Ooma helps you save on your phone bills

Despite that, though, you can directly connect to the Ooma and fiddle around with its internal settings using a browser from your home network. If you're really in a tweaking mood, you can change a variety of network settings, such as the device's IP address and network mask, in addition to playing around with its quality of service (QoS) settings. When I tinkered with the QoS, I didn't notice any changes, but your mileage may vary.

The bottom line

Should you replace your existing phone service with Ooma You can certainly save money -- for example, if you pay $60 a month for your phone service, including long-distance calls, the basic Ooma service will pay for itself in four months. From that point on, it's all savings.

Keep in mind, though, that you'll be giving up some voice quality. (According to the company, Ooma is releasing a new model this summer, called Telo, that will include a cordless handset featuring DECT 6.0 technology and so may address some of these issues.) In addition, if you need several Scouts, or are willing to pay a monthly fee of $12.99 for features such as three-way calling, the savings aren't nearly as great.