Ooma is an American publicly traded consumer telecommunications company based in Palo Alto, California, United states founded in 2004. Ooma offers voice-over-IP (VOIP) calling using an Internet connection to support a range of communications solutions for small business, home and mobile users. In 2015, Ooma was named one of the fastest growing private companies by Silicon Valley Business Journal.
History
Ooma was founded by Andrew Frame, who previously worked for Cisco Systems, in 2004. 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. The system works through a "hub" which connects to the main phone line as well as "scouts" which connect to additional phones. In January 2008, Ooma terminated the use of peer-to-peer technology.
PC Magazine awarded Ooma the DigitalLife Best of Show award in the hardware innovator category for the Ooma Hub in 2007. Frame stepped down from his role as CEO in 2009 while hiring his replacement, Eric Stang. That same year, Ooma released its Telo system, which consisted of a base system to access unlimited calling and caller ID. In 2009, Ooma was awarded an Internet Telephony product of the year award for its development of Ooma Telo and the Ooma Telo handset. That same year, Ooma was given the TMC Labs Innovation Award for the Ooma Hub and Ooma Scout. Ooma received the gold consumer product of the year award as part of the Best in Biz Awards in 2011.
In 2011, it was announced that Ooma's VoIP-In-A-Box was expanding to Canada.
Ooma unveiled its HD2 handset in November 2012. The handset 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. In December 2012, Ooma received the Internet Telephony Product of the Year award for its development of the Telo, HD2 handset and Linx.
Ooma worked with West Valley City, Utah, in June 2014 to offer free telephone service to households through a fiber network. In 2015, Ooma was named one of the fastest growing private companies by San Francisco Business Times and Silicon Valley Business Journal. That same year, it was a gold winner of the Best of Biz Awards.
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. In September 2008, Ooma raised $16 million in its Series C funding round.
Ooma raised a $18.3 million Series D funding round in June 2009. The round was led by Worldview Technology Partners.
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.
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.
Operations
Ooma's service offerings are broken down into 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. 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.
With the premier package, users get Multi-Ring, Do Not Disturb, and enhanced voicemail. Users will also receive Caller ID with Name, which was removed from the basic package following the release of the Ooma Telo. Ooma Premier offers access to Google Voice extensions for customers with Google Voice accounts (Ooma Telo only).
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.
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. 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.
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