Sorry for waiting!I have to work for my own company first. There is never
going to be enough time...
I did some experiment on an initial proposal of solution in past several
days. Everything works fine now.
Here are 3-team to help AGA set up. I attach a proposal of solution and a
draft plan of legal/organization for comments!
Please let me know if you find yourself to be involved or not be involved
correctly!
Looking forward to working with you!
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Engineering solution (initial)
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Goal: improve quality and price of Asterisk VOIP for all members business
The AGA-RTP server will be put close to our supplier(s) (1 or 2 as backup).
AGA buys a couple of accounts for all members. The billing system is
semi-prepaid. Every member pays minimum monthly charge to stay in this
group. The deposit will go to the pool to buy minutes from supplier. High
volume traffic members pay their monthly average cost in order to keep our
account alive.
We need our suppliers to authenticate on IP addresses (just like grnvoip
does). Each member adds their server IP addresses into management database.
Those information will be escalated to suppliers. CDR will be uploaded into
our simple billing server every 4 hrs. The traffic will be identified by IP
addresses in CDR, and it is billed to each members account. The alerts are
sent to each member if their balances are low.
A web site is developed to generate reports for management and members.
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My first thought is the purpose of the association now, and in the future.
Obviously, the initial purpose is to get good termination (and possibly
origination) rates for its members. However, rather than limit the
association to just buying minutes, I thought it appropriate to consider
that the association be formed for the express purpose of furthering the
telecommunications interests of its members, as well as the Asterisk
community as a whole. Additional activities in which the association would
engage would be determined by the board of directors and its members as
needs arise.
To better identify the association with its more generic purpose, I propose
the following names for the organization:
"International Asterisk Service Providers Association" (IASPA)
"Telephony Service Providers Association International" (TSPAI)
"International Association of Internet Telephony Service Providers" (IAITSP)
"Internet Telephony Service Providers Association International" (ITSPAI)
"International Organization of Asterisk Service Providers" (IOASP)
Acronyms of each proposed name are available in at least the .org top level
domain (IASPA.ORG, TSPAI.ORG, IAITSP.ORG, ITSPAI.ORG, and IOASP.ORG).
The association needs to be a legal entity in order for it to enter into
contracts on behalf of its members. The cleanest way to handle this is to
incorporate. A non-profit corporation is probably the best form of
incorporation, as the association would have a mutual-benefit mandate. If,
however, it is determined that the association would like to resell services
at a profit, we could incorporate as a for-profit corporation just as
easily. I recommend incorporating in Nevada, as the laws in the State of
Nevada afford the most protection to members and directors, and there is no
state income tax. Also, costs to incorporate and maintain a corporation in
Nevada are some of the lowest in the United States. There are many other
advantages, which I can go over with you, if you like.
I am able to handle the incorporation services, as well as arrange for a
resident agent (a legal requirement). Members are able to reside in any
location, and no US citizenship or legal standing is required. Once
incorporated, the association would be recognized as a legal entity
throughout most of the world with no additional work required.
To maximize flexibility, I would propose a tiered membership system. Only
full members would be allowed to vote or serve on the board of directors,
but other levels of membership could be offered so that non-voting members
would be allowed access to some of the services of the association. Each
level of membership would have different minimum financial commitment
levels, to be determined by the board of directors.
Membership Categories:
Member - Businesses and individuals that use or provide IP-based
telecommunications services. Full members may participate in the group rate
discount of services provided to the association, have full voting rights,
and may serve on the board of directors.
Associate - Businesses and individuals that provide goods and
services to the telecommunications industry. Associate Members are
non-voting members, and may not serve on any board or committee of the
board, except as a non-voting advisor. The primary intent of the associate
membership level is to allow for vendors or other industry organizations
that may wish to participate in the association, but not use the group rate
services.
Affiliate - Affiliate membership is extended to individuals who do
not qualify for full membership, but wish to receive publications of the
association, access select association services, etc., but not use the group
rate services.
Once incorporated, the association would need to appoint officers and a
board of directors. Nevada allows the board to meet telephonically, so we
could have regular board meetings via a Meet Me conference. Once we have
officers, a bank account can be opened to handle the association's funds,
and we could easily obtain a merchant account to collect members' payments
via credit card. The bank account should require two signatures for any
check over a set amount to be honoured by the bank, with at least one
signature being that of the President, Secretary, or Treasurer.
The cost to incorporate as a Nevada non-profit and open a Nevada bank
account are usually around $600 to $700. A resident agent usually charges
around $90 per year. The state charges less than $200, with a $25 annual
fee. The incorporator usually charges the rest to handle the paperwork. I
can work out an arrangement where I would receive services in exchange for
charging any fees. There are additional costs for a corporate seal,
membership or stock certificates, corporate record book, etc. This would be
less than $200.
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