Ooma, a VoIP home phone service provider that offers its own phone handset and VoIP connected hardware platform announced on Wednesday that it has now begun to start offering 911 Alerts to all of its customers in the United States and Canada. The company revealed that the extra service will now be offered at no extra charge to customers who use the Ooma service.
Using the feature customers can choose to enter up to three email addressed or mobile phone numbers via the “My Ooma” control panel online. When someone dials 911 from the home-based Ooma VoIP system an email is sent and each phone is contacted with a 911 call alert.
Ooma customers on the platforms free system will still be able to make free nationwide calls, receiver free caller ID capabilities and of course dial 911 from the system.
Unlike other VoIP providers 911 operators are provided with the callers address when Ooma is used to place emergency calls.
The 911 Alerts program has been offered for some time now however it was previously only available via the company’s $10 per month service.
In a crowded VoIP market that includes the likes of Vonage, Skype, Google Voice (to a lesser extent) and various other providers including most major cable company’s, features such as 911 Alerts and the ability to have your address sent to 911 dispatchers may seem like small concessions but for many users Ooma makes sense because of those offerings.
Would you use a 911 Alerts system if it was offered to you by other providers?