FierceVoIP Leaders: NewStep CEO Peter Vicars

FierceVoIP: Peter, you have built quite a resume joining companies such as Teloquent, Cayman and Chantry Networks, and taking them to the next level in their respective markets. What particularly made NewStep an appealing next step?

Vicars: Well Pete, my previous ventures were slightly different, in that they came from a level 2 perspective, where we were working with wireless LAN or we were working with fixed-mobile devices. And during that time I, along with a few others, began to wonder "Where is the convergence?" Looking at our model and capabilities, "How can we give the customer both services seamlessly?"

I wrestled with the value proposition for a while, for instance, "How can we handle mobile to VoIP phone calls, is there a market for that service?"  And I saw at NewStep, as so often is the case in the venture world, some large companies considering the ideas we had, but finally deciding they were too small or too costly to get their hands on. The people at NewStep were of a like mind, and we began to look at ways we could handle our customers' communications independent of device, above any central network.

FierceVoIP: And what particular value or benefit do you see in that for the customer?

Vicars: We see ourselves as sort of a "digital concierge."  We get our clients the right call, on the right device, at the right time. And we truly believe we have a universal solution for the convergence issue.

FierceVoIP: How does NewStep's solution operate to give the results you describe?

Vicars: It works well because it is scaled so well to individual customer needs. With British Telecom, for instance, we drop the solution directly into the enterprise and minimize the maintenance on their end, while providing a high-quality service to their customers.

That means that a larger enterprise that wants its employees to use WiFi phones in the office, for instance, to cut the cost of international cellular calls. What our customers want, and what we provide is the ability for an employee to get a call on his WiFi phone, walk out of the building to get coffee, and the solution indicates to the phone that it needs to revert to its cellular mode. There is no interruption of service, the employee maintains the presence of an office environment and is given the freedom to transfer locations without service issues. Once he returns, it reverts to WiFi, and the employee has the controller off of his back.

FierceVoIP: NewStep operates through carriers, not around them, correct?

Vicars: Yes. We've tossed the idea around of going direct service, but the present model is satisfactory and we don't take on any of the downsides and potential service issues the carriers absorb at this time.

FierceVoIP: How does NewStep assess customers to optimize the system you just described?

Vicars: We have the customer, whether it is a five-person small business, or a major corporation with thousands of employees, provide us information about their communication procedures and habits. We look at Outlook contacts and mobile vs. VoIP usage and other metrics to determine the best way to serve the individual client. That way the fish and chips shop, the restaurant and the 100 employee firm on the same street get individualized services based on the trends of their communications. This is also helping clients with international presence stay connected with satellite offices and cut costs.

FierceVoIP: What other benefits does NewStep provide in a business context?

Vicars: Say you want to start receiving calls on your business BlackBerry at 7 a.m., and you want to completely stop receiving calls at 11 p.m. Our solution configures that for you. Say you want to receive any call from a certain number, say your child's school, regardless of the time. The solution makes that happen. Say you want to work in the garden, but you have an important call at 2 p.m. The solution shows your office as the origin of the call, maintaining the presence that puts the customer at ease.

FierceVoIP: Peter, what do you see in the future for convergence technology?

Vicars: All the talk I hear lately is about UC, unified communications, and it's all positive and progressive at first, but then people drift into its limitations and the inability to ever bring this to the market. I feel our solution answers those problems, but looking forward, I see convergence being integrated into top software applications to maximize their utility in a communications sense. For instance, how can we take something like salesforce.com and make that a richer deeper tool than it is now? How do we make it more than a salesperson sitting at a computer updating the resume every few days? How can convergence technologies make that and other applications like it work more smoothly and effectively for our client? I think solutions that begin to do this will be the future of the market.