Friends, family, Ooma users! We need your help! It’s that time again when gadgets and gizmos flock to CES – the largest consumer electronics show in the world. We’ll be there showcasing the Ooma Telo, Ooma Telo Handset and other exciting new features. While we do have a large booth and probably the best home phone system out there, CES attendees tend to get distracted by the other consumer electronics, and need a little reminder to stop by our booth. That’s why we entered the “Visit Me at CES” 2010 Exhibitor Video contest.
We created a short and very funny video that explains why CES attendees should visit our booth. Out of all the videos entered, five winners will be selected through voting by the general public – you! Winners receive a month’s worth of free exposure on CESweb.org.
Here is where you come in: we are asking you to vote for our video! Voting period starts today and goes through Friday, December 4th. You can quickly register online and cast up to one vote per entry per day.
To vote, click on this link, and then:
1. Look for the “phone talk show host” thumbnail on the right side.
2. Click on the “LOVE IT” link to vote for the video.
Once you vote, you can hit the “Share” tab and select sharing your vote on Twitter or Facebook. Be sure to include “I voted for Ooma for the Visit me at CES video contest!” to let others know that you’ve voted for Ooma.
We appreciate the enthusiasm and support from our customers, and we hope that you feel the same way about Ooma. Get out there and vote! Thank you!
Rich Buchanan
CMO
Ooma, Inc.
Dear Ooma Users,
Here at Ooma, we care deeply that each of you has a great experience owning and using Ooma products. As part of this, we recognize that access to timely and helpful customer support is critical to creating a delightful Ooma experience. Unfortunately, we have not always lived up to our standards for timely and helpful customer support, particularly of late, and so I want both to apologize to those of you who have had a frustrating customer support experience and to emphasize that this is a matter we take seriously and are very actively addressing.
As a small, fast growing company, we are always looking ahead and try to plan appropriately to support our growth. We did not do this well enough to handle the volume we’ve experienced since the launch of the new Ooma Telo on Oct 1. I want to assure you that we are taking the steps you would expect, including adding agents, increasing training on the new Ooma Telo, revising policies to solve or escalate problems faster, and better utilizing automation. We intensively measure our customer support against high standards that we have set, and will not rest until we consistently provide timely and helpful support.
Personally, I am excited about Ooma in so many ways. We believe Ooma brings features not seen before in residential telephony, and at a price and value that is unbeatable. I greatly appreciate your being an Ooma customer, I thank you for your patience if you have had a frustrating experience with our customer support, and most of all I want you to know the whole Ooma team is committed to making your complete Ooma experience a terrific one.
Sincerely,
Eric Stang
CEO
Hi Ooma Users,
We’ve received a lot of terrific input from you over the last several weeks. Some good. Some, well, let’s say “not so good”. In this post I want to address the hot topic of voice mail. When laying out features that non-Premier customers would receive, we examined whether or not to include voicemail. The vast majority of phone systems sold over the last 3 years included an answering machine built into the base station. It seemed logical that we could remove the online voice mail option since most phone systems used in homes today included an answering machine.
Wrong.
An overwhelming percentage of the feedback was negative about removing voice mail. We do listen to our customers, so Ooma voicemail is going back into the product effective immediately (applies to all purchases made since the feature set changed 10/1/09 too). Ooma Hub, Ooma Hub/Scout, and Ooma Telo customers will have the built in web based voice mail with local, remote, or web based access just like before. For details on the complete feature set of the Ooma Hub and Ooma Telo please visit these links.
Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with us; the good, the bad, and the ugly. This is how we make our service better, by maintaining an open dialog, and responding to as many of you as we possibly can. It’s with your help that we’ll continue to improve Ooma and change the face of telecommunications across the U.S.
Best regards,
Rich Buchanan
CMO
Ooma
Let me start with my apologies. It’s obvious that we weren’t clear enough about the changes we are implementing at Ooma and what the impact may be on you. So I’m going to try and break down each case for you and what the relevant changes are that may impact you.
Ooma Hub/Scout Combination Products (Includes all Costco.com purchases)
- Current Ooma Core Users
a. No changes to your current feature set including voice mail.
b. No annual regulatory recovery fee will be charged.
- Current Ooma Premier Users
a. No changes to your current feature set.
b. No annual regulatory recovery fee will be charged.
c. If you are paying monthly for Premier, your monthly price will change to $9.99 from $12.99.
d. If you wish to buy an additional year of Premier at $99.99, you have until 12/31/09.
- Current Ooma Premier Trial Users
a. No changes to your current feature set.
b. No annual regulatory recovery fee will be charged.
c. If you want to purchase an annual Ooma Premier subscription, you can do so until 12/31/09 at $99.99, after that the price will go up by $20 to $119.99.
- New or Unactivated Ooma Hub/Scout Combinations
a. No changes to your promised feature set, includes voicemail and a 60 day Premier Trial.
b. If you want to purchase an annual Ooma Premier subscription, you can do so until 12/31/09 at $99.99, after that the price will go up by $20 to $119.99
c. No regulatory recovery fee will be charged
Ooma Hub Only Product at Costco Stores
- Current Ooma Core Users
a. No changes to your current feature set including voice mail.
- Current Ooma Premier Users
a. No changes to your current feature set.
- Current Ooma Premier Trial Users
a. No changes to your current feature set.
b. The regulatory recovery fee applies per the original terms and conditions.
- New or Unactivated Hub Only Prodcut
a. Basic voice mail is now included in Ooma Core.
b. Enhanced voice mail is available as a standalone option for $49.99 per year if you don’t want to purchase all the Premier features. Enhanced voicemail includes:
- One touch access to voicemail, call screening
- Remote access to messages through any web browser or telephone
- Voicemail notifications to your mobile phone
- Voicemail mp3 audio file attachment sent to your email
- Send-to-Voicemail
- Do Not Disturb
c. If you want to purchase an annual Ooma Premier subscription, you can do so at $99.99.
d. The annual regulatory recovery fee applies per the original terms and conditions
Ooma Telo Product
- Newly Purchased Telo’s
a. Includes US domestic calling, a free phone number, call waiting, caller ID and 911 service. Basic voice mail now included in the base service of the unit.
b. Telo’s come with a free 60 day trial of Ooma Premier, which costs $9.99/mo or $119.99/yr.
c. Enhanced voicemail is available as a standalone option for $49.99/yr if you don’t want to purchase all the Premier features. Enhanced voicemail includes:
- One-touch access to voicemail, Call screening
- Remote access to messages through any web browser or telephone
- Voicemail notifications to your mobile phone
- Voicemail mp3 audio file attachments sent to your email
- Send-to-Voicemail
- Do Not Disturb
d. Telo’s come with an annual regulatory recovery fee of $11.75 beginning the second year of service.
- Previous Ooma Hub Owners
a. Previous Ooma hub owners (Core or Premier), can move their accounts, phone numbers, and features to the new Telo service including voicemail, and will not be subject to the annual regulatory recovery fee.
b. The used Ooma Hub may be resold but will require a $59.99 reactivation fee to assign a new number and owner. When activated, the new account will be subject to the $11.75 annual regulatory recovery fee.
Some of you have asked what the regulatory recovery fee is for, so let me explain why we have implemented it. If you have ever looked at your mobile or landline phone bill, you regularly see fees and taxes applied that are typically 15-20% of the monthly bill. In other words, these fees can be quite significant. Here at Ooma we, like every other phone service provider in the US, have to charge a fee to cover taxes, regulatory recovery fees, and other costs related to our providing phone service to your local service address but to our knowledge our charge is significantly lower than what others typically charge. We’ve tried to maintain this cost as low as possible and it is less than $1 per month. While this is not a huge cost to provide you phone service, we realize we did not ask any of our current customers to bear this fee at the time they initiated service, so we’re not asking out current subscriber base to pay this regulatory recovery fee.
Thank you,
Rich Buchanan
Dear Ooma Customer,
It’s been a busy several months for us here at Ooma, but we wanted to stop and say “thank you” for being part of the Ooma family. Your support and guidance is what has made us successful so far, and we hope we can count on your help in the future too.
We have been listening to your comments and suggestions and have a number of new things cooking in the Ooma Labs that will roll out over the next several months. Our “top ten” list of the many new Ooma Premier features and hardware that will be released over the next few months include:
- The Ooma Telo – Ooma’s second generation product featuring DECT 6.0 connectivity (released today!)
- The Ooma Telo Handset – DECT 6.0 handset with digital connectivity and unsurpassed audio quality (releasing in early November)
- The Ooma Telo Bluetooth Sync – Bluetooth connection for address book synchronization and cell phone calls through the Ooma Telo
- Ooma Google Voice Extensions – Extended Google Voice to your home phone too
- Unlimited International Calling Plans – Call international destinations all you want for as low as $9.99/mo
- iPhone and BlackBerry Clients – Offload your cell phone minutes and enjoy Ooma’s low international rates when calling from a Wi-Fi connected smartphone
- HD Voice – Experience the future of telephony now with double the audio resolution of conventional telephones
- MP3 Ringtones – Musical ringtones are not just for your cell phone anymore
- SIP Registration – Use business desk phones built around the SIP standard with your Ooma service
- Click-to-Call – Click a number in your contact list, cell phone or call log to have the call dialed and connected automatically
We are also making some changes to our Terms and Conditions and to our pricing. For all our existing Ooma Core customers, these changes are limited. Here is what applies to you:
- We’ve increased your minutes of residential, domestic calling to 5,000 minutes per month
- We’ve reduced the monthly subscription price for Ooma Premier to $9.99 (from $12.99)
- We’ve grandfathered existing Ooma Premier annual subscribers at the previous rate of$99.99. New annual subscriptions will be priced at $119.99
- We’ve implemented billing for 411 (directory assistance) at $0.99 per call (800-GOOG-411 or 800-FREE-411 are free options). This charge will be deducted from your Ooma prepaid calling account
For new Ooma customers, here are highlights of our new Terms and Conditions:
- 5,000 total minutes per month of residential domestic calling
- Ooma Premier monthly subscriptions are $9.99/month
- Ooma Premier annual subscriptions are $119.99/year. This now includes either one freenumber port ($39.99 value) or a free Ooma Telo Handset ($49.99 value)
- $11.75/year Regulatory Recovery Fee in Years 2 and beyond to cover taxes, regulatory fees and other costs
- Voicemail is now bundled with Ooma Premier
- 60-days of free Ooma Care telephone support. Thereafter, non-Premier customers receive free email support and may purchase OomaCare telephone support for $39.99/year
As you can see, we have improved the terms for you, our current customers. We have maintained our commitments to you while improving our residential service and reducing the monthly charge for Ooma Premier. We have made slight changes for new customers to reflect our latest business activities and to be more in-line with current market conditions. If you have any questions about the new terms and conditions or the new pricing, please comment below or send us an email.
UPDATE: 10/2/09
Comments to this thread have been closed. Your questions and comments are addressed in an updated post – found here
Thank you again for being an Ooma customer.
Until later,
Team Ooma
We are happy to announce that ooma is rolling out in 100 Costco stores across the nation. We have also extended our special Refer-A-Friend Reward Program that provides your family and friends the gift of free calling while giving you rewards.
Let your family and friends know that there has never been a better time to purchase ooma! We are offering the ooma Hub for $199.99 at select Costco Warehouse stores. For each successful referral, you will get your choice of either a $50 international calling credit OR 6 months of ooma Premier service.
All they need to do is purchase at one of the 100 Costco locations before August 31st September 30th, activate by September 7th October 7th. There is no limit to how many friends you can refer and how many rewards you can collect. Click the map above to find a participating Costco store near you.
For more details or to redeem your reward, please visit http://www.ooma.com/referafriend.
Update: The referral program has been extended to September 30th!
For a limited time only, we are offering a special Refer-A-Friend Reward Program that provides your family and friends the gift of free calling while giving you rewards.
Let your family and friends know that there has never been a better time to purchase ooma! We are offering the ooma Hub for $199.99 at the following Costco locations. For each successful referral, you will get your choice of either a $50 international calling credit OR 6 months of ooma Premier service.
All they need to do is purchase at one of the 20 Costco locations before July 11th, activate by July 18th and remain active for 30 days. There is no limit to how many friends you can refer and how many rewards you can collect.
Simply buy an ooma Hub at any of these following Costco’s:
| Anchorage, AK |
Waipahu, HI |
| Anchorage, AK |
Oak Brook, IL |
| Phoenix, AZ |
Gaithersburg, MD |
| Alhambra, CA |
Bloomfield, MI |
| Chula Vista, CA |
Clackamas, OR |
| Folsom, CA |
Houston, TX |
| Rancho Cucamonga, CA |
San Antonio, TX |
| South San Francisco, CA |
Arlington, VA |
| East Jacksonville, FL |
Tukwila, WA |
| Naples, FL |
Bayamon, Puerto Rico |
For more details or to redeem your reward, please visit http://www.ooma.com/referafriend.
If you’re already enjoying the convenience of receiving your ooma voicemail in your e-mail or on your mobile phone – get ready for more. We’ve recently rolled out a couple highly useful enhancements to the voicemail forwarding feature:
1. New e-mail client support. We’ve expanded support for mobile e-mail clients. Now you can listen to your ooma voicemail from your Blackberry, iPhone or other mobile smartphone.
2. MP3 encoding. Voicemail attachments are now encoded in MP3 format, reducing the file size by more than half without sacrificing any quality.
These two enhancements are ready for use now. If don’t have voicemail forwarding enabled – go ahead and take it for a spin!
Voicemail forwarding is only available with ooma Premier service. If you’re interested in learning more about ooma’s enhanced voicemail features, visit ooma.com/premier.
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