Ooma Aims to Reinvent Home Phone Service
Source: asteriskblog.com
Voice over internet protocol (VOIP) has made possible for people to replace their traditional phones for making phone calls and still pay much less than what they would usually give for the traditional phone companies. For example, Skype, one of the first VOIP products that went mainstream, has long allowed its users to make calls to regular phone numbers, local, long distance or international calls. Vonage has also been offering an unlimited call plan for all local and long distance calls, and for minimal charges, international calls.
But VOIP hasn’t really turned the telecom world upside down as most people expected it to do when the idea first came to the industry. Consumers didn’t really dropped their regular phone lines and switched to VOIP services in droves. One of the primary reasons that a few people have adopted VOIP services as a replacement for their regular phone lines is the lack of ability to call 911 (though some have workarounds for that). Also, internet services in general has not been really perfect in terms of reliability of service. For people who may depend greatly on a phone for personal or business reasons, the scenario that they will lose their phone service when the internet is just not very appealing.
One silicon valley startup however is aiming to change that, and bring the innovation that the VOIP market needs in order to change the game altogether. OOMA Inc, based in Palo Alto, is reinventing home phone service and transforming it from service-oriented to device-oriented. In lay man’s terms, OOMA is offering a promise of a lifetime VOIP local and long distance calling through their device.
You only need once for the $399 Ooma device. There are no monthly bills. The Ooma system is composed of the Ooma hub, which you connect to your internet broadband connection and to a phone, which then enables you for a lifetime local and long distance calls.
How does it solve the 911 problem? Easy you can choose to keep your standard telephone service, select the very basic plan, just for 911 and backup purposes. All 911 calls will be made using the traditional phone line. When the internet connection goes down, Ooma will automatically switch to your backup traditional phone line.
International calls are automatically routed through the Internet by Ooma and the company promises that these calls will cost roughly what Skype and other VOIP services charge for international calls, which are still well bellow traditional landline rates.
Each system comes with a suite of innovative features including:
- Instant Second Line™ – gives users access to a second line in their home, with no installation or new phones
- Broadband Answering Machine™ – combines the power of voicemail with the convenience of the Internet and ease-of-use of a traditional answering machine
- ooma Dial Tone™ – delivers unique tonality through an audio interface, creating a new dial tone
- ooma Lounge – provides consumers with the ability to manage their voice mail and call settings online
You can also buy the Ooma scout™ for each additional phone extension that you use in your house.
