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eVoice
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryBusiness Services
Founded1999; 25 years ago (1999)
FounderWendell Brown and Craig Taro Gold
HeadquartersUnited States
Parentj2 Global, Inc.
Websitewww.evoice.com

eVoice is a telecommunications service owned by j2 Global, Inc. (NASDAQ:JCOM) that manages incoming and outgoing calls using a virtual phone number. The service was founded by Wendell Brown and Craig Taro Gold in 2000 and re-launched in March 2010 with new features, targeting entrepreneurs and small businesses.[1]

Overview

eVoice provides toll-free and local phone numbers to subscribers in the United States and Canada.[2] The phone number is chosen by the user from available numbers in selected area codes. Based on how the user then configures the service, the user can then answer calls placed to the eVoice number on devices/phones owned by the subscriber. Users must have an established phone service in the United States or Canada to answer incoming calls.

A virtual phone number allows subscribers to remain accessible regardless of location.[3] A competitor to eVoice is Google Voice.[1] eVoice provides 24x7 live customer support and email support for users.[4]

Local telephone assigned by eVoice are not portable to another provider,[5] despite FCC policy that clients of interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers are entitled to keep an existing phone number.[6]

Features

  • Access to local and toll free numbers in the United States and Canada.[7]
  • Multiple extensions (quantity limited), enabling dialing to specific employees or departments.
  • Call routing to desired phone(s); forwarding to multiple phones simultaneously or in a specific order.
  • Call screening. Announcement of caller name; calls can then be picked up or transferred to voicemail.
  • Voicemail sent directly to email; management through any computer with a standard Internet browser.
  • Text transcriptions of voicemail messages, delivered as a text message or email.
  • Conference call capability.
  • Professional recorded greeting.
  • Call transferring to voicemail, extensions, or another number.
  • Mobile applications via iPhone®, Android® or BlackBerry® mobile devices.
  • 24/7 live customer service and support; email support.

History

eVoice was founded in 2000 by Wendell Brown and Craig Taro Gold.[8] Based at that time in Menlo Park, CA., eVoice was the world's first large-scale, Internet-enabled voicemail system.[9][10] Brown's patented techniques, such as voicemail-to-email, visual voicemail, enhanced caller ID,[11] were innovations later deployed by Google Voice and Apple. eVoice supplied voicemail solutions to MCI and AT&T, as well as web portals and VoIP providers including Qwest, Snowball, and Dialpad.

eVoice was acquired by AOL Time-Warner in July 2008[12][13] and merged into AOLbyPhone. Before the acquisition, eVoice raised more than $50 million in funding from idealab!, BlueRun Ventures (formerly Nokia Ventures), Oak Investment Partners, and Worldview Technology Partners.[14][15]

In June 2004, the eVoice brand name and internet domain were acquired by j2 Global (NASDAQ:JCOM).[16] j2 Global, Inc. is a cloud services company that offers voice, email, online fax, and online backup services. In 2011, Ziff Davis gave eVoice a favourable review in its publication PC Magazine; j2 Global owns both Ziff-Davis and eVoice.[17]

eVoice's Australian division was first established in Australia and New Zealand in 1995 as Zintel Communications, which was acquired by eVoice in 2012.[18]

References

  1. ^ a b [1][dead link‍]
  2. ^ "eVoice, Inc.: Private Company Information - Bloomberg". Investing.businessweek.com. 2001-07-23. Retrieved 2016-12-01.
  3. ^ Blakely, Lindsay (2010-11-19). "How My Team Stays Connected With No Office and No Face Time - CBS News". Bnet.com. Retrieved 2016-12-01.
  4. ^ "Technology news and trends for busy small business owners and managers". Small Business Computing. Retrieved 2016-12-01.
  5. ^ "Number Porting - Keep Your Existing Business Number". eVoice. Retrieved 2016-12-01.
  6. ^ "Porting: Keeping Your Phone Number When You Change Providers | Federal Communications Commission". Fcc.gov. 2016-10-25. Retrieved 2016-12-01.
  7. ^ [2][dead link‍]
  8. ^ Profis, Sharon (2008-09-08). "iPhone app gleans healthy grub nearby - CNET". News.cnet.com. Retrieved 2016-12-01.
  9. ^ "Start-up Aims to Speed Internet Messaging". Internetnews.com. 2001-11-27. Retrieved 2016-12-01.
  10. ^ [3][dead link‍]
  11. ^ "Patent US6751299 - Voice messaging system - Google Patents". Google.com. Retrieved 2016-12-01.
  12. ^ AOL Acquisitions, Crunchbase
  13. ^ Strom, David (2011-09-02). "How Many Successful Acquisitions Has AOL Made?". ReadWrite. Archived from the original on 2014-04-05. Retrieved 2016-12-01. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ http://www.virtualpbxcompare.com/service-provider/evoice.html
  15. ^ by Ian (2001-07-23). "It's Official… | Ian Andrew Bell". Ianbell.com. Retrieved 2016-12-01.
  16. ^ http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4002:d8ikur.2.2
  17. ^ editor rating: good Comments July 29, 2016 (2016-07-29). "eVoice Review & Rating". PCMag.com. Retrieved 2016-12-01. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  18. ^ "About Us | eVoice® Australia". Au.evoice.com. 2014-06-20. Retrieved 2016-12-01.
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