Ooma Brings New Wrinkle to VoIP Calling

July 20, 2007 | by Christopher Nickson

Ooma is hoping to crack the broadband VoIP calling market with free domestic phone calls for life after purchase of its Ooma hub unit.

Would you like to be able to make an infinite number of domestic calls for free? That’s exactly what a new company called Ooma is offering.
 
They’re bringing in a new peer-to-peer Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) network that could change the way people call. The idea is to charge a one-time fee of $399 for their Ooma hub, after which all domestic calls would be free.
 
It would charge for international calls and also what it calls Scouts, devices to connect additional phones at $39 each.
 
Ooma has some heavy hitters on its board, such as TiVo co-founder Mike Ramsay and Napster co-founder Sean Parker, which means it could be much more than a pipe dream.
 
The Ooma hub is plugged into your broadband connection, and then your phone is connected to it. However, unlike other VoIP carriers, you keep your regular phone line for emergency and use during power outages.
 
The peer-to-peer technology the company uses means that every hub becomes part of the distributed Ooma network. Since Ooma users will also have their phones connected to the copper phone line network for 911 purposes, their connections will serve as local gateways to the public switched telephone network (PSTN). That means Ooma can avoid paying a the termination fees to phone companies that other VoIP players have had to spend.
 
The company has begun a beta program, giving away free hubs, but the device won’t go on the market until September.
 
“I believe that consumers should have a better phone experience, one that combines convenience, innovation and cost savings,” said Ooma founder Andrew Frame. “Just as consumers transformed the functionality of their television through TiVo and their music with the iPod, we expect that they will reinvent the way they use their home phone with an Ooma system.”

Post Your Comment...Comments

Mike P on Aug 7th, 2007 at 9:49 PM:

OOMA allows every other OOMA subscriber to make phone calls using your phone line, and you get blamed for anything they do that is illegal!

Of course, you can easily listen in on all those calls (although OOMA continues to deny this is possible).

There are many technical problems with what has been revealed about how OOMA works, and answers have not been provided by OOMA. I have worked in the business for over 35 years on similar systems, and I can assure you that what OOMA is planning can't work.

peter Vu on Oct 19th, 2007 at 11:16 AM:

Mike P..get a life...i just read about ooma and i see u trolling every blog...same mike different last initial..but always "i have worked in telecom for over blah blah..." y dont you just quit being a hater..let people decide..and quit trolling...u has been..

Ref: do a search on "ooma, mike" and you will find....truth will set you free haha

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