Grasshopper (company)

Grasshopper (Phone System) is a privately held virtual phone provider designed to help entrepreneurs and small businesses manage their business phone system.

History

Grasshopper was created in 2003 by David Hauser and Siamak Taghaddos. The company was originally GotVMail but was rebranded in 2009 to Grasshopper. Grasshopper is headquartered in Needham, MA and has approximately 45 employees. It is owned by Grasshopper Group, which also owns Chargify.

Products

Grasshopper offers a virtual phone system, also known as a virtual PBX. A virtual phone system is designed to manage phone tasks such as call routing, allow more than one person to be reached from a single number, voicemail, faxing, automated greetings, conference calling and more.

As reported by ReadWriteWeb, “Grasshopper not only gives your business its very own toll-free 800 number, but it allows your customers to reach you even when you’re on the go. Voice mails are delivered to your inbox, as are faxes (in PDF), so you can stay connected everywhere. You can have multiple extensions and extend the service to your employees as well. The service starts at $9.95 per month (plus a $25 activation fee) for 100 minutes. Other plans are $49 and $199 per month.”

External links

• [http://www.grasshopper.com: Grasshopper.com website]
• [http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/job_shop/job_shop_grasshopper_081009: Fox25 Interviews Grasshopper]

Further reading

• McCue, TJ (August 1, 2010). 22 Small Business Phone Services. Small Business Trends
• Austin, Scott (August 9, 2010). The Daily Start-Up: Which Company Will Be The Next Big Thing?. The Wall Street Journal
• Ellis, Matthew (February 11, 2010). 12 Useful Resources for Entrepreneurs. Fuel Your Venture
• Hamilton, Charles (August 27, 2009). Grasshopper: A Business Oriented Virtual Phone System. gigaom