>>You will notice on the calling card shelves there are only a handful of >>companies producing lots of different cards.
I have! That's what led me to CC for starters, then implementing a more novel "startup" product. But. Regardless of all the corruption, my goal is to offer something honest "TRUTH, I like that ;)", reliable and as consistent as possible. We cannot compete against free, but we can try our best. Again, CC is just an entry point, we can doing this like: speech to text -> Natural Language Processing (NLP) -> text to speech. Bringing computer science to VoIP. This is our long term.. I just need to keep the investor happy for now.. Nick On Thu, Sep 29, 2011 at 11:48 AM, Jeff LaCoursiere <[email protected]> wrote: > > > On Thu, 29 Sep 2011, Nick Khamis wrote: > >> Hello Jeff, >> >> There will always be fierce competition, we are starting of with >> prepaid for an obvious source of quick revenue, we will also be >> rolling out a few more products in the next year.. It seems like they >> LIE about their LD rates. A company in Australia was >> charged with this not too long ago. Stolen minutes? Not that I would >> be interested in stealing! I just want to be educated >> in such an act. > > You will often see discussion on this list about asterisk servers being > "compromised" and the result being very expensive calls placed until the > compromise is noticed and shutdown. Those calls are placed by nefarious > wholesalers that take advantage of the "free" routes they manage to find as > long as possible. Hard to compete against free! > > Other games the calling card companies play - they will release a card with > unbelievable rates so that it quickly gains market share, then slowly back > off the minutes offered by the card (without changing the rate sheets of > course) until it is noticed by the consumers, who stop buying it. Then that > card is discontinued and another is produced in the same manner. You will > notice on the calling card shelves there are only a handful of companies > producing lots of different cards. > > There are many more tricks they use to dupe the consumers and stifle > competition. Hidden or non-disclosed connection rates, "maintenance fees" > charged every few days to burn off credit on the cards, time restrictions on > the lower rates, etc. We actually produced a card once we called "TRUTH" > (which was honest about rates, had no hidden fees, etc) and it sold ok for a > while, but when the card next to it on the shelf claims twice the minutes > for the same $$$, eventually they win. > > In the end this business doesn't make money unless you are selling millions > of minutes per month, and even then the margins are slim and you have to > play the same games to compete. What we thought would be a fairly easy > business to run became a maintenance nightmare, and a single instance of > fraud could wipe out months worth of profits. > > A2billing didn't exist when we started, so we rolled our own. Seems pretty > popular now - maybe it would work well for you. > > Good luck, > > j > >> >> Of course we don't have to use the same in/outbound providers. I >> should have been clearer about that. You mentioned Least Cost >> Route/Rate (LCR), any reason why you did not use what is already out >> there? Provided by a2billing etc...? We can also implement something >> using AGI if needed.... >> >> Nick. >> >> On Thu, Sep 29, 2011 at 11:21 AM, Jeff LaCoursiere <[email protected]> >> wrote: >>> >>> >>> On Thu, 29 Sep 2011, Nick Khamis wrote: >>> >>>> I should have mentioned we are interested in international long >>>> distance. That will >>>> be a big part of our business. >>>> >>> >>> It sounds like you are intending to start a calling card company. Good >>> luck >>> - the competition is fierce, and you will be competing against companies >>> that outright lie about the capacity of their cards, and use stolen >>> minutes >>> to fulfill them as often as they can. >>> >>> If you intend to do wholesale by reselling, you don't need to use the >>> same >>> company for inbound and outbound. In fact for outbound you will probably >>> have many upstream providers, as your goal will be to find the cheapest >>> reliable route in every case. You will need to code something for route >>> selection (I did this in C/AGI). >>> >>> For inbound I use IP Comms, which has worked well. Unlimited inbound per >>> DID, but NOT unlimited channels. For outbound I had arrangements with >>> STi, >>> Voipjet, and many others for smaller route sets. I also participated in >>> the >>> wholesale market at Arbinet, who just got bought out by someone... >>> >>> Cheers, >>> >>> j >>> >>>> >>>> On Thu, Sep 29, 2011 at 11:12 AM, Danny Nicholas <[email protected]> >>>> wrote: >>>>> >>>>> They aren't everywhere, but we have had good experience with Voicepulse >>>>> and >>>>> their rate is typically less than $0.015 per minute. >>>>> >>>>> -----Original Message----- >>>>> From: [email protected] >>>>> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Nick >>>>> Khamis >>>>> Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2011 10:09 AM >>>>> To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion >>>>> Subject: Re: [asterisk-users] No Bull Service Providers >>>>> >>>>> Very true... But there should be an equilibrium, the "relaiable >>>>> service, >>>>> and >>>>> aggressive pricing" comes to meet? >>>>> Guys please share your experiences. >>>>> >>>>> Cheers, >>>>> >>>>> Nick >>>>> >>>>> On Thu, Sep 29, 2011 at 10:58 AM, C. Savinovich >>>>> <[email protected]> wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>> In my professional opinion, the phrases "I don't want no Bull service" >>>>>> and "I want the cheapest service" are total contradictions. Down the >>>>>> road something is not going to give. >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> C. Savinovich >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> On September 29, 2011 at 10:47 AM Danny Nicholas <[email protected]> >>>>> >>>>> wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>>> This belongs on the "commercial" list. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> -----Original Message----- >>>>>>> From: [email protected] >>>>>>> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Nick >>>>>>> Khamis >>>>>>> Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2011 9:44 AM >>>>>>> To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion >>>>>>> Subject: [asterisk-users] No Bull Service Providers >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Hello Everyone, >>>>>>> >>>>>>> We are looking for DID and SIP Termination service providers. Since >>>>>>> there are so many these days, can you guy mention the BIG players >>>>>>> that are supplying the rest of the little guy? We are looking for the >>>>>>> cheapest, and scaleable infrastructure (i.e. unlimited channels for >>>>>>> DID, and trunks for termintation). To summarize we are looking for >>>>>>> the major players in the DID and SIP Trunk market, no/limited >>>>>>> headache. This is for wholesaler service. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Thanks in Advance, >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Nick >>>>>>> >>>>>>> -- >>>>>>> _____________________________________________________________________ >>>>>>> -- Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com -- >>>>>>> New to Asterisk? Join us for a live introductory webinar every >>>>>>> Thurs: >>>>>>> http://www.asterisk.org/hello >>>>>>> >>>>>>> asterisk-users mailing list >>>>>>> To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: >>>>>>> http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> -- >>>>>>> _____________________________________________________________________ >>>>>>> -- Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com -- >>>>>>> New to Asterisk? Join us for a live introductory webinar every Thurs: >>>>>>> http://www.asterisk.org/hello >>>>>>> >>>>>>> asterisk-users mailing list >>>>>>> To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: >>>>>>> http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users >>>>>> >>>>>> Christian Savinovich >>>>>> Telecom & Telephony Consulting >>>>>> 646.982.3572 >>>>>> [email protected] >>>>>> >>>>>> -- >>>>>> _____________________________________________________________________ >>>>>> -- Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com -- >>>>>> New to Asterisk? Join us for a live introductory webinar every Thurs: >>>>>> http://www.asterisk.org/hello >>>>>> >>>>>> asterisk-users mailing list >>>>>> To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: >>>>>> http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users >>>>>> >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> _____________________________________________________________________ >>>>> -- Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com -- >>>>> New >>>>> to >>>>> Asterisk? Join us for a live introductory webinar every Thurs: >>>>> http://www.asterisk.org/hello >>>>> >>>>> asterisk-users mailing list >>>>> To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: >>>>> http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> _____________________________________________________________________ >>>>> -- Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com -- >>>>> New to Asterisk? Join us for a live introductory webinar every Thurs: >>>>> http://www.asterisk.org/hello >>>>> >>>>> asterisk-users mailing list >>>>> To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: >>>>> http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users >>>>> >>>> >>>> -- >>>> _____________________________________________________________________ >>>> -- Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com -- >>>> New to Asterisk? Join us for a live introductory webinar every Thurs: >>>> http://www.asterisk.org/hello >>>> >>>> asterisk-users mailing list >>>> To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: >>>> http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users >>> >>> -- >>> _____________________________________________________________________ >>> -- Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com -- >>> New to Asterisk? Join us for a live introductory webinar every Thurs: >>> http://www.asterisk.org/hello >>> >>> asterisk-users mailing list >>> To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: >>> http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users >>> >> >> -- >> _____________________________________________________________________ >> -- Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com -- >> New to Asterisk? Join us for a live introductory webinar every Thurs: >> http://www.asterisk.org/hello >> >> asterisk-users mailing list >> To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: >> http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users > > -- > _____________________________________________________________________ > -- Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com -- > New to Asterisk? Join us for a live introductory webinar every Thurs: > http://www.asterisk.org/hello > > asterisk-users mailing list > To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users > -- _____________________________________________________________________ -- Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com -- New to Asterisk? Join us for a live introductory webinar every Thurs: http://www.asterisk.org/hello asterisk-users mailing list To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
