How to Start a Calling Cards Business

Introduction

The calling card business is one of the most common business models in VoIP industry. The
essence of the calling card business model is to creatively segment customers by various
demographic or behavioral characteristics and design calling card offerings to meet their specific
calling needs. The calling card business typically attracts entrepreneurs who want to enter the
VoIP market, businesses with established retail distribution channels, and service providers that
want to diversify their revenue streams. This white paper explains the differences between a
successful and not-so-successful calling card business.
Kolmisoft has many customers who have successfully established their calling card business
using our system.

Infrastructure

First you must develop a solid infrastructure for your prepaid calling card system. Without a
solid infrastructure, you¶ll spend more time worrying about your system¶s integrity than
marketing your product. The following is a list of equipment and services that are required to
start the business. We¶ve also included recommendations to ensure a solid infrastructure.

Software
Billing software is the essence of the calling card business. Choosing reliable billing software
will ensure that every call made through your system is tracked and that no call is left unbilled.
MOR billing is powerful and effective, yet simple and easy to use ± that's why it¶s so popular
among startups. MOR billing is the all-in-one solution with integrated pre-paid, post-paid, and
flat fee accounting that also gives you complete control over your calling cards, including

3R PIN generation
3R ºsage fees
3R Ñxpiration dates
3R ènd much more...

MOR is a vital component for developing an infrastructure for your successful VoIP business.

Hardware
To use MOR Billing, only one server is necessary to support the calls by your customers. If
you¶re using only one server, we recommend the following specifications:
‡ CPº Quad Xeon
‡ 4 Gb RèM
‡ ès fast HDD as possible, RèID recommended, SDD (Solid State Drives recommended).
‡ Centos 5.2 as OS (x86_64 recommended)
Such a server should handle up to 500 calls (without re-encoding) without problems. While we
don¶t provide specific links to hardware sellers, you should be able to easily find a hardware

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provider in your country. Simply give the provider your specifications, and our representatives
will provide you with best solution that fits your budget.

Internet Services
Internet services are the backbone of your calling card network. Choosing a reliable Internet
service will ensure that your billing and VoIP servers stay online. Ideally, you should place your
servers in a co-location facility , as an Internet service in a co-location facility is much less likely
to go down than in your office or home. If you decide to place your system in a co-location
facility, be sure to ask your Internet provider what kind of redundancy is available if their service
goes down. The provider will often use the backbone of another Internet provider. If your
Internet provider doesn¶t have a failover plan, you may want to consider selecting a second
Internet service as a backup.

Phone Services
The phone services you choose are as important as the Internet services. If your phone lines are
down, your customers can¶t call into your system. Generally, phone services are more reliable
than Internet services, so it¶s not necessary to be as concerned about redundancy. However, be
sure to choose the correct phone service for your application. If you have a system that supports
T1 lines, make sure that the T1 is a PRI. If you require that the Caller ID is logged for every call,
be sure to add Caller ID (èNI) service. If you have any questions about which lines to order,
contact your equipment vendor.

Power Services
In most countries, power outages are a daily event. If your systems are located where power
outages are common, it¶s essential to have a power generator. Ñven if electrical outages don¶t
happen every day, it¶s still extremely important to consider the integrity of your power service. It
is essential, regardless of your location, to have a ºPS battery backup that has at least two hours
of power in case of a power outage. Ñven if you¶re placing your equipment in a co-location
facility, which will most likely be connected to a generator, it¶s still necessary to have a ºPS
battery backup.

Finding Long Distance Providers

When selecting long distance providers for your calling card system, it¶s usually best to select
multiple carriers. Most calling card companies provide service to almost anywhere in the world
but focus on a particular region. Therefore, it¶s best to have an è-Z long distance provider that
can send your calls anywhere in the world and a regional long distance provider that focuses only
on the region of the world that you¶re targeting. èlthough è-Z providers are convenient, their
rates are usually higher than regional providers'. The link below is excellent site for searching for
a long distance providers:
Long distance providers
When searching for a long distance company, four major factors should be considered: price,
quality, reliability, and capacity.

Price
There is more to finding a long distance provider than simply choosing the provider that offers

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the lowest long distance rate. One important factor is that some services have a monthly fee. You
may still be better off with a long distance provider that charges a monthly fee if the rate is quite
a bit lower, or if it is somewhat lower and you use enough minutes to offset the difference.
ènother critical factor is where your customers call the most. Some long distance services have
special lower rates for in-state calls and some have lower rates for state-to-state long distance.
ènother factor is the billing increment. If a service is billed in six-second increments and you
make a lot of short calls, this may be a better deal than another long distance provider that offers
60-second increments at a slightly lower long distance rate. Generally, wholesale billing
increments should not be greater than 30 seconds.

uality

Long distance companies in the VoIP business differ tremendously in terms of quality. Before
signing a deal, ask the provider if you can test their service. Legitimate long distance providers
usually have a test environment in place for the purpose of quality assurance. Listen for
excessive echoing and delayed response. You should feel that you¶d be able to carry on a long
conversation with this voice quality without getting frustrated or having to repeat yourself.

Reliability
The reliability of your long distance providers¶ systems is just as important as the reliability of
your own systems. If your long distance provider goes down, your customers¶ calls won¶t be
completed. Before signing with a long distance provider, ask them what kind of equipment and
what kind of failover plans they use. ºnfortunately, no long distance provider is perfect, so it¶s
always best to have a backup long distance provider if the first one goes down. èlso, be sure to
ask your provider what their Post-Dial-Delay (PDD) is to different destinations. PDD refers to
the time, in seconds, that it takes for the destination party¶s phone to ring after a customer has
dialed that destination.

Capacity of Service
You may think that your long distance provider can handle an unlimited capacity of voice traffic.
However, this is often not the case. Be sure to ask the long distance provider about the amount of
traffic they can handle to a particular destination before signing with them. If you estimate that
you¶ll be sending 20,000 minutes of traffic per day to India, for example, be sure that your long
distance provider won¶t reject some calls because of lack of capacity.

Finding DID Providers

You¶ll need to find companies that could provide you with 1-800 numbers or local DIDs in all
the states or countries where you¶d like your customers to have phone numbers and where calls
can be made using any PSTN phone line. The best source for this is Voxbone, an exchange
platform for different VoIP providers to sell DIDs without a high monthly cost. Click here for a
list of DID providers:
VoIP Service Providers

Printing the Cards

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MOR billing allows you to generate an unlimited quantity of calling cards. The calling card add-
on exports these cards to a comma-delimited flat file, which can be given to a card printer. When
searching for a company to print your calling cards, consider price and quality.

Price
Generally, calling cards will cost 5 to 10 cents per for printing, depending on volume. Of course,
the larger the quantity of cards you print, the better the rate per card. Keep in mind that most card
printers require that you order at least 10,000 cards, in which case the cards should be about 10
cents each. Ñxpect to pay a setup fee for the printing and design fee if you¶re not creating the
design yourself.

uality
èlthough price is an important factor, quality is often more important. If possible, view a sample
of the card printer¶s work before placing the order to ensure that the quality is acceptable. Pay
attention to details such as material thickness, ink quality, and the quality of the silver scratch-off
area on the back of the card. Ñssentially, the card should be presentable.

Start Making Money!

èfter setting up a calling card infrastructure, finding minutes and DIDs providers, and printing
your calling cards, it¶s time to start making money. First, you need to set your selling rates and
market your product.

Setting Selling Rates

There are many factors to consider when setting your selling rates. You need to consider your
competition¶s prices, your expenses, and the buying rates per destination.

Competition Pricing
ènalysing your competitor¶s pricing is not as straightforward as it may seem. Sure, they
advertise 8 cents a minute to China and 1 cent per minute within the ºSè, but how much are
they really charging? The truth is that the profit for most companies is not made with the per-
minute charge, but rather with the various fees they charge their customers. Yes, many cards on
the market don¶t have fees, but these cards always charge a significantly higher rate per minute
MOR Billing supports the different fees:

3R èctivation fee is charged the first time a cardholder uses the card.
3R Connection fee is charged each time a cardholder makes a call.
3R Maintenance fee is charged after a period of time, whether it is six hours or 30 days.
3R Billing increment fees are fees per increment: if the billing increment is set to 3 minutes,
a call lasting 9 minutes and 3 seconds would be billed for 12 minutes.

So let¶s look at a scenario where your competition is charging 8 cents a minute to China. Let¶s
assume that they have an activation fee of 39 cents, a connection fee of 39 cents, and a billing
increment of 3 minutes, but no maintenance fee. Let¶s also assume that the customer¶s call lasts
25 minutes (which is rounded to 27 minutes if you¶re using 3 minute increments). The total cost
of the call is (27 minutes * $0.08) + ($0.39 activation fee) + ($0.39 connection fee) = $2.94; thus,

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the total charge per minute is actually 11.8 cents, NOT 8 cents. That¶s almost a 50% difference!
Ñven if your cost is 9 cents per minute, which is more than the advertised price, this call would
be profitable. ès you can see, the profit is in the fees, not the charge per minute.

Setting Different Rates for Different Customers

In economics, the practice of setting different rates for different customers is called price
discrimination, a practice that most companies take advantage of. The idea is to charge more to
customers willing to pay more and less to customers that aren¶t. Put yourself in the following
situation: you¶re a resident of the º.S. and on a business trip in France. You¶ve just landed at in
Paris. Now, you need to find a way to call home and let your family know that you¶ve arrived
safely. You also need to call the office in the º.S. and confirm the time of your meeting
tomorrow. Would you mind spending 30 cents per minute for this call? Probably not, especially
if your company is paying the bill! MOR billing allows you to brand different cards and set
different rates for each card, thus allowing you to take advantage of price discrimination.

Charge More for Uncommon Destinations

Generally, when calling card companies create a new brand of card, it¶s targeted toward a
specific region of the world. For example, one Kolmisoft customer created a card called ³Hello
èfrica,±±? which targeted consumers wanting to call èfrica. The rates for èfrica were set so
that it would yield a 10% profit. The rates for calling to the º.S. and the ºK were set to 5 cents
per minute, which is reasonable, yielding a profit margin of 400%. It turned out that this
customer made more profit from the few customers that called the º.S. and the ºK than from
customers calling èfrica. èlthough most people will call the destinations you¶re targeting, don¶t
forget that people will need to call other destinations as well, and are usually willing to pay a
premium.

Consider Your Expenses

Simply setting your selling rates higher than your buying rates will not guarantee that you¶ll
make a profit. You need to factor all of your recurring expenses into the equation, such as your
line costs, Internet cost, printing costs, co-location fees, and any miscellaneous business
expenses. The largest expense is usually the distribution expense. It is always best to over-
estimate expenses to consider the worst-case scenario.

Marketing Your Calling Cards

There are lots of different methods of marketing calling cards. Here we describe just a few of the
most effective.

Selling through Retail Stores

In areas that are highly dominated by minorities, there tends to be a great deal of competition in
the phone card business. However, competition does not mean that there is no money to be
made. Be sure to read the section in this document entitled ³Competition Pricing ±±? Most
customers in these minority-dominated areas tend to buy phone cards from local ethnic retail
shops. These stores are usually willing to carry new phone cards if they feel they can make
money on them. Retail stores generally buy cards at about 75% of the face value of the card. For
example, if you have a card that has a face value of $5.00, the retailer will pay you $3.75. èreas

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that have a large number of international and business travelers tend to be more profitable for
phone card companies than minority-dominated areas. Retail stores in these areas tend to take
higher commissions, and the profit margins are also much higher (see the section of this
document entitled ³Set Different Rates for Different Customers±±?). Retail stores in these areas
will usually pay less than 75% of face value for phone cards.

Selling through a Distributor

Many phone card companies prefer not to sell directly to retail stores but to sell cards through a
distributor. Phone card distributors usually distribute more than one brand of card and usually
have an established relationship with local retail stores. Selling through a distributor is the best
way to sell a high volume of cards; however, there is a price to pay for this convenience. èfter
paying the distributor and the retail store, you receive less than 70% of the face value of your
card. èlso, distributors usually do not pay you upfront for your cards - they pay only after they
get paid themselves.

Selling Prepaid Services at an Internet Café

Internet cafés are ideal locations to sell prepaid calling services. There is no need to purchase
PSTN lines from the phone company, and the Internet infrastructure is already in place. èlso,
customers do not require a physical calling card, so there is no need to print any cards.
Customers who are already using the Internet services will be aware that they can also make
international calls from the same location.

Selling through the Internet

Over the past few years, Internet phone card sales have increased tremendously. The Internet
makes it convenient for customers to purchase and recharge cards. There are, of course,
advantages and disadvantages to this method of distribution:

èdvantages

3R Customers can view their balances and statements online

3R Distribution fees can be avoided by allowing customers to recharge online
3R No card printing charge as the system automatically emails PIN
3R Satisfied customers can easily refer friends
3R Ñasy to market the product internationally

Disadvantages

3R Credit card merchant fees

3R Higher probability of fraud online
3R Many people who buy phone cards do not have a credit card
3R Many people who buy phone cards do not have Internet at home

ès the Internet is becoming a primary place to market, we advise trying e-commerce and
creating an online selling platform on your website. There are thousands of articles with e-
commerce tips.

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Selling to Existing Customers
If a customer is satisfied with the quality of your service, chances are that you can convince him
to buy from your company again. On the back of every card and in every email that you send to a
customer, offer recharge capabilities. Recharge capabilities increase your profit margin by
removing the distributor from the picture. Kolmisoft offers customers two solutions to allow
recharging capabilities. The first is via the web and the second is via the telephone. Customers
can use their credit cards to recharge their accounts instantly.

Conclusion

We hope that this white paper was beneficial for you and that you gleaned some good advice in
terms of beginning a calling card business. ès our company specializes in developing Calling
Card systems, we¶re here to help you become profitable. If you decide to set up a calling card
business, contact us.

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How to start a VoIP Business
The first thing to do is decide what part of VOIP marketplace you want to serve; some
possibilites are:

3R Prepaid Cards
3R VoIP consulting
3R PBX sales and service
3R Call Center Solutions
3R Independent Sales/Service ègent for existing VoIP service providers
3R VoIP Provider services
3R etc.

½ithin each category there are many choices. For example, for Prepaid Cards:

3R Retail prepaid cards from existing wholesale providers

3R Start your own brand of prepaid cards using services from existing wholesale providers
3R Start a new prepaid card provider company
3R Create new software package for prepaid card services
3R etc.

Some general suggestions:

3R Pick an area that plays to your strengths. For example, if your strength is sales and
marketing, pick an area where you can leverage those abilities
3R Learn all you can about the marketplace
3R èttend industry tradeshows
3R Read industry magazines, blogs, forums, etc
3R Read books
3R Do market research - talk to your potential customers
3R èsk questions
?R Tradeshow exhibits usually have knowledgeable people available to answer
questions
?R Many websites let you ask questions
3R Test the waters to the extent possible try before you buy before making large
commitments of time or money

è 

   

 

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Six Essential Tips for Startup Success
Essential Tip #1: ½hy the Very Best Ideas can Sometimes be Very ½rong for Your
Company

In telecom, the pressure to introduce services is constant. How your company reacts to this
pressure will go a long way towards determining whether you achieve the status of a lasting
winner or don the mantle of an also-ran.

Many young telecoms underestimate the effect a service introduction can have across their
organizations. One common mistake is to assume that because a new service won¶t impact your
network, implementation will be a breeze. Recently, a service provider we know decided to offer
long-distance resale services at the same time it was launching a local access network. èlthough
the long distance effort was an easy proposition for the network side of the organization, the
company as a whole was badly distracted by the decision.

Why? Because details like picking a long distance supplier, negotiating a contract, building and
rolling out a marketing plan, making numerous revisions to the billing system, and training
customer care reps were not considered when the ³go" was given. This kind of mistake is simply
terrible business. Worst of all, it¶s self-inflicted damage ² something that can¶t be tolerated in
the current market environment.

Gaffes like this don¶t happen because CÑOs aren¶t smart or because they¶re not on top of their
game ² they happen because CÑOs aren¶t omniscient, and that¶s a fairly common human flaw!
To compensate for human frailty, a Product Introduction Checklist can come in handy. It offers a
logical, step-by-step approach to determine how multiple departments will be affected by a
complex implementation. It ensures that the right questions are asked of the right people.

It fosters good working relationships among department heads. Communication, after all, tends
to do that. The Checklist should be designed to assess the strategic fit of the new product,
determine its operational impact, and confirm that it will work financially. This document also
comes with an important, value-added bonus...

³Marketing¶s always dreaming up big ideas. . . advertising them. . .and then telling us µOh, by
the way, we want to launch that tomorrow.¶?

Your Product Introduction Checklist will let you dodge bullets like this. You¶ll have a productive
coordination among departments, the benefits of which will reverberate far beyond successful
product introductions. ènd you¶ll also ensure that the good ideas that just aren¶t right for your
company never see the light of day.

Essential Tip #2: Your Company Only Makes a First Impression Once ² Make It a Good
One

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Getting new customers is one of the most fundamental ² and ongoing ² challenges all
businesses face. But for competitive service providers, this age-old problem is made more
daunting by the turbulence roiling our industry. With small and midsized businesses seeing
startup carriers like ICG Telecom and GST fall into bankruptcy, they¶re finding it tough to
generate much confidence when other competitive carriers come calling.

èfter all, they¶re looking for dependability ² 99% network reliability and 24x7 access to repairs
and service ² not a roll of the dice. So it¶s a double whammy you¶re facing ² a traditional
problem worsened by very contemporary market conditions that have created suspicion and
hesitancy.

In this environment there¶s no overestimating the importance of the first impression your
company makes on prospective customers. ènd there¶s also no underestimating the importance
your first customers will have on
the future success of your business.

Bottom line: Your company is actually going to have to perform better in the early stages of your
customer-acquisition drive. You can be merely good after you¶ve become established and have a
strong reputation. But until then, you¶ve got to be great.

For example, when a prospect calls your sales office and is ready to order a service, his
expectations must be met. But if the CSR¶s desktop doesn¶t have visibility into the provisioning
system, that customer will be told that a definite delivery date for his new service can¶t be set.
ènd hearing that, all confidence ² both in the service itself and in your
company¶s ability to maintain it ² goes right out the window. The sale is gone, never to return.

ènd bad experiences like that snowball. These dissatisfied customers tell friends, the press, and
reviewers about their disappointment, and before you know it, the word on the street is: ³Don¶t
go with these guys; they¶re not ready?"

Your company would do well to focus on delivering due dates for your customers. This is
probably the number one customer relations problem competitive carriers are dealing with these
days. Research it, solve it, and you¶ll be that much further ahead of your competition. Plus,
you¶ll have started a positive spin about your company that will be more valuable that any
marketing or PR program you could ever launch.

Essential Tip #3: Get All Your Departments ½orking Together for The Good of The
½hole

Many of our industry¶s CÑOs deserve a pat on the back for hiring excellent people to manage
their companies¶ key departments. Problem is, not enough of them see to it that these excellent
hires are told they have to actually work and communicate with each other.

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Put another way, one of the most important steps a CÑO can take is to ensure that the short- and
medium-term targets he sets for his various departments harmonize ² rather than conflict ²
with each other. Here¶s a quick example of what can happen if this harmony doesn¶t exist. . .

It¶s not uncommon to see network operations managers being evaluated on the mean time
between network failures at the same time marketing managers are being rewarded for the
number of new services they introduce. Here¶s the problem: èll these new services ² many of
which involve snappy new technologies loaned by vendors ² are causing the business to crash.
Operations and marketing are working at cross purposes ² and the whole company suffers as a
result of this lack of coordination. There¶s an adversarial relationship from the word ³go.? ènd
the larger good of the company is obscured. è case in point...

While planning the network launch at a small startup carrier, an experienced consultant
suggested that customer-service people and network operations personnel sit down together for a
series of face-to- face meetings. But the V.P. of the network nixed the idea: "That¶s not my
problem"? he said. "The shareholders expect me to have the network up and running by March
15th ² and that¶s all I¶m responsible for!?"

The savvy consultant retorted: ³Do you think the shareholders simply want the network µup and
running¶ by the 15th. . .or would they also like to see some customers actually using it, too?"

Of course, the consultant had hit it on the button. The operations V.P had failed to connect his
own department¶s mandate with the larger goal of the company ² to have a working and
customer-rich network up and running by the 15th. This disconnect could have been avoided had
the CÑO, upon setting the goal, precisely defined how successful
implementation of the goal would be measured.

The objectives of each department must not only be consistent and complementary ² they must
also be communicated concretely and unambiguously. That way, each individual job is done well
and contributes to a successful, company-wide effort.

Essential Tip #4: Build Roadmaps That ½ill Guide You Around Operational Hazards

Recently, a young telecom service provider began offering DSL over copper wire pairs that were
owned by the incumbent LÑC. Provisioning the system required that this CLÑC had to arrange
for the ILÑC to install a second copper pair before the service technician could turn up the
service.

Straightforward, right? Let¶s see. . .

è few months after the DSL offering was initiated, the CLÑC¶s chief executives became very
troubled by what they were finding on their performance reports ² more than 50% of all their
service turn-ups were failing. They immediately jumped to the conclusion that the ILÑC was
deliberately delaying installation of the second copper pair, sabotaging the CLÑC¶s operations.
They were so convinced of the incumbent¶s guilt that they initiated litigation.

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Imagine their chagrin when an internal investigation uncovered the realculprit ² a serious
internal operations error. . .

It turns out that the provisioning system was not building in a sufficient grace period between
ILÑC installation and DSL service turn-up. In fact, appointments for copper pair installations
were being made for the very same day the service was due to be turned-up.

Sometimes, the ILÑC tech would arrive in the morning, sometimes in the afternoon. Same thing
for the CLÑC representative responsible for turning-up the system. This meant, of course, that
50% of the time the service was appropriately provisioned, and the other 50% of the time the
CLÑC man would arrive before the ILÑC tech had completed work ² so the turn-up would fail.

How could the CLÑC¶s senior executives have missed such an obvious operational problem?
The answer: No one had taken the time to put together a blueprint that mapped the sequence of
events needed to provision a DSL service. So the success of these installations was nothing more
than a roll of the dice.

This was an embarrassing and costly experience, but it had a long-term, positive effect on this
CLÑC. The startup now has procedures in place that map out precisely how operational actions
will play out across the enterprise; there are no surprises. . .the left hand knows what the right is
doing. . .and those performance reports are delivering far happier news to top management.

Essential Tip #5: Don¶t Be Tripped Up By the Small Handful of Problems You Can
Actually See Coming

Because there are so many problems in this industry we can¶t see coming until they smack us in
the head, we¶re particularly obliged to deal intelligently with the handful of concerns that can be
identified and rectified before they cause disruption.

But this isn¶t being done. . .

For example, many CLÑC¶s aren¶t putting enough energy into cultivating good working
relationships with the ILÑCs. ènd this oversight is tantamount to administering one giant-size
shot directly into your company¶s foot.

è smooth, cooperative relationship with ILÑCs is a critical factor in the success of any CLÑC¶s
business.

Poor communications in this channel can mean that up to 90% of local and access service
requests are rejected by the ILÑC. This creates problems on two fronts: First, you¶ve got
unhappy customers who aren¶t getting the services they¶ve been promised and, second, you¶re
faced with long and costly discussions with the ILÑC to try and iron out the
problems.

Remember that the ILÑCs have zero motivation to help CLÑCs. The burden of diplomacy rests

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entirely with you. But most startup telecoms aren¶t studying this issue, planning for it, or training
the people who are tasked with working with ILÑCs.

ès a result, the ILÑC simply has no way of knowing what information the CLÑC needs and in
what sequence. But with proper planning and people skills, that horrific 90% order-reject rate
can be reduced to a much more tolerable 5%.

So instead of waiting for trouble to begin before taking action, why not take the lead and see that
those responsible for setting up ILÑC relationships appreciate the nuances and benefits of
diplomacy? Doing this will mean that when one of the many problems you can¶t prevent crops
up, you¶ll have the time and resources to deal more effectively
with it.

Essential Tip #6: uick Reflexes are Great. Planning Ahead is Better.

There¶s no doubt about it: Stress has become fashionable ² it¶s worn by many as a badge of
commitment and drive. These folks think that if you aren¶t stressed out, it can only mean one
thing ² you¶re not working hard enough.

ºnfortunately, too much stress does nasty things to peoples¶ cognitive powers. There are a great
many very highly intelligent people in telecom, all of whom have deep knowledge of their
particular specialty. Yet many are making foolish mistakes because while they¶re busy being
consumed by today¶s work they forget the need to map out, and then follow, a well-thought-out
plan for what they have to do tomorrow.

Nimble and intelligent reflexes are wonderful assets, but businesses cannot be run spontaneously.
Startup carriers have so much going on right now that the fundamental, long-range issues that
can make or break success often go unrecognized and unresolved. That¶s too bad, because the
companies that succeed in our industry will be those that
have plans in force for almost every possible contingency.

ènd this broad strategizing has got to come from the top.

It falls to the CÑO to be the one who¶s able to stand above the fray ² no matter how pervasive
the fray may be at times ² and ask the questions that will keep the company¶s larger objectives
in focus for harried employees. It¶s a tough assignment, and requires a fine sense of balance. In a
very real sense, you have to do two things at once, each
requiring a different variety of awareness. . .

Like a captain guiding a ship through the fog, you must lend a hand as your crew navigates
around the obstacles that are always rising up, threatening to delay or destroy your mission. But
as you do this ³fine- tuning"? ² as you deal with day-to-day problems ² you must constantly
be mindful of what lies further ahead, in the distance, beyond these
immediate dangers. You must always be aware ² and remind your people ² of your voyage¶s

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ultimate goal and the big strategic navigational moves that must be made to get you there
successfully.

This kind of dual vision is tough in any company, but particularly so in a startup telecom. If you
make the mistake about the long-term ² adopt too much of a hands-off attitude ² you¶d
probably find yourself out of business.

Still, it pays CÑOs to be aware of this problem and the dangers it creates. Who knows? You
might be among the first startup telecoms to figure out a way to keep your eyes on all the
controls and watch where you¶re going ² at the same time.

In the meanwhile, do what you can to reduce stress in your workforce. Keep people talking to
each other, get different departments together so that mutual understanding can be cultivated,
and remind your people of the larger goals you are all pursuing.

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How to start the next Vonage
To start the next Vonage you will need essentially six things (other than 500,000 clients). Ñach
of these things need to be qualified so that you know that your providers will still be there after
you go live, and that they will honour your contract with them.

3R Website to allow the customer to sign up and see their options and minutes used
(optional, but probably needed) .
3R Minutes provider of minutes so that your customers can call regular PSTN phone
numbers
3R DID provider, which allows your customers to have regular PSTN phone numbers for
incoming calls
3R VoIP Server to route traffic from the DIDs to your customers and allow them to call out -
Vonage uses SÑR, Broadvoice uses Broadsoft, and RNKTÑL uses èsterisk.
3R Hardware provider for the èTès needed to have your customers connect to the VoIP
server
3R è billing engine. You do want to get paid, right?

£umber 1 rule: Test the entire solution. Run a pilot project with some volunteers for at least a
couple of months before going live. Leave the pilot running so you can test changes before
putting them into production. Reliability is your friend.

Minutes¶ Provider

You're going to be looking around for companies that provide you with minutes for your
customers to be able to pick up their phones and dial a phone number (local or long distance)

Most of these can be found here

Below are some good minutes¶ providers:

3R VoipJet èccepts PayPal and credit cards; free trial; $5 Minimum commitment; up and
running in 5 minutes
3R FonoSIP èccepts PayPal and credit cards; free trial; up and running in 5 minutes.
3R Five9snetwork Canada 0.0115 ºSD /min; full è-Z routing; good call quality.
3R Commpartners - Large carrier class network; DIDs in most major cities; sponsors
www.voip-info.org

DID Providers

You're going to be looking for companies that provide you 1-800 numbers or local DIDs in all
states, and/or countries where you'd like your customers (and maybe you too) to have phone

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numbers where people can call using any PSTN phone line. The best source for this is
www.voxbone.com, an exchange platform for different VoIP providers to sell DIDs to you
without a high per month cost to you. èll their numbers are shown on your website and routed to
your network when customers order them.

Most can be found here

3R èirone Communications Wholesale Only, IèX/SIP VoIP Termination, èsterisk Support,

Virtual PRI, DID Numbers in ºSè / CèNèDè: we charge around $0.03 per number
including unlimited inbound calls. No minimum purchase requirements
3R DID World Wide - Largest worldwide coverage, multi protocol and multi channel
supported online DID provider.
3R Didx - èn exchange platform for different VoIP providers to sell their DIDs without a
high per month cost to you. You show all their DID numbers on your website and route it
to your network when a customer orders it. Routing is instant to your network. You get
twos FRÑÑ DID when you sign up. DIDX does not provide any DI on its own but all are
provided by someone else, but are tested thoroughly. One way to understand DIDX is
like an eBay or PayPal or èrbinet of DID. I3Networks CÑO calls it a DID ecosystem of
4500+ ITSPs from 200 countries. Since it's wholesale only, minimum monthly quantity
of DIDs in each account are 20 through May 30, 2007, and then 50 from June 1, 2007,
until further notice. Prices start $1.1 a month per DID.
3R Virtual Phone - World's first DID on a broadband phone provider beta in 1999 and public
2000, now retails only, and prices are higher but sells only good quality DIDs with
fallback and PSTN forwarding features.
3R IPKall will provide you a FRÑÑ DID in Washington state - You're up and running within
minutes
3R Phone2Net Phone 2 Net offers SIP , IèX2, and h323 trunking services. You can get
unlimited incoming calls over IP to any of the protocols on Google, MSN, or Yahoo
messengers. Guaranteed tier1 quality numbers only.
3R SipGate Free DID in ºK & Germany - Same as Stana
3R Link2voip- 1-800 DIDs for $1.49/month & 4.5c/min - DIDs for $4.50/mo plus 1.37c/min
only in a few Canadian area codes - Takes PayPal, but it takes about 1-2 days to get your
DIDs - $20 Minimum Commitment
3R Commpartners - Large carrier class

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