Calling card business was once a thriving business. Many companies, retailers, resellers earned a livelihood from this business model. Nowadays, this business model is losing its sheen. Many people reason the downfall to the growing smartphone usage, availability of cheaper internet. In fact, it is true in a number of cases. But another important reason we believe is NOT changing the business model to sync with the technological changes. In this blog post, we shall discuss how one can use the growing smartphone usage and the cheaper internet to diversify the VoIP business and keep up the revenues balanced or go up!
Calling card businesses have had a strong user base in the West (Europe and USA) where the immigrants use them to call their families and friends back at home in Africa, Asia or remote parts of the world. Initially, this was the only option for the people. This business model offered the VoIP companies to exploit with non-transparent billing, hidden charges. There was no or little scope to check how the billing was done or whom to ask for support. In such cases, when customers identify cheaper or transparent billing options, they immediately start shifting the loyalty. However, by deploying the right technology, and changing the business model slightly, VoIP businesses could still address transparency and build trust among the userbase.
With the rise of smartphones, it has become easier for the customer to find various alternatives and options to make international calls. It is also easier to search online and find out what is a better option and what is not. So, if a VoIP business model creates an online presence with a website that could build trust it could bring a loyal customer. VoIP businesses might also consider deploying a user portal where new users could sign up online at the comfort of their home/office. Let us see how a business could set up e-calling card using Kolmisoft MOR and sell online.
In Kolmisoft MOR, traditional calling cards and users are separate entities. A traditional calling card cannot be associated with a user or vice versa. While a business could still sell the traditional calling cards online, it can not display the balance, call history or payment history easily. A much wiser way is to deploy e-calling cards that facilitate transparency, history of purchases and calls.
Comparison between calling card and e-calling card –
| Feature | Calling Card | E-Calling Card |
| Sell on a website | Possible | Possible |
| New user registration online | Possible. But the new user is a user on the e-commerce portal only | Possible. The new user will be a real user on MOR. |
| Linking of SIP account and calling card to a user | No | Yes |
| Associate card to a MOR user | Not possible | Possible |
| Show balance online | Not possible | Possible |
| Sell/Buy online | Possible | Possible |
| Display payment history | Possible | Possible |
| Display call history online | Not possible | Possible |
| Display and link payments online | Payment history does not sync with billing system. They have to be saved on e-commerce portal | Possible to sync with billing system and display online. |
| Dial access number for calling | Yes | Yes |
| Enable PINless calling | Possible | Possible |
| SIP account can be associated with the card | Not possible | Possible |
| Easy to use | Yes | Yes |
| Generate calling card online instantly | Not possible. It has to be done by admin only | Yes, any user can generate e-calling card by himself and pay for it |
| Profit | Less (traditional calling card business model involves resellers margin) | More (One can directly sell to customers online without resellers margin) |
Do you want to know more about features of Kolmisoft MOR and how you can setup e-calling cards contact Vilius from Kolmisoft at b2bsales@kolmisoft.com