Ooma Home Security Watches Over Your Home, Giving You 24/7 Peace Of Mind
The Ooma Home Security system lays to rest what prior notions I might have harbored that any home surveillance technology worth installing would inevitably suck away at least hundreds upon hundreds of dollars and precious hours sunk into intricate installation and costly monitoring. All of a sudden, along come these intuitive Android and iOS control apps loaded with infinitely customizable options alongside an equally variable complement of motion, door and window sensors I can connect in minutes and easily reconfigure anywhere as needed with a handful of screws or some double-sided tape. Now, I simply wonder what took so many years for someone to make peace of mind so simple at low month-to-month rates starting at $5.99 after a free 30-day introductory trial.
Ooma Home Security is actually an expansion of Ooma’s own superbly inclusive Telo system. Along with the unlimited nationwide calling, voicemail, caller ID and call-waiting services already administered by Telo using any home’s internet connection, Ooma’s monitoring add-on introduces remote emergency 911 connectivity that saves precious seconds by instantly transmitting your residential address to a local operator. You could be forgiven if that sounds like a tall order for an almost plug-and-play set of hardware to shoulder. I was initially skeptical myself.
Of course, that was before I unboxed the total package and had to ask myself after a setup process shorter than an average YouTube video, “Is that seriously all there is to it?” It was so easy.
The modestly sized white sensors are wonderfully discreet and mount nearly anywhere with minimal drilling, hammering and unsightly desecration of walls, windows or fixtures. Although you don’t have to do that, you can simply place the motion sensor anywhere you need to detect unauthorized motion activity. Thankfully, Ooma Home Security eschews one-size-fits-all notions and allows Telo customers to order as many sensors as needed to keep tabs on every vulnerable entry point at once. Though not included in the basic package, you can also order a water sensor to place in your basement or other water prone areas to get an alert if say a pipe bursts in the winter while you’re away on winter vacation. These devices may be tiny and certainly uncomplicated to handle, but Ooma clearly knows how to build tech to last.
After reading Ooma Home Security’s instructions, I would have still been impressed if fitting one sensor over both my front and back doors, another alongside each of my four windows, a motion detector on the awning above my front porch and my water sensor alongside my heater to monitor leaks had taken even twice the time that it did. Connecting them all to the app was equally seamless and allowed me to then be blown away by just how much I could control with a few swipes of my finger. From my phone, I can set up preferred alerts, configure my entire system and arm or disarm the entire array from the comfort of my couch or half a world away.
Thankfully, I can set Ooma Home Security up to ping me with an app notification, email or phone call the moment something trips one of my sensors. From there, Telo can connect me straightaway to emergency responders who have already received my address – again, no matter where I am when I call for aid. Better still, the app notifies me immediately if something interrupts my power or internet connection and potentially leaves my property vulnerable. As you also might imagine, the water sensor will let me know if the heater starts dripping or a pipe bursts so I can immediately summon a plumber.
For those of us who live in a fully connected world, Ooma Home Security is fully compatible with Nest Protect Smoke Alarm and Learning Thermostat, as well as a number of other popular smart-home systems. In the end, I keep coming back to the price, though: just $5.99 per month. No contracts. No obligations. Plus, I’m midway into a no-cost tryout period. If you ever need to relocate, Ooma Home Security and Telo can come with me and protect my new digs with absolutely no rewiring or complex configuration. It’s simple. It’s inexpensive. It covers every base I could possibly need to protect, and it does everything while keeping me in the loop no matter where I am.
