Most of the time, setting up your Ooma Telo Base Station or Phone Genie is a quick and painless process. Every so often, though, something comes up that’s a little bit outside of the norm. Before you panic, take a moment to see if your situation is addressed here!

Reference: If you still find yourself having trouble after browsing through this Setup Troubleshooting FAQ, please contact our Customer Care Team for further assistance.

  1. What do I do if my computer is currently plugged directly into my modem?
    1. a. Connect Ooma Telo Base Station or Phone Genie to your modem:
    2. b. Connect Ooma Telo Base Station or Phone Genie to your computer:
  2. What do I do if I want to put my Ooma Telo Base Station or Phone Genie somewhere that’s not near my modem or router?
    1. If your home is not wired with Ethernet connections in each room
  3. I don’t hear a dialtone when I pick up the phone
  4. The Ooma light on my Telo Base Station or Phone Genie is blinking red
  5. The Ooma symbol and/or buttons on top of my Ooma Telo Base Station or Phone Genie do not light up
  6. The 1 and 2 buttons on my Ooma Telo Base Station or Phone Genie are lit blue
  7. The Trash and Message buttons on my Ooma Telo Base Station or Phone Genie are lit blue
  8. The Play and Fast forward keys are lit blue
  9. Incoming calls do not cause your phone to ring
  10. My voice quality is poor

What do I do if my computer is currently plugged directly into my modem?

The Ooma Telo Base Station or Phone Genie can function as a router, enabling your computer to access the Internet through the device. You’ll be able to set up your system by following the instructions in Option 2A in the Quick Start Guide. Wherever the instructions refer to your “router”, substitute the word “computer”. So, your version of these instructions will be to:

a. Connect Ooma Telo Base Station or Phone Genie to your modem:

Using the Ethernet cable provided, connect the TO INTERNET port of Ooma Telo Base Station or Phone Genie to the Ethernet port on your modem.

b. Connect Ooma Telo Base Station or Phone Genie to your computer:

Unplug the Ethernet cable from your modem and plug it into the HOME NETWORK port. The other end of this cable should be connected to the ethernet port on your computer.

What do I do if I want to put my Ooma Telo Base Station or Phone Genie somewhere that’s not near my modem or router?

Sometimes a household’s Internet is set up in such a way that it would be inconvenient to put your Ooma Telo Base Station or Phone Genie in the same place as your modem or router. Fortunately, Telo Base Station or Phone Genie setup options are flexible, allowing you to put your Ooma Telo Base Station or Phone Genie in a location that’s right for your household: If your home is wired with Ethernet connections in multiple rooms (you can plug an Ethernet cable into a wall jack and get Internet), you can hook your Ooma Telo Base Station or Phone Genie up in any Internet-connected room. Simply follow Option 2B in the Quick Start Guide and remember that the connection from the Telo Base Station or Phone Genie to your router will actually be a connection from your Telo Base Station or Phone Genie to the Ethernet jack in your wall.

If your home is not wired with Ethernet connections in each room

If your home is not wired with Ethernet connections in each room, there’s still a way to put your Ooma Telo Base Station or Phone Genie in exactly the location you’d love to have it! In order to accomplish this, you may need to use a HomePlug setup in order to use your Ooma Telo Base Station or Phone Genie.

Reference: For more information about setting up your Ooma Telo Base Station or Phone Genie with HomePlug, you may wish to review the Using HomePlug with Ooma article.

I don’t hear a dialtone when I pick up the phone

If you don’t hear a dialtone when you pick up the phone, the color of your Ooma logo. If it is flashing red, that means your Ooma is not working yet. Please continue reading below for additional troubleshooting information.

If your Ooma logo is a solid blue color, your Ooma service is up, but you may have hooked up your telephone incorrectly. Check to make sure that your phone is correctly plugged into the PHONE port on the back of your Ooma Telo Base Station or Phone Genie.

The Ooma light on my Telo Base Station or Phone Genie is blinking red

The Ooma logo on the front of the Ooma Telo Base Station or Phone Genie will flash red when the device is not able to connect to the Ooma service. This may happen upon first use if the device has not been activated properly. If the device has functioned in the past, the flashing red logo usually means that an interruption in your Internet service may have broken the device’s connection to Ooma servers. Verify that your Internet connection is functioning properly. Try rebooting your modem, router and/or Ooma Telo Base Station or Phone Genie to see if the network connection recovers.

The Ooma symbol and/or buttons on top of my Ooma Telo Base Station or Phone Genie do not light up

Your first step in troubleshooting this problem should be to check whether you have turned your system’s brightness level to “off”. You can do this by locating the brightness symbol on your Ooma Telo Base Station or Phone Genie system and touching it to determine whether the system’s lights turn on.

The lights on your Ooma Telo Base Station or Phone Genie system will not turn on if the system is not plugged in properly. Please take a moment to ensure that the power cable is securely connected to the POWER port on your Ooma Telo Base Station or Phone Genie, and that it is plugged into an active wall socket. If the Ooma Telo Base Station or Phone Genie is connected to a power strip, verify that the power strip is turned on.

The 1 and 2 buttons on my Ooma Telo Base Station or Phone Genie are lit blue

If your Ooma device is offline and these lights are turned on, it means that your Ooma Telo Base Station or Phone Genie system is not able to connect to the Ooma Network. You should check whether your Internet connection is working by connecting your home computer to the &&HOME NETWORK** port of your Ooma Telo Base Station or Phone Genie and verifying that you can use your web browser to connect to http://www.ooma.com and https://my.ooma.com. If you have verified that your Internet connection is working properly, you may need to contact our Customer Care Team for further troubleshooting steps.

The Trash and Message buttons on my Ooma Telo Base Station or Phone Genie are lit blue

If your Ooma device is offline and these lights are turned on, it means that your Ooma Telo Base Station or Phone Genie can’t connect to the Internet. Your first step should be to review the setup diagram in the Quick Start Guide that best matches the setup in your house. Make sure that everything is properly connected and plugged into the appropriate place. If everything is set up correctly, the small green light on the TO INTERNET port should be lit up. If you have ensuerd that your Ooma Telo Base Station or Phone Genie is hooked up properly, you may need to reboot any network devices, such as modems and routers, that your Ooma Telo Base Station or Phone Genie is connected to on your home network.

The Play and Fast forward keys are lit blue

You should only experience this if you have chosen the option to use your Ooma with a landline backup. When your Ooma device is offline and the Play and Fast forward buttons are turned on, it means that your Ooma Telo Base Station or Phone Genie cannot detect a phone line connected the the system. You can still pick up the phone and make calls, but you’ll be doing so through your landline. Check that your WALL port is plugged into a working phone jack.

Note: Ooma Telo Base Station or Phone Genie devices manufactured after April 2011 no longer support landline integration and do not have a WALL port.

Incoming calls do not cause your phone to ring

There are several reasons that incoming calls may not cause your phone to ring. Here are some of the most common reasons why your phone might not ring:

  • The ringer on your phone is turned off. You may need to consult the manufacturer’s instructions for help with turning the ringer back on.
  • You have activated the Do not Disturb feature. If this is the case, the Envelope key will be a solid orange color on your Ooma Telo Base Station or Phone Genie, and all new calls will go to directly to voicemail. In order to deactivate this feature, hold the Envelope key for three seconds.
  • Your phone is not properly plugged into your Ooma Telo Base Station or Phone Genie. Check to make sure that there is a phone securely plugged into the PHONE jack of your Telo Base Station or Phone Genie, or that any Ooma handsets you own are properly registered.
  • You have enabled the Call Forwarding feature, and all incoming calls are being redirected to another phone number. You can learn how to turn Call Forwarding off by visiting our Knowledgebase FAQ.

My voice quality is poor

The Ooma PureVoice™ HD technology built into the Ooma Telo Base Station or Phone Genie includes sophisticated algorithms to deliver the best voice quality your Internet connection can support. In order to obtain the best voice quality results, Ooma recommends that you connect your Telo Base Station or Phone Genie system between your modem and router. If you’ve already connected your Telo Base Station or Phone Genie in this manner and you are still experiencing poor voice quality, please read more about Improving Quality of Service (QoS).