VoIP Professionals Starting to Gear up for This Year’s Holiday Traffic

The end of summer in the Washington DC area is a notoriously slow time for business. Kids are getting ready to go back to school and parents are taking any opportunity for some warm weather vacation time. Traffic dies down and community pools fill up, but for professionals in the VoIP industry, there is no summer “break.”

This is the time of year when service providers are gearing up to support their peak holiday traffic, beginning in October and going all the way through January. This is the time to stress test softswitches, add new carriers, and make sure all of the tools are in place to support a holiday marketing initiative. We’re working with our existing clients to implement redundancy and capacity upgrades to ensure that their system will support the accelerated traffic volume that the holidays bring. For more information about redundancy, you can view a video here: http://www.ipsmarx.com/videos/redundancy.html.

For start ups, this is a very exciting time, as it may be their first opportunity to capitalize on the holiday voice traffic. We’re working with start-ups to make sure they launch their business in time to take advantage of the holiday traffic and offering marketing features, such as email marketing, bonus point management, and E-store promotions.

If you’re thinking of starting a VoIP business, this is the perfect time of year to get started. You can view a complete list of our business ideas here: http://ipsmarx.com/Solutions/ForEntrepreneurs/BusinessIdeas.html.

Are You Making The Most Out Of Your Agent Relationships?

Imagine unlimited profit potential from PINless Calling Card customers without credit card fees or depending on the Internet. Through IPsmarx’s unique IVR Recharge Feature for Agents you can offer your services to a larger customer base through agents without access to an on-site computer. Your agents no longer need an Internet connection to recharge PINless Calling Cards, all they need is a phone!

Benefits of Implementing the IPsmarx IVR Recharge Feature for Agents:

• Quickly add a new and lucrative profit source to your existing agent network.
• Rapidly sign up new agents who do not have a computer or Internet access in their store.
• Build agent loyalty! Offer this solution to your agents and they will not want to sell your competitors calling cards.
• Monopolize your ethnic communities.
• Convert traditional prepaid calling card buyers into your loyal PINless Calling Card customers.

To learn more about how to maximize your profits with the IPsmarx IVR Recharge Feature contact us for a free demo!

Email us at sales@ipsmarx.com

Annual Growth of over 14% Suggests that Now is the Time to Start Your VoIP Business

We’re wrapping up our 10 Year Anniversary Celebration and preparing to get our clients ready for the highest VoIP traffic volumes of the year this fall and winter.

With many holidays approaching, if you’ve been thinking about starting your own Calling Card or VoIP business, now is the time!

Start a PINless Calling Card or VoIP Business Backed by IPsmarx

We’ve supported hundreds of entrepreneurs in  over 66 countries as they’ve entered the VoIP and Calling Card Industry and have many success stories. Find out which of our solutions is right for your business idea. Some options include:

• Custom Brand your own prepaid international calling cards or PINless service.
• Offer VoIP services in Africa, while hosting your hardware in the US or Europe.
• Differentiate yourself from other service providers by offering PINless recharge for end users and IVR recharge for agents.
• Offer full-featured residential VoIP service.
• Sell your own custom branded VoIP dialer for the iPhone and Android smartphones.
• Offer IP-PBX services to your business clients.

To learn more about all of the business models supported by IPsmarx’ solutions, click here.

View some of our client testimonials here: http://www.ipsmarx.com/Company/ClientTestimonials.aspx. 

Here’s what Streamline Communications had to say about IPsmarx:

“We thought we would never be able to do this on our own. Once we began dealing with IPsmarx, you guys walked us through everything. We were amazed that we were actually able to run the business ourselves. I would recommend it to everybody. One of the reasons we went with IPsmarx is that it was scalable and there are options to grow your business. It’s better than we ever expected.

–Josh Wilson, Streamline Communications, North Carolina

Contact us for more information about how to get started with our award-winning solutions!

Calling Card: A Great Business for Immigrant Entrepreneurs

An article titled “Immigrant Entrepreneurs: Creating More Jobs for Americans” published by The Immigrant Magazine states that “many Americans owe their jobs to immigrant entrepreneurs”.

The Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians documents that “60 to 70 percent of the businesses in many shopping districts are owned by newcomers”.

The article further states that “immigrants are not only more likely to start businesses, but their companies often spark remarkable job creation”.

The article provides success stories of immigrant entrepreneurs with small-scale businesses to large corporations. It is truly inspirational to hear such success stories and encouraging for immigrants who are thinking of starting a new business.

Starting a calling card business with the help of IPsmarx is an excellent way to own a business. Most of our clients are immigrants who have little to no technical knowledge of how the VoIP industry works. Many of our clients come to us with a great idea and we help them to make it a reality.

So if you have a great idea for a VoIP business, contact us and we will guide you through the process of setting it up.

Contact us:sales@ipsmarx.com

To read more about Immigrant Entrepreneurs: http://www.immigrantmagazine.com/2011/05/immigrant-entrepreneurs-creating-more-jobs-for-americans/

VoIP Start-Up Summer Reading List

Since we deal with VoIP and Calling Card companies that are in start up phase, we often get asked about websites, articles and publications that are useful to get more insight in to the VoIP industry.

Here are some reading materials that I would recommend for any VoIP Start Up.

Our How to Start a Calling Card Business Guide

How to Capitalize on the Latest Trend in PINless Calling

How to Leverage Least Cost Routing

IPsmarx Celebrates 10 Years in the VoIP Industry – a Look Back at the Evolution of the VoIP Industry

For more information, contact us at info@ipsmarx.com.

The Development of the Calling Card Industry

The Calling Card industry has gone through significant transformations in which IPsmarx has contributed to. Below is a brief history of how the calling card industry has developed and where it is now.

1. In the beginning, there were traditional calling cards which users purchased at a retail location. Users would have to dial an access number followed by a PIN number and the destination number.
2. Since traditional calling cards posed many inconvenient aspects for users, PINless cards and flexible PIN numbers were developed so that users would not have to dial a lengthy PIN number each time they made a call.
3. To increase convenience, calling cards offered a new feature which allowed multiple users to use the same PIN number. This was used mainly in businesses where international calls were made by many employees on a daily basis.
4. The industry then focused on payment and balance recharge of calling cards. Rechargeable PINs or Top-up, auto recharge, and rechargeable to IVR features were so that customers would not have to purchase a new card each time their balance ran out. This simplified the payment process for customers.
5. However, the calling card industry could be further simplified. Features such as, Direct DID and DID Forwarding, provided users with one unique phone number that eliminated the need for dialing access numbers and PIN numbers. Other options such as, Speed Dial, were also developed to increase convenience for end users.
6. IPsmarx then followed by developing Permanent Accounts or Subscription Services which meant that users no longer needed a physical calling card.
7. To expand on the Permanent Accounts, IPsmarx created the PINless Reseller Module which simplified the process by allowing users to go to a reseller and subscribe for a Permanent Account. This latest development means that resellers no longer have to carry inventory of physical calling cards at their retail locations.

To learn more about IPsmarx’s latest Calling Card Solutions contact us at: sales@ipsmarx.com

Marketing Tips From the IPsmarx Team: How to Remain Competitive in the Calling Card Market

Listed below are a few ways you can take advantage of IPsmarx’s Calling Card Solution to differentiate yourself from other service providers.

Multi-Carrier Compatible Software

• Allows you to choose multiple carriers, enabling you to provide better quality service to your customers.
• You can offer competitive rates by choosing the carrier with the lowest rate or by taking advantage of our Least Call Routing feature.
• You can also increase your profit margin by choosing the carrier with the lowest rate and adding a higher markup.

Optional Hidden Fees

• Our management solution allows you to charge and manage hidden fees for end users.
• You can be more competitive by charging lower per minute rates, while making up for the loss through hidden fees.
• To learn more about hidden fees read the following post: http://blog.ipsmarx.com/2011/06/increase-your-profit-with-optional-calling-card-fees/

Resellers’ Commission

• You can offer resellers commission for selling your calling card and track their sales through the IPsmarx management solution.
• This will motivate resellers to promote your card over other service providers’ cards.

Optional Bonus Referral Module (available for PINless)

• You can offer free minutes to customers for referring another customer.
• This will increase your customer loyalty and overall customer base.

Callback Solution

• Enables you to provide service in regions such as, Africa and the Middle East, where traditional calling cards are not possible.
• You will be one of the few service providers offering a long distance calling solution to those destinations, hence you will be able to accumulate a larger market share.

DID Forwarding

• You can offer customers a unique feature that permits them to use their assigned DID number to make international calls through VoIP rates.
• Your customers will be able to take advantage of this feature even while travelling internationally, thereby differentiating your calling card service from other providers.
• To learn more about DID Forwarding read the following post: http://blog.ipsmarx.com/2011/06/the-convenience-of-did-forwarding/

All of these features will enable you to offer customers better termination quality and lower rates, as well as, increase your customer base and profit. Through the implementation of these IPsmarx features, your Calling Card or PINless service will be easily differentiated from competitors.

To learn more about our solutions and how to start your own calling card business contact us at: sales@ipsmarx.com

Increase your Profit with Optional Calling Card Fees!

Use our many fee functions to add revenue streams to your Calling Card! Our Solution comes with many included features such as Maintenance fee, Surcharge Fee and Connection Fee.

Additionally, there are add-on modules that can add value to your services such as our Step Billing Feature, which allows you to set up fees that increase as the calls continue. There for the more people talk the more fees they will be paying per minute.

Another great feature is our Disconnection Fee, which is a fee that is charged after the call is disconnected and allows a fee that is calculated on a percentage amount based on the length of connection.

The IVR switching Module allows setting up the IVR percentage for each destination to be applied for each destination. For example, if your percentage for a destination “A” is setup at 80%, the call will be disconnected when 80% of announced time is used.

Finally, we have our Minute Rounding Feature so providers can charge a customer for an increment of minutes used rather than charging a call on a minute-to-minute basis. For example every minute of a call can be rounded to determined number of minutes, so providers will make money on the amount time every customer do not use during a call.

contact us at sales@ipsmarx.com to talk to us about our Calling Card Platform.

Join a Market That Is Worth 4 Billion Dollars

Did you know that the calling card market is worth 4 billion dollars? Many don’t know the full potential and opportunity that waits in this industry. A calling card venture has worldwide possibility with endless opportunity. Calling card providers and VoIP service providers can reach new markets, new locations and offer new services through the IPsmarx calling card platform.

Whether you are new to the VoIP industry or an existing VoIP service provider, Contact us now at sales@ipsmarx.com or 1-416-665-6999 and find out the steps on how to build a venture.

IPsmarx API allows integration of Calling Card and PINless with Point of Sales Solutions

IPsmarx clients can use our API to integrate with many other tools and solutions, such as Point of Sales (POS). With Point of Sales integration, Calling Card and PINless Solution Providers can sell cards or ANI PINless Services at supermarkets or convenient stores and charge clients using their point of sales terminal. Customer will pick up the card of their choice and simply add funds at the counter as they pay for any other items. This useful solution makes transactions much faster and easier. It also reduces the risk of cards being stolen since cards won’t be valid until activated at the point of purchase!

For more information on our API integration for POS and other custom applications, please contact us.