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We got our start in 1989 when founder Todd Grannis and his business partners took a small bulletin board service (BBS) called Public Data Network nationwide using packet-switched X.25 networks. They later co-invented Chatlink! by linking the chat rooms of bulletin boards across the country together into one giant, full-featured chat network. By 1993, Chatlink! had become the world’s largest BBS chat network.
When the Internet became publicly accessible in 1994, Todd and his partners bought one of Oregon’s first Internet circuits and upgraded Chatlink! to use TCP-IP. Seeing the vast potential of the Internet, they also launched an Internet service providing free public access to the local community.
The Internet’s evolution inspired our own. The inefficiencies of offering Internet services were abundant and Todd was determined to developed better ways to run an ISP. He'd already watched one highly successful venture made irrelevant with rapidly evolving technology.
The challenge was to drive down costs, leverage economies of scale and stay ahead of the technology curve with research and development. It started wholesale, private-label ISP services through retail computer stores -- enabling stores to have the presence of a full-service, facilities-based ISP without the extensive investment in equipment, circuits, and administration staff.
In the spring of 1996, the breakthrough came when Todd and his team developed technology that allowed multiple ISP brands to share a bank of modems located in Portland, Oregon. Todd called this service “VISP” for Virtual Internet Service Provider, and thus the world’s first wholesale ISP company was born. That’s when we registered the domain name 'visp.net' and began providing wholesale Internet services using the first generation of our ISP in-a-box® technology.
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In 1998, visp.net developed Permissions Technology to manage subscriber access to nationwide networks. Permissions Technology allowing visp.net ISPs access to a wide number of national networks while isolating visp.net partner ISPs from the risk of multiple-network login charges. By 2000, visp.net had established relationships with almost every wholesale network provider.
By 2002, many other ISPs started using outsourced network providers to cut their network costs. New network providers -- many of whom were funded by venture capitalists -- came into existence almost overnight to take advantage of the demand.
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When the Internet bubble burst later in 2002, however, many of these companies collapsed. Subscribers of ISPs who had outsourced to a single network provider lost Internet access, often without warning. Many ISPs went out of business within months because they had no answer to give their subscribers.
But that didn’t happen to visp.net partner ISPs. When subscribers called, our ISPs simply gave them new access numbers. Our Permissions Technology and investment in redundancy enabled us to provide an instant solution to their problem. What was fatal for other ISPs was barely an inconvenience for our partners.
By the end of 2002, visp.net received the RCC SBDC Business of the Year award. In 2004 and 2005, visp.net was listed as one of Oregon’s 100 Fastest Growing Private Companies. We also earned the SOREDI Workforce Development Award for our investment in the training and development of our staff who deliver exceptional service to our partner ISPs.
On October 10, 2005, visp.net released the fourth generation of the visp.net ISP in-a-box® technology. We created this powerful, easy-to-use account management and billing system for use by our partner ISPs. It was an immediate success. By radically simplifying ISP management, our partners were able to launch full-service, low-overhead businesses that delivered unmatched Internet access to their end users.
Today, we offer a footprint of over 78,000 dial-up access numbers and broadband access for 27 states. We partner with hundreds of satisfied ISPs, and our business continues to grow thanks to our award-winning operation and the vast array of feature-rich technologies.
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