Case Study / Primary Connect
Cradlepoint Enables Ooma
Phone Calls at Retail Kiosks
Mobile Broadband Router Provides Web Access
for Ooma’s VOIP Phone Service at Fry’s, Best
Buy® & Other Retail Sites
SITUATION
Ooma allows users to simply plug their existing home phone into
an Ooma unit connected to a Internet connection enabling them
to make unlimited free calls in the U.S. using Ooma’s advanced
Voice Over IP (VOIP) technology. Ooma offers two important
advantages compared to other VOIP offerings: 1) superior voice
quality and 2) no monthly service fees. Ooma’s Chief Marketing
Officer, Rich Buchanan, puts it this way, “Just as consumers
transformed the functionality of their television through TiVo®
and their music with the iPod, they can reinvent the way they
use their home phone with an Ooma system.”
PRODUCT:
CRADLEPOINT MOBILE
BROADBAND ROUTER
APPLICATION:
INSTANT NETWORK—
INSTANTLY CREATE A NETWORK
VIA 3G/4G/LTE PROVIDING HIGHSPEED WEB ACCESS VIRTUALLY
ANYWHERE.
MARKET:
M2M, KIOSKS, RETAIL, POP-UP
NETWORKS, PRIMARY CONNECT
Case Study / Primary Connect
CHALLENGE
SOLUTION
Ooma wanted potential buyers to experience the
Ooma quality advantage for themselves. They
decided to put kiosks with Ooma units in retail
sites like Fry’s and Best Buy so shoppers could
make actual phone calls using the Ooma solution.
However, getting access to each store’s network
was almost impossible. What’s more, provisioning
separate DSL lines in multiple stores across
multiple states promised to be a costly and timeconsuming process. Some of the problems Ooma
ran into:
Ooma turned to Cradlepoint and its Mobile
Broadband Router. Ooma’s retail field vendor,
ChannelForce, had been using Cradlepoint
solutions for ad hoc demonstrations in stores.
++ Hassles of coordinating with multiple phone
companies in multiple states
++ Delays waiting for phone companies to send
field technicians to the retail sites
++ Hours wasted sending representatives to
store sites to wait all morning/afternoon
for field technicians on the day of DSL
installation (most phone companies won’t
specify a time when they will be on-site)
++ Coordinating with each store manager to
ensure Ooma’s operations didn’t interfere
with the store’s existing IT infrastructure
++ Expense of Installation and setup costs for
each site
“IF YOU WANT A RELIABLE AND FAIL-SAFE
INTERNET SERVICE FOR YOUR RETAIL
KIOSK, USE A CRADLEPOINT ROUTER.”
—TAMI BHAUMIK, VP OF MARKETING
“The ChannelForce demonstrations were so
successful, we decided to expand the demos
and formalize the process so that we could
reach more shoppers,” explains Ooma’s VP of
Marketing, Tami Bhaumik.
Ooma ran tests in the Los Angeles and Texas
markets to evaluate how a self-serve kiosk
featuring the Ooma unit, with Internet
connectivity provided by a Cradlepoint router,
would work. The tests were successful and now
Ooma has self-service kiosks in 70 Fry’s and Best
Buy stores. Each kiosk contains a standard phone
plugged into an Ooma unit. The Ooma unit is
connected to a Cradlepoint, which is hidden inside
the kiosk. The Cradlepoint accesses the Internet
via mobile broadband cellular networks.
BENEFITS
“The self-serve kiosks give us the opportunity
to change minds at the point of purchase,”
Bhaumik says. “They’ve had a tremendous
impact on sales. For example, at one store,
weekly sales have increased over 300%. With
the Cradlepoint, a kiosk is basically a selfcontained unit that is literally plug-and-play. We
don’t have to deal with the store or IT issues at
all. It’s made our merchandising strategy very
easy to implement.”
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Case Study / Primary Connect
EASY
PERFORMANCE
“[The Cradlepoint] really is plug-and-play,”
Bhaumik reports. “It has to be in order to
make it workable for the retail environment.”
RELIABLE
“The Cradlepoint is 100% reliable. It just works,
which is critical because there is no one
manning the kiosk. It has to stand on its own.
The only issue we sometimes run into is if a
store employee accidentally unplugs the entire
kiosk. Even then, once it’s plugged back in,
the Cradlepoint starts right up and everything
returns to normal. Plus, [the Cradlepoint] has
remote management, so we can remotely ping
each display to make sure it’s working.”
“We’re showcasing the voice quality of our
product, so it’s critical that the Cradlepoint
provide maximum performance. Cradlepoint’s
VOIP optimization technology, combined with
Ooma’s optimization technology, deliver one
great experience for in-store customers.”
Bhaumik summarizes her thoughts on the
Cradlepoint solution:
“IF WE WERE DOING THIS ALL OVER,
WE’D CHOOSE CRADLEPOINT ROUTERS
AGAIN IN A HEARTBEAT. WE HAVE NOT
HAD A PROBLEM.”
AFFORDABLE
“The Cradlepoint was not the cheapest,” notes
Bhaumik. “But it’s really the most cost-effective
solution because of its reliability. We can’t
afford to have downtime.”
GO TO CRADLEPOINT.COM/PRIMARY-CONNECT TO LEARN MORE.
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