Global
Telecommunications Technology is the key to earning money from offshore
By Kenny Howse
I have
been working in the Telecommunications Industry now since about February
1997 when I just got back from a 6 month stint in Hong Kong to be presented
with a £780.00 phone bill from BT.
I had been
calling my wife once or twice a week using a BT Chargecard and she
had been calling me occasionally and even with “Friends and Family” and
“Premier Line” the cost was phenomenal. I set out to find out if
there was a cheaper method of keeping in touch. What I discovered
astonished me, there were indeed many other methods of making telephone
calls from all parts of the world at rates up to 90% cheaper than the local
Telecom Companies in the various countries investigated.
The telephone
call is the ultimate consumable; people pick up the telephone and make
calls without even thinking. Telecommunications is the fastest growing
market in the world today it is also extremely large and second only in
size
to Pharmaceuticals. How did this happen? It all started in the USA
about ten years ago when the US Government decided to deregulate the Telecommunications
Industry and allow competition. Within 6 years the cost
of local, national and international calling came down by a phenomenal
amount to the extent that the cost of calling in and from the USA is now
the lowest in the world.
When the UK
deregulated the industry went from a monopoly situation (BT) to a duopoly
(BT
and Mercury). For the first time UK businesses and the domestic
market had a choice albeit a very limited one! Further deregulation
has meant that competition is now open and there are many providers of
telecommunications services within the UK.
Some providing
the full range of services including low cost routing which allows customers
to take advantage of bulk discounts, alternative carriers and switchless
resellers whilst still retaining their BT line.
How does
this work? BT, Cable and Wireless and other less well-known carriers
have large capacity on their telephone lines, which they cannot sell to
their customers. In order to make use of this overcapacity they sell
it off in bulk to alternative carriers and switchless resellers who in
turn sell it on at vastly reduced rates to their customers. To use
these services in general terms requires a BT line although this can be
overcome in some cases. Other companies provide Discount Phone Cards,
which can be charged up from a credit card and used from almost any touch-tone
phone, anywhere in the world. Usually at discounted rates in some
cases up to 70% cheaper, these cards are normally accessed by means of
a Freephone 0800 number or equivalent.
Some companies
provide ‘call-back’ services which operate using the following method;
the customer is given a ‘trigger’ number, which is a number in the USA,
which they dial from either their normal landline or their mobile phone.
They allow
the phone to ring once and hang up, they are called back almost immediately
by a computer programmed to recognise the caller by means of caller line
identity (CLI). This is the same method used when a BT subscriber
dials 1471 to see who has called when they were not at home. When
the phone is answered, the Callback Company presents the customer with
a dial tone. This allows them to make calls at cheap USA rates to
any overseas destination of their choosing some calls are up to 90% cheaper
using this method and it is billed to the customer's credit card.
There
are also traveller numbers available, which can be used from any touch-tone
phone world-wide, these are very popular with individuals who travel around
the world a lot.
I have continued
working within the telecommunications industry where I have learned a considerable
amount about this ever-growing industry. I now work as an independent
telecomms consultant for various companies to provide different telecommunications
solutions and products to companies and private individuals alike.
The market is so diverse nowadays that the private customer has the ability
to have up to 55 hours free local calls per month 5 hours of which are
during peak time! Do you know anyone who wouldn’t benefit from that?
Additionally they make savings of up to 70% on their non-local calls.
Some expatriates
make contact from as far afield as Hong Kong and Brazil wishing to take
advantage of the ‘Call-back’ system which allows them up to 90% savings.
Many British Companies are now catching on to the fact that cutting the
cost of their phone calls can make major savings in their annual expenditure.
So they take advantage of the alternative carriers or switchless resellers
who are providing discounts of up to 70% over the normal BT standard rates
at no extra cost and with no loss of quality or service. Most of
these services are accessed by means of a 3 or 4-digit access code, which
needs to be inserted before the number being called. Nowadays this
is automated by means of ‘smart’ phones or ‘smart’ diallers, which dial
the access code automatically when a call is made.
There is
also the growing market in non-geographic number translation services (NTS).
These are
the ever-popular Freephone 0800 numbers, the local call 0845 numbers, the
personal numbering 070 series of numbers and the national rate 0870 numbers.
These are being
used increasingly now by businesses large and small to raise their profile
and attract customers with free or low cost calls. Some of these
solutions are also becoming more popular because of irritating ‘phone-day’
changes (there have been 4 number changes in London in the last 10 years)
this can be expensive in advertising costs, stationery, livery etc. costs.
NTS numbers are owned by the customer and as such never change thus avoiding
these irritating changes which seem to come around so often. All
mobile phone numbers which do not begin with 07 will need to be changed
before April 2001, customers can now own their own 07005 or 07074 mobile
number which can be made to spell their name or the name of their business
e.g. 07074 KENNYH or 07005 MOBILE. The advantage of this, apart from
being easy to remember is that the customer owns this number and can transfer
it to any mobile phone of their choosing in a few moments. This way
they don’t have to keep telling their friends and family that they have
a new mobile number. Also becoming more popular now are the 07000
personal numbering services which can be targeted to any landline and changed
by the owner as often as they like, thus having the ability to always be
contactable wherever they are, these too can be made to spell business
names.
There are many
opportunities for budding entrepreneurs in this global market place and
given time the ability to make a substantial and residual income which
could make you financially secure in between 6 months and 3 years depending
on how dedicated you are!
