Is Ooma heading to the deadpool?

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I was not surprised today when I read this article by Valleywag. Ooma, the VoIP service much discussed in the past months over the blogsphere, seems to be in trouble and many VP are leaving the company. Even their PR agency is not representing them anymore.

The departures include Yahoo veteran Tish Whitcraft, CFO Tom Cronan, and VP of communications Sarah Ross — though we’re told Ross is still consulting for the company. Outcast PR, Ooma’s agency, tells me it no longer represents the company;

There is nothing official here and at this stage it’s only a rumor, but it’s clearly not a good sign. Ooma’s approach to the market was much different from the competition, but even if many people reported an excellent voice quality, having to buy a $400 device is definitely a huge barrier for a wide diffusion of a service like that.

I’ll stay tuned for more news.

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Technorati Tags: deadpool, luca filigheddu, ooma, VoIP

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Mike

The story is lame. It references back to more Valleywag stories which a just a bunch of mis-information. It's like printing a story that the sky is pink, and then referencing back to it in another story. Some executives have left (unheard of, that never happens ) and gasp they ditched their PR firm!!!! (that MUST mean disaster...). It wouldn't surprise me if these negative stories were "planted" by the telcos or established VoIP services, since if ooma succeeds it will take away their business. First, the comparison with phonegnome. Ooma can completely replace your existing phone service, phonegnome is used in conjunction with your phone service. It's apples and oranges, I've used both... Second, the "gasp" cost. Sure, ooma costs $400 for the unit, but it completely eliminates your monthly recurring, which for me was around $30. I recoup that cost in less that 14 months, after that it is gravy. Why people can't pull out their calculator and figure this out is a mystery to me. I suppose if your credit cards are maxed out and you are living from paycheck to paycheck and can't budget your way out of a box, it may be an issue. If that is the case though, perhaps its better you don't have phone service and save the dollars. Third, ooma has a nest egg which will take quite some time to run through. Their costs aren't the same as traditional voip vendors so they won't be running through their cash pile like drunken sailors. Lame, Lame, Lame...