How it began: Arch from idea to launch

-By Micah Bongberg Google+ | @annuvia

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Keep your team. Keep your prices. Keep your clients. Just offer them the quality program they deserve. In an age of Google, Twitter, and Facebook, isn’t it time your AED management software meets your clients’ needs the same way other technologies do?

“Prior to building Arch, we were struck by the technologies used to manage life-saving equipment. Here we were, providing national CPR/AED training to some of the country’s leading organizations, courses taught by full-time health care providers with years of experience, distributing AED units (Automated External Defibrillators) equipped with “smart” technology, yet we were forced to pass along access to oversight and management software that was built years earlier,” states Micah Bongberg, President and CEO of Annuvia.

“Rather than merely providing our clients with important, mandatory AED program management services, we were trying to bob and weave around why such services were so expensive and why the presentation of these systems didn’t match the investment.”

Similar reactions weren’t rare, perhaps only overshadowed by the frustrations faced by users when they were forced to implement the antiquated technology.

“We’d set up accounts and introduce the program to our clients, the whole time hoping they wouldn’t inquire about the appearance of their management program. In most situations, we’d dodge an early bullet, only to learn of problems with usability, unreliability, or errors later on. This was not who we were. Annuvia provides some of the country’s highest quality training services on a national basis, offers the best customer support services available, yet we were forced to implement a program we didn’t believe in ourselves. It wasn’t just Annuvia because, believe me, we looked around. Our program, while not meeting our high standards, grossly outperformed every other service on the market; including those provided directly from the AED manufacturers,” states Bongberg.

It was time for a change and Annuvia moves quickly; Bongberg and Co. built a road map and began executing immediately, making improvements before any complaints came in. “We didn’t need to be told that our service wasn’t where it should be, we knew that if it wasn’t meeting our standards, users such as AED owners may also be experiencing similar frustrations.”

When Arch was initially designed, Annuvia had no desire to build and become a status quo service, merely replicating the inefficiencies found with other programs. “We wanted to show AED owners the value associated with AED Medical Direction and Oversight programs and, ideally, show AED owners why such services are a must have.”

While the Arch program uses exciting mapping services, Annuvia’s goals weren’t limited to the presentation or look-and-feel of the website; they brought to market innovative, patent-pending features that AED owners shouldn’t be without. With the desire to re-shape the AED program management industry as their fuel, Annuvia set on an ambitious course to release several “game changing” features, such as:

(i) AED Medical Direction and Oversight services integrated with a smart-technology e-commerce store to ensure AED equipment is up-to-date and re-ordered before its needed,

(ii) Smartphone mobile apps to allow AED owners to perform readiness checks while directly in front of theirAED units, rather than walking back-and-forth between their computer and AED units or using paper files and,

(iii) Automated EMS form filing, documentation, and submission using the actual paperwork required by EMS agencies across the country.

Now established as a leader in the technical and software aspects of the AED program management space, does the future hold the same level of innovation?
You bet!

“One of the great advantages of having some of the Silicon Valley’s best programmers as employees working for our firm – not merely freelance programmers occasionally hired for an odd-job – is that we’re never short on ideas or concepts to make owning and managing an AED easier than ever before. Lets just say the summer looks bright!”

While Bongberg is holding Annuvia’s development goals close to his chest, if recent history is any indication of what the future holds, Arch is sure to continue re-shaping the landscape of the AED program management industry.