You pay $10/mo (apparently) for VOIP AND you have Verizon nationwide calling which must cost you $20/mo. So, you’re paying $30 a month. 6 months from today we’ve spent the same amount of money. In 8 months, I’ve saved $60 – enough to buy your $35 VoIP controller AND have money left over to spend on a different VoIP provider.

Sure – it’s a lot out front, but REAL QUICK it pays for itself and starts saving money.

My wife and I are buying one as soon as we move to Ohio (and dropping our cell phones – grad school is expensive even when it’s free). The way I figure is, we’d be paying AT LEAST $25/mo for any other calling plan that includes long distance, so in 9 months we’re saving money. If the company goes belly up in a year – big deal – we’ve saved money! If it goes belly up in 3 years, I still don’t care – I’ve still saved a ton of money.

Paying more up front in exchange for reducing recurring expenses later on is a SMART thing to do. Like buying a hybrid that gets 60 mpg instead of a car that costs $10K less but only gets 30. How long does the car have to last before the hybrid is saving you money? Well – the equation is: 10000 = price of gas*(miles driven/60)

Figure gas is $2/gallon (yeah right!) you’d have to drive 300,000 miles to have the price’s equalize. Figure a more reasonable $4/gallon and you’ll only need 150,000 miles (which is very possible and reasonable to expect from a well engineered car)

Just because the initial investment is high, if it reduces future costs – it can easily become less expensive.

Also – the lack of a bill is nice each month – keep more of your future paychecks.

Even if the company goes belly up. I will be saving money so fast that it still makes sense. For my situation I have a 6 months Return on Investment and save $450 each year after that. They will be in business for at least several years since they are putting big stock in the TELO product. For anyone that uses a landline and has reliable Internet Service (isn’t that most of us?) this should be a no brainer.

The Dude.

What service is that?

I use a different VoIP service that costs me $10/mo for two lines. I kept my old phone number, and I get all the advanced calling features that are mentioned for the premium package for OOMA.

My other big problem with this service is the same as a previous poster, you’re buying an overpriced VoIP box. Heaven help you if they go belly up, because that box instantly becomes worthless. I paid $35 for the VoIP controller I use, more in my comfort zone. :-)