Panasonic KX-TG6445 - a great cordless phone for the OOMA Telo

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I've been a fan of the OOMA Telo since I got it just over a year ago.  In fact, I just got my first annual bill associated with OOMA that starts on your second year of service.  I paid only $11.75 for another year (saving me $360 per year).  A fantastic deal for what has been excellent phone service and a great way to cut your bills without sacrifice!

When I bought my OOMA telo I simply used it with my old Uniden cordless phones (and it worked reasonably well with them).  However, the batteries on my Uniden handsets were starting to die and rather than replace them I thought  it might be time to look for something better.

Panasonic KX-TG6445t

Initially, I was just looking for a decent deal on a phone set with at least 4 handsets.

However, as I read a bit more about the newer DECT 6.0 phones I ran across some really cool features that made upgrading my phones particularly tempting.

Because my old Uniden phone wasn't able to detect if there was voicemail on my OOMA telo, I was always stuck with using two message systems.  I used the built in answering machine on the Uniden 95% of the time.  However, if I got a call while I was on the phone, it would still go to my OOMA voicemail.

This was particularly annoying as it was easy to miss that I had a message waiting on my OOMA telo (v.s. my Uniden which would simply flash to get my attention).

Time for a better phone!

Note:  The KX-TG6445t is the 5 handset (t = titanium black) version of KX-TG6441 (one handset w/answering machine), KX-TG6442 (two handsets), KX-TG6443 (three handsets), KX-TG6444 (four handsets).
 

Cutting the cord

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Lots of people are getting fed up with their ever increasing monthly cable or satellite bills and starting to Cut the cord. You can easily save $100 or more a month on all of the combined services that you don't really need.

That is $1,200 per year... every year... If you are starting to feel the pain, you are not alone:

• 800,000 households "cut the cord" last year 
• 1 in 8 will "cut the cord" in 2010

Months ago I got fed up with my triple-play cable bill and Cut the cord.  Yes, I still have internet access, but I have reduced my bill from $165 to $42 per month (internet) + Netflix..

What have I had to give up you ask?  Nothing that I don't miss and I have way more cool features than I had before.  As far as TV, I have high quality TV and no shortage of interesting and educational things to watch.

Still not sure it can be done?  Follow my step-by-step Cut the Cord Survivor Guide.

You'll also find lots of posts on cutting the cord topics from setting up your own antenna to checking out Apple TV.  Feel free to browse around, share what you find, and let me know what you think!

Here is how I cut the cord and you can too:

• (Almost) free phone service
• Free TV service
• Build your own, do-it-all Media PC (for recording TV and more)
• Netflix for Movie rentals and streaming

Enjoy those monthly savings!

Cut the cord with (almost) free phone service

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OOMA Telo

I consider my home phone one of life's necessities. Some of us can live with only a cell phone (and this is a great way to start cutting your bills). However cell phone call quality is noticeably worse than regular phones in my area (plus you always have to worry about managing your minutes). In addition, I like to have a backup to my cell phone in case of a 911 emergency.

A few years ago I broke away from the old phone company and started trying out voice-over-IP solutions. I've used Vonage with good results (except when I tried to cancel my service...). Vonage had good call quality and so-so pricing (about $30 per month after all of the fees are added in). So when my local cable company offered me a "triple-play" package (phone, internet, TV) with attractive pricing I took it.

As you'd expect, the triple-play pricing was simply a teaser rate which expired after a year. I've played the usual games of threatening to cancel, but despite my best efforts the bills seemed to keep going up. So, I started looking for alternative solutions.

Requirements:

1. Must provide reliable, acceptable quality phone service
2. Must work with the 911 service
3. Must be a stand-alone device (no computer required)
4. Must have unlimited local and long distance calling in the US

There are some really compelling alternative phone services that are quite popular (like Skype and Magicjack). However, these require me to use my computer and I am not a big fan of running my desktop 7x24 for just this purpose. I do love Skype and use it for all of my (infrequent) international calling needs.

I finally read about and thought I'd try the Ooma Telo: