Omma - A VOIP service which can replace traditional phones
The general public has not been fully convinced of the quality and the reliability of Voice over the Internet Protocol (VOIP) Voice over the Internet, so far. Some of the reasons are quality of the calls, reliability of the up time of the service, unreliable connections and the ability to call the emergency numbers like 911 (specially in US). As on today VOIP is used by some a a cheap alternative to make international calls. Another reason is that most of the service providers of VOIP had Initially marketed VOIP as a free service but as more and more people started using the service the business could not be expanded without charging the customers. To give due credit, the service is much cheaper that traditional phone.
A great step forward has been taken by a Palo Alto-based startup Ooma which promises that in in September 2007 they would launch their service which would offer free voice calls for life. Initially I also approached the 
new offer with skepticism because of being betrayed many times not only by small companies but also the giants of the Internet. However, when I dug deeper it started making sense.
Ooma (which would be the name of the service) would rely on very old technology strategy. To use Ooma one would have to attach a box which will handle telecom switching that normally happens on the phone networks. The hardware would be called “Ooma Hub” and would be plugged into the Internet. A regular phone is also plugged into a the “Ooma Hub” as well. When you call using the “Ooma Hub” you make calls using VOIP. The regular telephone line is a backup line which is used only when the VOIP system fails. Therefore, for calling 911 the system would automatically shift to the regular phone line as using VOIP you cannot make calls to 911. During an Internet outage, the device seamlessly switches to use the regular phone service, but you still pay no fees to Ooma. 
If you keep your present standard phone service, Ooma gives you an option to use the current phone number. In doing so, it’s relying on a very old tech strategy: Just as PCs shifted some functionality from mainframes into your house, Ooma’s boxes will handle locally some of the telecom switching that normally happens on phone networks. Go ahead, roll your eyes. I did too when I first met Andrew Frame, the founder of Ooma, over a year ago. An optional device, called Scout, allows you to extend your Ooma network across your home via vanilla phone jacks.
And that is not all, the system also takes advantage of its nature to serve as an automatic second phone line and to provide better features than analog service; call preferences and voicemail can be accessed online, and dial tone is customizable through an audio interface. Ooma is not completely free as it is being billed as there is a installation cost of $399 and you will have to pay the broadband charges which might be monthly in addition to charges that Ooma would have for International calls.
With developers like, Frame, who is a former Cisco employee, is very passionate about the idea and he has been heard remarking that “This will cause some major shifts in the voice business, it will make voice free,”, venture capitalists like Draper Fisher Jurvetson, the Founders’ Fund, Draper Richards, WI Harper and Worldview Technology Partners who have helped Ooma garner $27 million in two rounds of venture funding Ooma seems to be a service that has a bright future.
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