Ooma

For the Japanese city, see Ōma, Aomori.
Ooma, Inc.
Public
Traded as NYSE: OOMA
Industry Telecommunication services
Founded Palo Alto, California, U.S. in 2004 (2004)
Founder Andrew Frame
Headquarters 1880 Palo Alto, California 94303, Palo Alto, California
Key people
 Eric Stang, CEO
Products Voice over IP, Talkatone
Revenue $99.74 million (2016)
Total equity 153.4 million
Website

www.ooma.com Ooma Office Canada Partner

www.oomaoffice.ca

Ooma is an American publicly traded consumer telecommunications company based in Palo Alto, California. Ooma offers voice-over-IP (VOIP) calling using an internet connection.[1] It is a leading provider of innovative communications solutions for small business, home and mobile users.[2] In 2015, Ooma was named one the fastest growing private companies by Silicon Valley Business Journal.[3]

History

Ooma was founded by Andrew Frame, who previously worked for Cisco Systems, in 2004.[4][5] Ooma's initial product was a "VoIP in a box" device which used peer-to-peer VoIP technology to let users make phone calls over other Ooma users' landline services.[6][7] The system works through a "hub" which connects to the main phone line as well as "scouts" which connect to additional phones.[8] In January 2008, Ooma terminated the use of peer-to-peer technology.[9]

PC Magazine awarded Ooma the DigitalLife Best of Show award in the hardware innovator category for the Ooma Hub in 2007.[10] CEO and founder Andrew Frame stepped down from his role as CEO in 2009 while hiring his replacement, Eric Stang.[11] That same year, Ooma released its Telo system, which consisted of a base system to access unlimited calling and caller ID.[12] In 2009, Ooma was awarded an Internet Telephony product of the year award for its development of Ooma Telo and the Ooma Telo handset.[13] That same year, Ooma was given the TMC Labs Innovation Award for the Ooma Hub and Ooma Scout.[14] Ooma received the gold consumer product of the year award as part of the Best in Biz Awards in 2011.[15]

In 2011, it was announced that Ooma's VoIP-In-A-Box was expanding to Canada.[16][17]

Ooma unveiled its HD2 headset in November 2012. The headset includes one-touch voicemail, an intercom, and baby monitoring features. Ooma also launched Ooma Linx in 2012 which used an AC outlet to connect any phone or fax machine to the Telo base station.[18] In December 2012, Ooma received the Internet Telephony Product of the Year award for its development of the Telo, HD2 Headset and Linx.[19]

Ooma worked with West Valley City, Utah in June 2014 to offer free telephone service to households through a fiber network.[20] In 2015, Ooma was named one of the fastest private growing companies by San Francisco Business Times and Silicon Valley Business Journal.[21] That same year, it was a gold winner of the Best of Biz Awards.[22]

Funding

The company's initial funding round raised $7.8 million in 2005. In 2006, Sean Parker invested in the company. Ooma held a Series B funding round in 2007 which raised $12 million. Investors included Worldview Technology Partners and Draper Fisher Jurvetson.[23] In September 2008, Ooma raised $16 million in its Series C funding round.[24]

Ooma raised a $18.3 million Series D funding round in June 2009. The round was led by Worldview Technology Partners.[11][25]

In January 2012, Ooma raised a funding round of $17.3 million from investors including Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Founder's Fund.The company had raised a total of $83.3 million at that time.[26]

Ooma held its IPO in July 2015. The company went public at $13 per share. Ooma raised $85 million from the 5 million shares offered.[1][5]

Operations

Ooma's servce offerings are broken down between two business models: Ooma Telo for personal or home-use and Ooma Office for businesses.

Ooma Telo

Ooma Telo was released on October 1, 2009. Telo is designed to provide unlimited, free VoIP calls within the United States and features bluetooth integration, and HD voice. A cordless DECT 6.0 handset was also released.[27] Ooma allows customers with existing landline, cable- or DSL-based VoIP service, or mobile service to port their number to Ooma, provided their number is available and able to be ported.[28]

With the premier package, users get Multi-Ring, Do Not Disturb, Enhanced Voicemail, etc. Users will also receive Caller ID with Name, which was removed from the basic package following the release of the Ooma Telo. Ooma Premier now offers access to Google Voice extensions for customers with Google Voice accounts (Ooma Telo only).[29]

Ooma Basic customers are charged monthly taxes and regulatory recovery fees (which vary by location), and get unlimited calling within the U.S., low-cost international calling, free Ooma-to-Ooma calling, basic voicemail, basic caller ID, call waiting, and E911 service.[30]

Ooma Office

Launched in 2013, Ooma Office consists of a cloud-based phone system including business applications such as conferencing, virtual fax extensions and extension dialing.[31] In August 2016, the mobile version of Ooma Office was released. The mobile version does not require the base station unit Ooma Office operates through. Features available through the mobile software include a virtual receptionist, call transferring, local and toll-free numbers, conference bridges, and extension dialing. In 2016, the Ooma Office Partner Program was released. [32][33]

References

  1. 1 2 Gene Marks (December 2, 2015). "Why Ooma Should Be Dialing Up Small Business Owners". Fox Business. Retrieved October 18, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Ooma Sees IPO Price of $16-$18/Share". Street Insider. July 6, 2015. Retrieved October 20, 2016.
  3. ↑ Lynn Peithman Stock (October 16, 2015). "Silicon Valley Business Journal reveals fastest-growing private companies". Silicon Valley Business Journal. Retrieved October 20, 2016.
  4. ↑ "3 Questions For ooma's Andrew Frame". SFist. August 16, 2007. Retrieved October 22, 2016.
  5. 1 2 Deborah Gage (July 17, 2015). "Internet Telephony Firm Ooma Flops in Trading Debut". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 18, 2016.
  6. ↑ Eric Eldon (July 18, 2007). "Ooma's free land-line calling service". Venture Beat. Retrieved October 22, 2016.
  7. ↑ Fred J. Aun (July 19, 2007). "Net Phone Offers Free Calls for LIfe". Tech News World. Retrieved October 22, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Inside ooma's new phone service with CEO Andrew Frame". Connected Social Media. July 30, 2007. Retrieved October 22, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Ooma Home Review - Free VoIP Service For Life". TheVoIPHub. Retrieved 2016-09-08.
  10. ↑ Erik Rhey (September 28, 2007). "DigitalLife 2007: Best of Show". PC Magazine. Retrieved October 22, 2016.
  11. 1 2 Om Malik (June 23, 2009). "Ooma Raises $18.3 Million, Resets Valuation". GigaOm. Retrieved October 18, 2016.
  12. ↑ Matt Burns (October 1, 2009). "Ooma Telo is here, let the free* calls begin". Tech Crunch. Retrieved October 22, 2016.
  13. ↑ Erik Linask. "2009 Internet Telephony Product of the Year Awards". TMC Net. Retrieved October 22, 2016.
  14. ↑ "2009 Unified Communications TMC Labs Innovation Award Winners Announced". TMC Net. May 21, 2009. Retrieved October 22, 2016.
  15. ↑ "2011 winners: Product categories". Best in Biz Awards. Retrieved October 22, 2016.
  16. ↑ Michael Kwan (November 2, 2011). "Ooma VoIP-In-A-Box Service Coning to Canada, Eh!". Mobile Mag. Retrieved October 22, 2016.
  17. ↑ Matt Burns (November 2, 2011). "Ooma Invades Canada, US Premier Subscribers Can Now Talk To Their Northern Cousins For Free". Tech Crunch. Retrieved October 22, 2016.
  18. ↑ "Ooma, the best Internet phone system, gets better". Hartford Courant. November 12, 2012. Retrieved October 22, 2016.
  19. ↑ "Announcing the 2012 Internet Telephony Product of the Year Award Winners". TMC News. December 7, 2012. Retrieved October 22, 2016.
  20. ↑ Viviane Vo-Duc (June 11, 2014). "West Valley City teams up with Ooma to save residents money on phone and Internet".
  21. ↑ "Ooma Earns Distinction as One of the Fastest Growing Companies From Silicon Valley Bus. Journal & San Francisco Bus. Times". ADVFN. Retrieved October 22, 2016.
  22. ↑ "2015 winners news". Best in Biz Awards. Retrieved October 22, 2016.
  23. ↑ "Ooma, home communications co., raises $12M". Venture Beat. March 1, 2007. Retrieved October 18, 2016.
  24. ↑ "Ooma gets $16M in 3rd round". Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal. September 23, 2008. Archived from the original on June 19, 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-15.
  25. ↑ "Ooma Gets $18.3M in New Funding". San Francisco Business Times. June 23, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-07.
  26. ↑ Alexia Tsotsis (January 9, 2012). "Ooma Raises $17.3 Million For Its "Free" Home Calling Service". Tech Crunch. Retrieved October 18, 2016.
  27. ↑ "Ooma's Telo steps up to DECT 6.0 for free calls across the US". Engadget. Retrieved 2009-08-10.
  28. ↑ Rob Pegoraro (May 31, 2015). "Want to move your home number? Take it to the web". USA Today. Retrieved October 20, 2016.
  29. ↑ "ooma Adds Features to Enhance Google Voice Experience". March 18, 2009. Retrieved July 20, 2010.
  30. ↑ http://www.ooma.com/basic/
  31. ↑ Gina Narcisi (August 15, 2016). "CRN Exclusive: VoIP Provider Ooma Calls On The Channel With Brand-New Partner Program". CRN. Retrieved October 20, 2016.
  32. ↑ Stephanie Condon (August 3, 2016). "Ooma Office for Mobile lets SMBs operate from smartphones". ZD Net. Retrieved October 20, 2016.
  33. ↑ Michael Guta (August 10, 2016). "Meet Ooma for Office Mobile: Now You Really Can Run Your Business from Your Phone". Small Biz Trends. Retrieved October 20, 2016.
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