Viper Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) was created by Pawtucket-based Adder Consulting, a company that provides tech support to businesses, and currently has about 20 employees. On its website, Viper claims it can “liberate” your business communications from the established proprietary phone system providers.
PBN: Viper is a product that grew out of an in-house need for a better product. Why did the analog private branch exchange (PBX) need to be replaced?
HEITMANN: The lack of flexibility in an analog PBX is significant and in general very cumbersome to manage and update. Wiring is a headache; adding or removing users is difficult and often has to be outsourced for high costs. Programming and updating the analog PBX is time consuming and painful, and then there is the issue of locating expensive replacement parts. The most important aspect is the inability to integrate the phone system with other systems and back-office databases. There is simply no comparison between an analog and digital phone system as far as cost savings and improved functionality.
Viper VoIP represents the newest technology solution on the market, we have built a system that is extremely easy to manage and use. You do not need certification or attend “PBX university” to use Viper VoIP. Everything is managed through a highly intuitive Web interface with drop downs and no actual programming skills required.
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PBN: What technology makes Viper stand out from its competitors?
HEITMANN: Viper VoIP is an open-architected solution. Meaning we designed the solution to run on nonproprietary hardware or operating systems, which again provides more flexibility and options to customers. Viper VoIP is also a single, complete solution with all functionality fully integrated and available to use from day one. That means there are no additional add-on hardware or modules to purchase – everything is delivered day one. There are too many benefits to list here, but key differentiators are:
PBN: What price range are we talking about for small businesses to use the Viper VoIP system? What about enterprises with more than 500 employees?
HEITMANN: We target businesses with 50 employees or more typically, as the cost varies from customer to customer, however our model results in costs savings of 50 to 60 percent over the competition. There is always an upfront investment with a new system, but Viper offers lower initial cost and an average 50 percent less Total Cost of Ownership first five years and even higher on the “out” years. Total Cost of Ownership only increases over time because we deliver free updates and upgrades for life. With a constantly evolving architecture, Viper VoIP can currently scale to tens of thousands of users, which is far beyond our current target market of companies with less than 5,000 users.
PBN: What new developments is Viper working on for 2011?
HEITMANN: Viper VoIP relies heavily on customer feedback for improvements of future releases. In the past 10 months we have implemented dozens of new features and enhancements as a direct result of requests from our clients. The road map includes sophisticated enhancements to our hot failover methodology, eliminating the need to backup servers – which, again, means a cost reduction – call center management, administrative console, and furthering our cellular and mobile integration. All these enhancements will be part of our product and delivered to existing customers at no cost.
PBN: Although the R&D began being developed in 2005-2006 it seems like it has taken a while for the product to take off, you only recently began a 500-plus user system installation in New York. What kind market do you expect is out there and who are your competitors?
HEITMANN: Up until recently, Viper VoIP was targeting smaller companies with typically less than 100 users, and today there are hundreds of these companies around the world using the Viper system. Moving into the enterprise market is a challenge for sure, but we have already installed the Viper system at several companies with 300-500 users in multiple countries.
To put things in perspective and use a popular analogy, Viper VoIP is a David, and we are up against many a Goliath. One challenge Viper has faced is making companies aware of the fact that today they have alternatives to the Goliaths out there. They do not need to pay the prices they have in the past to get what they need. With Viper, companies attain everything needed at a lesser cost with lifetime updates and upgrades. Once that is fully understood, David has no problem defeating Goliath.
Because Rhode Island is lagging behind in the economic recovery “race,” we believe Rhode Island companies need all the help they can get and Viper VoIP is a solution that can help Rhode Island businesses gain a competitive advantage. Everyone is looking for cost cutting opportunities and we know Viper can deliver.
