Ooma Review: Is Ooma Office Right for Your Business?

The verdict

Ooma Office is the easiest small business phone system to recommend for an office with a front desk. Every plan includes a virtual receptionist, ring groups and music on hold, there is no contract, and the price per user is the same whether you stay one month or three years. The trade-off is texting and recording: the entry plan has neither, and the higher plans cap texts. This review covers Ooma Office, Ooma's small business service.

Ooma Office at a glance

Ooma Office plans and what each one adds

Each step up costs $5 more per user per month. Full price tables by team size are on Ooma Office pricing.

Ooma Office features by plan

From Ooma's plan page: Essentials inclusions, Pro "Everything in Essentials" plus its list, Pro Plus "Everything in Pro" plus its list; ring groups and music on hold from the feature table. "No" means the feature is not listed for that plan.

What Ooma Office costs in year one

Our math: five users on Essentials cost $99.75 a month, or $1,197 for the first year; Pro is $1,497 and Pro Plus $1,797. For comparison, Vonage's lowest plan with desk phones, Premium, is $1,259.40 for the same five users if you sign its 1-year contract and $1,799.40 month to month. Ooma Essentials beats both without any contract. Applicable taxes and fees are extra on both.

Ooma Office monthly cost at other team sizes

A worked example: an 8-person office that texts customers and takes about 1,500 toll-free minutes a month needs Pro ($199.60) plus one 1,000-minute toll-free pack ($15), or $214.60 a month and $2,575.20 a year before taxes and fees. Per user, price times team size; see Ooma Office pricing for 1, 5, 10 and 25 users.

How Ooma Office handles calls

On every plan, the virtual receptionist answers with your menu, ring groups send a call to several phones at once, and callers on hold hear music. Pro adds tools for the people answering: enhanced call blocking, voicemail transcription, caller info match, dynamic caller ID, Google and Office 365 integrations and call analytics. Pro Plus adds call queuing, which holds callers in line for the next free person, and find me, follow me, which tries several of a person's phones in turn. Above that, Enterprise lists SIP trunking, Microsoft Teams integration and direct routing, call center solutions, advanced analytics and custom implementation, with no published price.

Texting and toll-free limits in practice

Texting. Pro's cap of 250 messages a month works out to about 8.3 a day over a 30-day month; Pro Plus's 1,000 is about 33.3 a day. A front desk confirming a handful of appointments fits in Pro. A team that texts every customer about every job will need Pro Plus, or a system without a cap.

Toll-free minutes. The free toll-free number includes 500 inbound minutes a month. An office that takes 1,500 toll-free minutes a month needs one 1,000-minute pack at $15 a month, so its toll-free line costs $15 a month on top of the plan; above 1,500 minutes, the 2,500-minute pack is $30 a month.

Ooma Office compared with other office systems

Prices from each company's pricing page. More systems on office phone systems.

Where Ooma Office is strong

• The entry plan is a real office phone system. A virtual receptionist, ring groups and hold music on the $19.95 plan cover what most front desks need.
• No lock-in. No contract on any plan, plus a 30-day money-back guarantee.
• Wider calling area. Unlimited calling to the US, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico is included, not an add-on.
• A toll-free number is free. One comes with 500 inbound minutes a month; more minutes are $15 a month for 1,000 or $30 a month for 2,500 (Ooma).
• Quick to set up. Ooma says phones come preconfigured, setup takes about 15 minutes and you can keep your number (Ooma).
• Industry versions. For restaurants Ooma lists overhead paging and ring groups for reservations and takeout (Ooma); for hotels, wake-up calls and integration with 30+ property management systems (Ooma).

Where Ooma Office falls short

• Texting costs a plan upgrade. Essentials lists no text messaging, and Pro stops at 250 messages a month.
• Recording starts at Pro. Offices that record calls for training pay $24.95 a user at minimum.
• Queues only on the top plan. Call queuing is a Pro Plus feature, so a busy line that holds callers costs $29.95 a user.
• No reward for commitment. Ooma shows one monthly price; there is no annual discount to lower it.
• Bigger features are quote-only. Enterprise has no published price.

What it costs to move up a plan

Most offices start on Essentials and move up when they need texting, recording or queues. For five users, Pro adds $25 a month ($300 a year) and Pro Plus adds $50 a month ($600 a year) over Essentials. With no contract, you can start on Essentials and move up only when you hit a limit.

Ooma Office vs Google Voice and Grasshopper for a small office

See Google Voice vs Grasshopper for those two head to head.

Ooma Office for restaurants, hotels and shops

Ooma sells versions of Office for specific businesses, built on the same plans.

See restaurant phone systems and hotel phone systems for those industries side by side.

Costs on top of an Ooma Office plan

• Taxes and fees. Ooma says applicable taxes and fees are not included in plan prices.
• Extra toll-free minutes. $15 a month for 1,000 or $30 a month for 2,500.
• Phones. Optional; Ooma sells analog and IP phones. Models and prices: VoIP phones.
• AI features. AI Receptionist, AI Answering Service and an AI Productivity Agent bundle are add-ons, and Ooma does not list their prices.

Apps, phones and remote staff

The mobile app comes with every plan, so a technician or a remote worker can answer the office line from a cell phone on Essentials. The desktop app starts on Pro, along with video meetings for up to 25 people; Pro Plus raises meetings to 100 and adds team chat and hot desking, which lets staff sign in to a shared phone. If most of your team works away from a desk, Pro is the realistic starting point.

Which Ooma Office plan to pick

Ooma vs Vonage in one table

Vonage terms from its pricing page. The full comparison, including year-two costs, is on Ooma vs Vonage and the Vonage review.

911 on Ooma Office

Ooma Office is interconnected VoIP, so federal 911 rules apply: E911 is mandatory, customers cannot opt out, and the provider must record your physical location before service starts. For an office with several phones, Kari's Law also requires direct 911 dialing with no prefix and a notification to a central location when someone calls 911 (FCC). Ooma's hotel version lists staff-level E-911 notification delivery (Ooma). During setup, confirm each user's address and who receives the 911 alert.

Switching to Ooma Office

Ooma says porting regular US and Canada numbers is free. You can use the apps alone, bring phones, or buy analog and IP phones from Ooma; see VoIP phones for models. Under federal rules, Ooma, like any interconnected VoIP provider, must provide E911 as a condition of service (47 CFR 9.11) and collect your physical location before service starts (FCC), so set each user's address during setup.

Is Ooma Office worth it?

For a typical office of 3 to 15 people with a reception desk, yes. Essentials gives that office a menu, ring groups, hold music, a toll-free number and desk phone support for $19.95 a user, with no contract to sign. It is weaker value for mobile-first teams that live in text messages, where Pro or Pro Plus caps apply, and for anyone happy to commit for a year, since some annual contracts elsewhere cost less per user. The decision usually comes down to two numbers: how many texts you send a month, and whether you will sign a contract.

Who should skip Ooma Office

• Teams that text customers all day: the 1,000-message cap on Pro Plus will bind.
• Offices willing to sign a contract to cut the price: Vonage's annual price is lower, and so is Zoom Phone's, which also lists auto attendants on every plan.
• Businesses that need a published price for call center features: those sit on custom-priced Enterprise.
• Teams on Google Workspace that want calls in Gmail: see the Google Voice for business review.

Setting up Ooma Office, step by step

1. Pick the plan from your texting and recording needs: Essentials, Pro or Pro Plus.
2. Keep your numbers: Ooma says porting regular US and Canada numbers is free.
3. Choose phones or apps: preconfigured Ooma phones, or the mobile app on every plan and the desktop app from Pro.
4. Record the virtual receptionist menu and set business hours.
5. Build ring groups for departments, and call queues on Pro Plus.
6. Set each user's 911 address and the person or place that gets 911 alerts.

Ooma says setup takes about 15 minutes with preconfigured phones. Keep your old service active until your numbers have moved.

Questions to ask Ooma before you buy

1. How many texts do we send a month? Over 250 means Pro Plus.
2. Do we need call queuing, or will ring groups do?
3. Which of our current desk phones will work, and which need replacing?
4. Will 500 toll-free minutes a month cover us, or do we need a minutes pack?
5. What taxes and fees will the first bill show for our number of users?