When it comes to small businesses, many business decisions come down to one critical point: what works. Does this particular solution do what needs to be done? Does this employee, this bit of software, this piece of hardware? If the answer is yes, it's commonly stuck with. If not, it's thrown aside. Many small businesses might well have tossed aside voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) faxing services because of this, but Ooma Office is encouraging users to give it another try, thanks to a series of new features added to the expanded Ooma Office.
The new Ooma Office includes SureFax, a tool designed to bring a more effective way to engage in VoIP faxing. That's a good step by itself, but the new Ooma Office also includes the Ooma Office Manager online portal system, which can provide added measures of customization on the user's part, as well as new accommodation of toll-free number services.
Faxing with a VoIP system has often been a tall order, mostly due to the nature of a fax transmission as it relates to an Internet connection. Analog faxing, at last report, leads to a high failure rate when done in conjunction with Internet access due mainly to the added complexity, and that lack of reliability makes it a difficult prospect to include with VoIP. While VoIP has posed a lot of appeal for businesses previously thanks to reduced costs and potentially improved access to features that might cost much more with an analog phone system, the high failure rate for faxes has made some businesses reconsider. With Ooma Office, however, that point—which has proven to be one of the last hurdles for many businesses—can now be taken out of the equation altogether. Users also get access to tools like voicemail, call logs, call forwarding tools and even click-to-call service.
Those who already have Ooma Office will be able to get in on the new features right away, while those who don't have Ooma Office will be able to get the new features when Ooma Office is made available. Businesses can add a toll-free number, or port an old one, for the same $9.99 per month that would be paid on a local number, and those who pick up a toll free number will get 500 minutes' worth of free calling every month.
Ooma's vice president of product management, Dennis Peng (News - Alert), offered some comment on the issue, saying “We've learned a tremendous amount about the phone service needs of small businesses since launching Ooma Office over a year ago, and we've applied that knowledge to create a more powerful, customizable and flexible service. These new features represent a big leap forward for Ooma Office, making it the most robust and affordable phone system for any small business environment.”
It's a difficult proposition for businesses to overcome when a tool can provide value, yet at the same time potentially cost in terms of lost opportunity elsewhere. Companies facing such a choice tend to try and average out the losses, seeing if there's a net gain, and that could scare some potential users off. Ooma, though, has sought to drop the more detrimental side of the issue and improve the likelihood that other users will step in.
Only time will tell just how well it works, of course, but it certainly looks like Ooma Office has made some important modifications, and should provide users with new, valuable reasons to step up and put this system to work.
Edited by Alisen Downey