Ooma Introduces Fixed Wireless Internet Service for SMBS

Ooma, Inc., a smart communications platform for businesses and consumers, introduced Ooma Connect™, a game-changing alternative for small and mid-sized businesses providing fixed wireless internet and business phone service to replace or back up slow or costly DSL, satellite and cable connectivity.

Millions of business locations in the United States are bypassed by high-speed internet and instead must rely on DSL, cable or satellite connections that can be slow, unreliable and expensive. And an even larger number of businesses don’t have internet backup, leaving them vulnerable to significant financial loss during internet outages.

Ooma Connect (www.ooma.com/business/internet-and-phone/), is a “double play” solution that delivers both internet connectivity and Ooma Office phone service. The solution consists of the Ooma Connect Base Station and the Ooma LTE 460 Adapter, which provides wireless internet through a nationwide LTE-Advanced network.

Beyond the benefit of escaping from slow internet, Ooma Connect can eliminate the wait of days or weeks for service from a local bandwidth provider when setting up a new business location. A franchise outlet, for example, or a pop-up store can quickly get phone service and internet access. Ooma Connect can be pre-configured by Ooma or an Ooma partner, so the base station and antenna only need to be plugged in at the business site – eliminating the cost and delay of professional installation.

Ooma Connect can also be combined with an existing broadband connection, standing ready to provide wireless backup for phone service and internet data during outages. Small businesses in the United States will suffer more than $40 billion in lost productivity due to internet outages in 2020, according to the U.S. SMB Internet Outage Report from Independence Research, and 93 percent of the smallest businesses don’t have backup. “Small businesses should strongly consider putting some form of internet back-up solution in place,” the report concludes. (To read the full report, go to https://www.ooma.com/offers/smb-internet-outage-impact-report/.)

Ooma is introducing a patent-pending feature called Continuous Voice™ with Ooma Connect. When the Ooma Connect Base Station is connected to both wired broadband and LTE-Advanced through the adapter, all Ooma Office calls, both outbound and inbound, are transmitted simultaneously through both connections. If wired broadband goes down, all calls in progress continue through the LTE-Advanced network.

Ooma Connect is ready for the emerging era of 5G. The Ooma Connect Base Station is designed to support future 5G wireless adapters, while the Ooma LTE 460 Adapter includes technologies, such as a powerful 2x8 MIMO antenna, that should allow increased data speeds when cellular networks are upgraded as part of the transition to 5G.