eVoice is a telecommunications service owned by j2 Global, Inc. (NASDAQ:JCOM). The company manages incoming and outgoing calls using virtual phone numbers. The service was initially founded by Wendell Brown, Mark Klein, and Craig Taro Gold in 2000 and re-launched in March 2010 with an expansion of services that include both individual, personal uses as well as services for businesses.

Overview

As of 2020, eVoice provides toll-free and local phone numbers to subscribers in the United States and Canada. 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. The virtual phone number allows subscribers to remain accessible regardless of location. A competitor to eVoice is

Google Voice Google Voice is a telephone service that provides a U.S. phone number to Google Account customers in the U.S. and Google Workspace (G Suite by October 2020) customers in Canada, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switz ...

. eVoice provides 24x7 live customer support and email support for users.

History

eVoice was founded in 2000 by Wendell Brown, Mark Klein, and Craig Taro Gold. Based at that time in

Menlo Park, CA Menlo Park is a city at the eastern edge of San Mateo County within the San Francisco Bay Area of California in the United States. It is bordered by San Francisco Bay on the north and east; East Palo Alto, Palo Alto, and Stanford to the south; ...

., eVoice was the world's first large-scale, Internet-enabled voicemail system. Brown's patented techniques, such as voicemail-to-email, visual voicemail, enhanced caller ID, were innovations later deployed by

and

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancest ...

. eVoice supplied voicemail solutions to MCI and

AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile ...

, as well as web portals and

VoIP Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also called IP telephony, is a method and group of technologies for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. The terms Internet t ...

providers including

Qwest Qwest Communications International, Inc. was a United States telecommunications carrier. Qwest provided local service in 14 western and midwestern U.S. states: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dako ...

, Snowball, and Dialpad. eVoice was acquired by AOL Time-Warner in July 2008 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. In June 2004, the eVoice brand name and internet domain were acquired by

j2 Global J2 Global, Inc. was an American technology holding company based in Los Angeles, California. The company provided Internet services through two divisions: Business Cloud Services and Digital Media. History J2 Global was founded in December 1995 ...

(NASDAQ:JCOM). j2 Global, Inc. is a cloud services company that offers voice, email, online fax, and online backup services. In 2011,

Ziff Davis Ziff Davis, Inc. is an American digital media and internet company. First founded in 1927 by William Bernard Ziff Sr. and Bernard George Davis, the company primarily owns technology-oriented media websites, online shopping-related services, an ...

gave eVoice a favourable review in its publication

PC Magazine ''PC Magazine'' (shortened as ''PCMag'') is an American computer magazine published by Ziff Davis. A print edition was published from 1982 to January 2009. Publication of online editions started in late 1994 and have continued to the presen ...

; j2 Global owns both Ziff-Davis and eVoice. eVoice's Australian division was first established in Australia and New Zealand in 1995 as Zintel Communications, which was acquired by eVoice in 2012.

Technology

* Access to local and toll free numbers in the United States and Canada. * 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 A conference call is a telephone call in which someone talks to several people at the same time. The conference call may be designed to allow the called party to participate during the call or set up so that the called party merely listens into ...

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.

References

External links

*
eVoice Australia website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Evoice Software companies based in California Software companies of the United States