Ooma VOIP service is down

Ooma VOIP service is down

Ooma is a consumer telecommunications company based in Palo Alto, California, in the United States that allows its users to make free phone calls anywhere in the United States with no monthly service Fees.^[1] Customers only pay applicable government taxes and access fees, around $3.50 a month. The company was founded in 2004 by Andrew Frame and released to the public in July 2007. Part of the executive team was actor/producer Ashton Kutcher, who started with Ooma as its Creative Director. However, in the summer of 2008, Ooma revamped its sales and marketing strategy with a new management team,^[2]replacing Kutcher with Rich Buchanan, formerly of Sling Media, as their Chief Marketing Officer (CMO).^[3] 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.^[4] In January 2008, Ooma terminated the use of peer-to-peer technology, allowing users to completely eliminate their current POTS telephone service.^[5] This service is restricted to "residential use only", which is defined as non-commercial usage and under 5000 minutes of outgoing calls per month.^[6] Consumers simply purchase an answering-machine-like device, called Ooma Hub, or Ooma Telo which currently retails for $249.99.^[7][8]

The service, launched in September 2007, is different from other VoIP services in that it is paid for up front through purchase of the Ooma Hub or Telo rather than through monthly fees or a term contract.^[9] So far, Ooma has raised $61 million in venture capital, and its product is sold by over 5,000 prominent retailers.^[10] After the initial purchase, there are no monthly fees besides the government taxes.

On Friday, August 13, 2010, former CMO Buchanan, who left the company in February 2010, died due to health complications, just days after having a 4-hour open-heart surgery.^[11]

ooma Servoce is down

By TechCrunch.com, Updated: Wednesday, August 17, 8:30 PM

Reports are trickling into to our tipline that Ooma, a popular VOIP service, is currently experiencing major network issues. Currently, Ooma’s phone service seems offline nationwide, and their website and support forums are working sporadically if at all.

Some users (mostly in California) are reporting that their service is returning, but right now, it would appear that a majority of subscribers are unable to make or receive phone calls. Another outage similar in scale to this one occurred in 2009, with service remaining offline for nearly 6 hours.

Concerned customers who attempted to reach out to Ooma’s main office were treated to a canned message stating that the office was closed, and the voice mailbox was soon filled. Rumors have begun to swirl that Ooma is in the process of shutting down, but we can confirm that this is not that case.A few calls to the Ooma customer service line yielded a brief conversation with a rep, who states that they are aware of the problem, and that service would we be restored within two hours. Apparently, once service is restored, the Ooma hub in customers’ homes will begin to work again without any input from the user. Affected customers should keep their eyes peeled for the tell-tale blue light on their hubs. This timetable will likely be little comfort to those affected, some of whom use Ooma as their business phone service. Updates are coming at a blistering pace, so all you Ooma users should stay tuned.