The IT Nerd

I’ve written about Ooma and their cutting edge phone service previously. Today I got an e-mail from the company letting me know that they’ve got the  ‘Geek Tested Geek Approved’ Seal Of Approval From Parent Tested Parent Approved Media. Here’s what the company had to say in their press release:

A featured product in PTPA’s Latest and Greatest Campaign, the Ooma Telo was tested by trusted technology expert Marc Saltzman and a panel of unbiased volunteer families. Their combined evaluations garnered the Seal of Approval and praised the Ooma Telo for providing easy set-up, superior call quality and budget-friendly home phone service. 

“It is a proud accomplishment to have Canadian families  and a leading consumer tech evangelist trust and acknowledge Ooma as a reliable home phone service provider,” says Jim Gustke, Vice-President of Marketing at Ooma. “The ‘Geek Tested Geek Approved’ Seal is a testament to our commitment to helping families and friends connect at an affordable price without sacrificing call quality or advanced features that only Ooma offers its customers.”

Here’s why this award is significant:

“When consumers search for the PTPA Seal of Approval on products, they are searching for validation from their peers,” explains Sharon Vinderine, CEO and founder of PTPA Media Inc. “Knowing that their peers have objectively tested these products based on their performance in a real-life environment provides a resource that is truly priceless. Our testers were amazed by the Ooma Telo, giving the device with Premier service an average score of 91 per cent.”

PTPA Media has North America’s largest volunteer parent testing community consisting of more than 40,000 parents and was rated the Most Trusted Seal by more than 22,000 consumers. Parents looking for high-quality products and services trust the PTPA Winner’s Seal, which is evidence of a product’s excellence upon evaluation from unbiased consumers.

That’s a strong endorsement. I’d love to try this service out to see what the service is like and write a review on this blog. Perhaps Ooma will hook me up?

🙂

American based VoIP provider Ooma, Inc. recently announced that they are coming to Canada:

“We’ve received frequent requests to bring Ooma to Canada because of the high cost of phone service and we anticipate a healthy level of interest in eliminating expensive monthly phone bills. Free home phone service, outstanding voice quality and advanced features are an unbeatable combination,” said Eric Stang, Chief Executive Officer at Ooma. “Since Ooma began offering free home phone service in the U.S. with the Ooma Telo nearly three years ago, our subscriber base has grown quickly, doubling in the last year alone.”

Here’s the value proposition. Ooma offers users high quality voice calls via VoIP that includes voicemail, caller ID, call waiting and 911 service. According to Ooma, it will save you money:

After the initial purchase, customers pay only applicable taxes and fees. Based on an average phone bill of $40/month, the Ooma Telo pays for itself in just six months and customers will save more than $200 in the first year, more than $600 in just two years and nearly $2,000 in five years.

It sounds interesting and given the fact that our existing telcos aren’t really interested in providing value for money, this might be worth looking at. You can find out more here.