Operation Game 800 Voteline

admin    800 Numbers     800 number, games, Hasbro, Operation, toys, voteline

Hasbro created buzz for its Operation game by having the public vote for Sam's newest ailment via an 800 number provided by ATS.

As the Christmas toy shopping holiday season is here, we thought we’d bring back one from the archives that show how an 800 number vote program can generate significant interest in a product such as the mainstay game OPERATION.  In 2003, Hasbro wanted a way to generate interest in the aging OPERATION game so it turned to Advanced Telecom Services for an 800 number voting program on what the new ailment should be for Sam, the patient in the game.

The public voted and voted often and the new ailment for Sam can still be found today as BRAIN FREEZE was the winner.  I mean who hasn’t suffered with brain freeze?  I know I have.

Readers beware:  the phone number used for the Operation game is now a completely different type of phone line (not owned by us) so please don’t call expecting to vote.

   WAYNE, Pa., Dec. 2 /PRNewswire/ — Advanced Telecom Services (ATS), a
world leader in interactive telephone services, has teamed with Hasbro Toys to
promote a new twist on an old favorite.  ATS is handling calls for an instant
win sweepstakes that allows callers to vote on a new “ailment” for Hasbro’s
“Operation” game.  By calling 1-866-SAM-VOTE highlighting, callers can decide on one of
three new ailments:  Brain Freeze, Tennis Elbow or Growling Stomach.  The
winning ailment will be added to the next version of “Operation” to be
released for sale.  Winners will be chosen randomly among the callers.  The
grand prize winner will receive a $5000 toy shopping spree.  The three first
prize winners will be awarded a $1000 toy shopping spree and 300 second prize
winners will get a “I Voted, Did You?” t-shirt.
     “Operation,” originally developed by The Milton Bradley Company in 1965,
has maintained its popularity into the 21st century.  Marketed as a game of
skill, players pretend they are operating on a man drawn on an operating table
with little compartments scattered around his body housing ailing body parts.
Players take turns removing the parts with electric tweezers that buzz if they
touch the sides of the compartments.  Hasbro, Inc. acquired The Milton Bradley
Company in 1984.
     Since October 1, 2003 when the instant win sweepstakes began, ATS has
taken over 100,000 calls from voters.  The vote line, 1-866-SAM-VOTE , is being
promoted on the Nickelodeon network, through Nickelodeon magazine,
www.hasbro.com and various retailers throughout the U.S.  ATS will continue
accepting calls until December 31, 2003, the last day to cast a vote.
     Advanced Telecom Services, founded in 1989, is a full-service
telecommunications company specializing in interactive promotional services
for the telephone.  With business operations in the United States, the United
Kingdom, Dublin, Prague and Vancouver, ATS processes thousands of calls each
day through its network facilities.

900 Numbers Need Automated Credit Card Tandem

admin    800 Numbers, Credit Card Processing, IVR     800 Numbers, automated credit card

There is a movement in America to cut the chain of the land line phone.  Nearly a quarter of all American households are now cell phone only households.

Perfect Match: Automated credit card and 900 numbers

More and more, Americans are relying on their cell phones as their primary means of telecommunications.  And, since cell phones in the USA have never been set up to allow 900 number calls, it’s important that pay per call programs have the ability to also earn revenue from cell phone users.

Advanced Telecom Services offers a complete automated credit card processing solution for callers who prefer to pay by credit card or debit card rather than 900 number.  The automated credit card program gives customers the ability to process high risk credit card transactions from consumers.  There is an option for built in fraud control and credit card scrubbing to limit bad debt.

Some consumers will prefer 900 numbers and some will prefer credit card processing.  If you want to get that beach house from your audiotext program, then it’s important that you offer both.

New 855 Toll Free Exchange to Debut

admin    800 Numbers     800 Numbers, 855 numbers, toll free numbers

The 855 exchange debuts October 1, 2010.

Beginning October 1, 2010, the new 855 toll free exchange will debut in the United States.

Advanced Telecom Services is now taking orders for toll free numbers utilizing the 855 exchange. If you are seeking a vanity number for your business, now is the time to reserve the best toll free vanity numbers before they are all gobbled up.

Toll free 800 numbers are the original numbers that flourished in the 1980′s, as businessesadded them to their customer service and advertising.  During the decades of the 1980′s and 1990′s, it seemed as though every major corporation was adding an 800 number for customer service or automated consumer information.

An 800 number gave a small business the image of being much bigger and when small businesses got involved in the toll free craze, it wasn’t long before there were no 800 numbers left.  Hence, 888 numbers, then 877 numbers, and then 866 numbers were introduced.  This temporarily satisfied the business need for toll free numbers until recently.

Now, with the toll free business continuing to expand with cheaper telephone rates, there is need to introduce the 855 exchange.  Don’t worry, however, when we are out of 855 numbers, its brothers 844, 833, and 822 are waiting in the on-deck circle.

ATS New Service Bureau

admin    800 Numbers, 900 Numbers, Company News     service bureau

Los Angeles — Advanced Telecom Services announces the completion of its new SB3000 telecom service bureau platform to handle automated, interactive IVR telephone calls.

After 21 years of operating its equipment in its office space in suburban Chicago and suburban Philadelphia, Advanced Telecom Services has moved its primary telecom and IVR equipment to Los Angeles and Rochester, New York.  Equipment is located the prominent co-location facility at 1 Wilshire in Los Angeles and in a co-location facility in Rochester.  A level three facility is also available in Buffalo.  Each of Advanced Telecom Services’ facilities is triple-redundant so in the unlikely event of an outage at any one facility, calls are able to be re-routed to the one of the others.

The company will continue to operate its service bureau at the Verizon co-location facility in Westmont, Illinois, although that facility is expected to be shuttered sometime in 2011.  Advanced Telecom Services’ original telecom hub located in Wayne, Pennsylvania was closed shortly after its purchase of Evanston, Illinois-based Spark Network Services in 2006.

The project of establishing the new service bureau locations has been an eight month project of the Advanced Telecom Services’ engineering department, overseen by 15-year ATS veteran Frank Butler.  “It’s exciting to expand our IVR capabilities with things like VOIP and more internet-related services,” said Butler.  “With internet protocols, we can service global markets from one large service bureau.”

With the advent of SIP and VOIP protocol, Advanced Telecom Services’ new solution will handle calls from not only the United States, but also from Puerto Rico and 17 Caribbean island countries.  Canadian callers will also benefit from the increased capacity and speed offered by the new solution.  Canadian calls will terminate in Toronto, and then will be sent via SIP to the Los Angeles, Rochester, or Buffalo facility.

“With SIP and VOIP, the location of the service bureau equipment has become irrelevant,” said Bob Bentz, president of Advanced Telecom Services.  “In fact, we are now bringing in calls to the new facilities from international locations as well.”

Enhancements created by SB3000 include: faster connectivity; increased redundancy; greater capacity; quicker deployment time; improved maintenance capabilities.

The internet facilities operated by Advanced Telecom Services and its partner companies, Spark Network Services and Advanced Mobile Solutions, will continue to operate in the following cities: Miami; Houston; Provo, Utah; Wayne, Pennsylvania.

Advanced Telecom Services, originated in 1989, offers interactive telephone solutions to media, advertisers, and advertising agencies.  Its product line includes 800 and 900 numbers, interactive voice response, online dating, and mobile marketing solutions.  Advanced Telecom Services has offices in Philadelphia, Chicago, and Austin, plus international offices in Calgary, London, Dublin, Prague, and Bratislava.

VoiceTone For Rotary Dial Phones

advanced34    800 Numbers, 900 Numbers, Cool Stuff, IVR, Technology     % homes with rotary phones, rotary phones

When Advanced Telecom Services began in 1989, it wanted a differentiator

In 1990, 38.5% of US households used rotary dial phones like this one.

in the IVR marketplace.  It wanted something so that it could deliver value to the caller over what other 800 number IVR and 900 number service bureaus offered.

That differentiator was VoiceTone — ATS’s exclusive voice recognition software that enabled rotary dial callers to say their selection as opposed to pressing it on a touchtone phone.

While speech recognition might seem commonplace today, back in 1990, it was far from common.  Rotary callers were simply not able to interact with automated telephone systems until Advanced Telecom Services’ VoiceTone came on the scene.

And, back in 1990, this was a significant market as 38.5% of all households used rotary dial phones!  (See Page 199 of Adult Literacy and New Technologies).