The Ooma Telo is a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) device that uses your home’s broadband Internet connection to provide an alternative to a traditional landline. And it does so at a fraction of the cost, but is it easy enough to uproot your landline and replace it with technology like this?

My parents were the guinea pigs for this project because they no longer wanted to pay an obscene amount every month just to talk to friends and family on the phone. While the allure of saving a significant amount of money was a big incentive, the one sticking point for them was whether or not they could keep the same number. Ooma offers a way to check that before shelling out any money to buy it.

Number porting is an extra $39.99 one-time cost that they needed to also factor in, and the process would take three or four weeks to complete. They could assign a temporary number to the Telo until the port was finished, and Bell’s service was to be uninterrupted until then.

On this same page, you can calculate your savings, test the speed of your connection and see what fees and taxes you’d have to pay. While the standard service is free, you still have to pay a few dollars in fees and taxes mandated by the government.

The unit itself also comes with a hefty price tag upfront. At $200, the Telo must be viewed as an investment that pays for itself in a relatively short period of time, which is how Ooma puts it. The company also makes it clear that to have a Canadian number and get free nationwide calling, you need to buy the unit from a Canadian retailer, so it makes no sense to buy it in the U.S. for a little bit less and bring it back.

So, while my parents knew they could save money, they had to consider the upfront costs as well. What if they didn’t like the service? Would the overall experience match that of a landline? Could they return the unit? Retailers are pretty good about returns, except big box ones like Future Shop, Best Buy and Costco appear to only sell it online. That makes the return scenario a little different.

My parents also have DSL at their house, and to cancel their Bell landline without interrupting the Internet, they would have to make sure they have a  “dry loop” connection, meaning that the Internet is coming from a separate line that is unattached to a landline. Since they didn’t, they had to call Bell to inform them of their plan to cancel the phone service and request dry loop access to keep the DSL going. A Bell representative told them the transition to dry loop would be seamless once the number porting was completed. Bell also wouldn’t charge anything extra for the move.

Since the process takes three-to-four weeks, the landline isn’t interrupted, and the change is confirmed via email, wherein any adjustments with wiring can take place. In a multi-story home, this can get a bit tricky, but there are a couple of options. If the Telo is connected to the main line coming into the home (which would be great if it’s near the router too), then using a phone jack splitter to have both an inbound and outbound connection would be ideal. From there, it’s conceivable that other phones in the house may work because they’re connected to the same junction.

If not, the other option is to use a cordless phone set where the base is connected to the router, and the satellite ones are used in other parts of the house. Because the main connection is established at the base, the satellite units wouldn’t need to have phone lines attached to them.

So, to recap, here were the costs my parents had to look at in moving over to the Ooma Telo from a landline. First, the unit cost $200 plus tax. Then there was the $39.99 one-time fee for porting the number over. Each month, they would have to pay the taxes and government fees, which amounted to $3.74. With free calls throughout Canada, caller ID, call waiting and voice mail included in the standard package, they opted not to sign up for the Premier package at $9.99 per month, though Ooma does offer that as a trial for the first 60 days. As they wouldn’t want to continue on after that, they had to indicate as such in the My Ooma portal on the company’s website.

All told, it would be just north of $300 when upfront costs and monthly fees are factored in over a 12-month span. Long distance to Europe would be extra, of course, but rates are competitive. Comparing that to average monthly bills that were easily $80 per month for the existing landline, the savings offered was what initially got them interested in switching over. In setting it all up, it was important that they had all their ducks in a row on the 911 emergency features, too. Ooma wisely has detailed instructions on that, though it’s really just a simple matter of confirming your address.

While it’s a process, and it requires understanding some nuances on how it all works, switching from an existing landline to a VoIP-enabled product like the Ooma Telo might be an investment that keeps more money in the home. Voice quality is easily comparable to a landline, and in case of a power outage, a cell phone should be good enough to reach out to someone.

But there are some drawbacks. If the Internet is down for any reason, then the Telo can’t work. VoIP is also still a misunderstood technology, especially for an older demographic used to traditional landlines. The wide feature set of the Telo may be lost on those who wouldn’t know how to manage their accounts or make changes. And number porting isn’t universal, so even if you want to save money, but can’t port the number over, you have to decide on if you want to give up your existing number and adopt a new one.