Posts Tagged ‘Starting a Calling Card Business’
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February 27th, 2009
IPsmarx Introduces Webinar Series Geared Towards Entrepreneurs
In an effort to provide insight into the market growth and business opportunities in the calling card space, while offering marketing suggestions and answering technical questions based on our eight years of experience in the industry, we are inviting you to join one of our FREE webinar on how to start a calling card business.
Our next webinar is on Friday, March 6th, at 2pm EST.
Contact us to reserve a space or email r.gupta@ipsmarx.com.
We hope that you would join us! Please feel free to contact us with any questions.
May 5th, 2008
NEW SIP-Based Calling Card Platform Released
IPsmarx is now offering a fully internet based Calling Card Solution that will allow customers to provide Calling Card Services without having to get telephony lines connected to their systems. This solution will be very useful for countries where access to phone lines T1s/E1s is limited due to regulations.
The Calling Card over IP platform will also offer the advantage of allowing the use of DIDs from different countries so clients can provide services in many countries with the same platform. Also, there are new features like auto-recharge so Calling Card owners can have permanent clients that get their account refilled automatically. Other features like IVR-based credit card recharge, flexible PINs and payphone surcharged will be provided.
This Solution promises to help many of our clients upgrade their services with the latest technology and will definitely be the solution for many other entrepreneurs that weren’t able to get phone lines to support Calling Card Services in their countries.
January 25th, 2008
VoIP and Calling Card Companies Have the Opportunity to Respond to RFPs
Our clients are always looking for creative ways to distribute their calling cards and market their VoIP services. Some market their cards online, others through a distribution channel, and others build strategic partnerships. VoIP companies and calling card providers can also respond to RFPs.
Many government agencies look for VoIP services and even calling cards which can lead to brand exposure and significant revenue for the providers. One way to find RFPs is through RFP search websites. Here is an example of an RFP for looking for bids on calling cards: http://www.icn.state.ia.us/bidding_opp/rfp/RFP%2008-008/08-008%20RFP.doc.
January 16th, 2008
To Charge or Not to Charge Connection Fees
I often get questions about connection fees as clients start thinking about how to market their calling cards. The main emphasis on any new marketing strategy is how to cover the operating cost and increases profit.
The general rules in these two marketing philosophies are when you don’t charge connection fees; you increase the rates to certain destinations. When you charge connection fees you can lower certain destination rates.
These two marketing methods have a dynamic affect on how the calling cards will be utilized by the consumers of the cards. If they are charged connection fees and know the rates are lower, they may purchase more of less expensive cards and use each card on only one call. A consumer of no connection fees may buy more expensive cards and may use it more often since he is aware of the no connection fees.
December 19th, 2007
Target Marketing with Multiple Calling Cards in the same Market
There are several venues for calling card distribution, especially when it comes to specialized stores such as Latin (bodegas), Mediterranean, Indian, and Vietnamese stores. Since these stores cater primarily to their targeted markets, there is still a lot of cross selling opportunity here, due to the locations of some of these markets in immigrant community areas. To be able to target the Latin community for calling card in a Vietnamese store would be a good example of cross selling. Word of mouth will carry out that the store has a good deal on the calling card, they will come in for the card and purchase some vegetables along the way.
This makes even more sense in densely populated areas where stores cater not only to targeted cultural markets but also extend their products to other cultural communities. A good example for this is also looking at the marketing tactics of the larger food stores. They have identified certain isles of merchandise to ethnic communities but across from them ethnic products are placing other items that would be most likely to be purchased by those ethnic communities. This would be a good example of cross selling opportunities that can also be leverage in the calling card industry.
December 6th, 2007
Self Service – a Paradigm for Success Using E-Store with Your Calling Card Services
Large corporations have been moving forward a self service paradigm, employees can change their health care plans, check their payroll stubs, expense reports and so on. Empowering the employee to manage their own accounts on various services provided by internal departments in large corporations has saved them overhead expense while delivering a better quality of service. This approach has made them more competitive in their respective markets.
The same approach can be taken by web enhancing your calling card services with E-Store. The client will have a user friendly interface that can be adapted to your web design. This approach can be viewed as a green approach by not needing the traditional printed cards, which also cut down overhead costs in providing the same services. A customer can register and purchase a calling card online where an email will be sent out to the purchaser with the connection number information as well as PIN number. In the event that the account (card) goes down below a thresh hold below 20% of minutes available an email alert would be sent out, warning the client to recharge the account.
November 8th, 2007
Measuring the Performance of VoIP Calls
The ASR will be shown as a percentage; the higher it is the better is the performance of your calls or system. So next time you buy new routes you can ask your providers to give you the ASR for those specific routes you are buying and you will have an idea of how their performance is.
In VoIP, call quality can be measured by ASR.
ASR (Answer Seizure Ratio) – is a ratio that is used to assess the reliability of calls to a particular destination. It is calculated by taking the total number of calls answered to that destination/network (Answer) and dividing it by the total number of calls that were physically sent (Seizures) *100. Although many factors (such as the receiving person being out of the house) can distort this ratio, it gives a good indication of the effectiveness of links to that network or country.
The ASR will be shown as a percentage; the higher it is the better is the performance of your calls or system. So next time you buy new routes you can ask your providers to give you the ASR for those specific routes you are buying and you will have an idea of how their performance is.
November 2nd, 2007
How to compete with existing Calling Card Companies’ rates
I often get calls from customers that are overwhelmed wondering how Calling Card Companies can advertise such competitive rates when there are termination bills, internet, advertising and other operational costs to cover. The answer is simple, most Calling Card companies advertise rates that do not include all the fees involved, charges like connection fees, surcharge fees, maintenance fees, and other costs that allow companies to add substantial profits on top of the cost of calls.
Another strategy is to set up partnerships with Telecom Providers in the countries where most of your calling card traffic goes. Due to the high volume in top destinations, Calling Card Companies are able to negotiate special rates that allow them to be competitive in the market.
Finally, Calling Card Companies can also set up their own termination routes so that they no longer require a carrier to terminate calls to their top destinations. As a result, the only costs involved would be that of the internet, gateway and phone lines in those countries; and a carrier won’t be needed to terminate the calls. This strategy allows providers to reduce call termination calls and therefore be able to provide more competitive rates.
November 1st, 2007
Creating Promotional Calling Cards
I often discuss creative ways to market calling cards with my clients, but from time to time we discuss using calling cards to market other products or services. Some companies choose to distinguish their product by offering a free calling card. Once a client uses the free card, they have the option to go online and purchase another card or sign up for PINless service. This not only promotes the product but also creates an additional source of revenue for the business.
I have also seen promotional business cards that have company contact information and a few free minutes to call anywhere in the world. This is to ensure that the business card is not just discarded, but can again lead to additional revenue streams for this company.
September 19th, 2007
CDR – Acronyms You Need to Know
A Call Detail Record (CDR) in Voice over IP is a file containing information about recent system usage, duration of each call, the amount billed for each call, the total usage time in the billing period, the rate and total cost for each call.
The format of the CDR varies among VoIP providers or programs. The IPsmarx CDR also offers additional reports, online payment and current balance. IPsmarx’ Call Detail Record is updated the second after calls are made and a CDR for a particular account can be downloaded at the request of the subscriber holding that account.
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