an ad-hoc meeting. Clicking the Meet Now button launches the Ooma Office Meetings app with prominently displayed connection information. A Copy Invite button copies the meeting details to the clipboard for texting or emailing to other participants.

Ooma Administration

One of Ooma's strengths is its simple setup and configuration. It uses a wizard-based approach to take you through the process. The entire setup requires just three steps to configure user accounts, how incoming calls are handled, and additional features, such as a toll-free number, conference calling, and number porting. Authentication requires a username and password, as opposed to using an external authentication service like Google or Microsoft. 

Ooma’s administration features provide the same straightforward experience found in the desktop app. The administrator dashboard shows call and virtual fax logs, plus a few buttons for quick access functions. 

Ooma collaborated with NoMoRobo, a list of known automated spam callers, to block these nuisance "robocalls" before you even get a ring. The system can also be configured to block anonymous calls or any number on the company's private block list.  

The Virtual Receptionist is another welcome feature. Once enabled, it handles all incoming calls and takes action depending on the time of day. Setup from the administration web interface consists of choosing actions from a list of drop-down options. Actions for regular business hours include selecting an extension from the company directory, transferring the call, or sending it to voicemail. You can also build a similar menu interface for after-hours or configure the system to simply transfer the call to a company voicemail.

Ooma's reporting features have somewhat improved, as well. New graphs show the call volume and related statistics for the time of day, and day of the week. Summary information also appears in a tabular form. Additional reporting consists of call logs and virtual fax logs that can be exported to a CSV file.

However, even with these improvements, these features aren't at the same level as similar tools from Dialpad or RingCentral MVP. Unfortunately, you can't customize the analytics reports other than filtering the information by different time periods. If you want customizable reports, Freshdesk Contact Center excels at this.

We would have also liked to see more robust call-quality reports. Ooma's are based solely on user feedback, but RingCentral MVP's reports, for example, also take into account such factors as the endpoint's ISP, the type of internet connection, and call quality versus call volume.

An Easy VoIP Option (If It Meets Your Needs)

Ooma's ease of use is its chief selling point. The service's contract-free monthly pricing makes the initial purchasing decision easy, and its streamlined installation process means you can get up and running within minutes. Ooma's desktop, mobile, and administration app user interfaces are similarly straightforward. However, even with the video conferencing addition, Ooma still lacks the competition's team collaboration features. If worry-free calling and video conferencing are the top features that you want from a VoIP service, Ooma could be a good fit for your business. On the other hand, if you're concerned that your organization might outgrow Ooma's capabilities, check out Editors' Choice winners RingCentral MVP (our top choice for high call volume) and Intermedia Unite (our top pick for high reliability).