Premium Rate Complaints Down in UK

Anthony Wayne    900 Numbers, United Kingdom     London, premium rate services, UK

ATS offers easy expansion of your 900 number program to the UK.

Advanced Telecom Services offers easy expansion of your premium rate 900 number programs to the UK through its London office.  ATS has been active in the United Kingdom premium rate services market since 1992.

Complaints about premium rate telephone services (PRS) have declined by 77% over two years, according to recent figures issued by the UK PRS regulator, PhonepayPlus, in its Annual Report. Other good news statistics for consumers and industry were a 74% decrease in fines to industry for serious breaches of PhonepayPlus’ Code of Practice in the last financial year, while the market grew from £810 million to £816 million in 2010.

As the UK PRS industry gears up for changes to regulation that come into force on 1 September, the news of growing consumer confidence in PRS was welcomed by the regulator, consumers and industry. PhonepayPlus’ Annual Report 2010/11 highlights the effectiveness of the collaborative regulatory model where the regulator works with the PRS industry to pre-empt consumer harm before it happens, allowing innovation that benefits both consumers and the market while acting swiftly and effectively to clamp down on services and providers that cause problems.

ATS Mourns Loss of Macho Man

Anthony Wayne    900 Numbers     900 number, Macho Man, Randy Savage

Advanced Telecom Services today mourns the loss of Randy “Macho Man” Savage who died in a car accident today.  In the early 1990′s, the Macho Man Hotline was one of the most popular 900 numbers in the country, along with the Hulk Hogan Hotline.  Advanced Telecom Services was the provider of the Macho Man Hotline, along with the WWF Superstar Line.

“We ran the 900 hotline for several years for Randy,” said Bob Bentz, president of Advanced Telecom Services.  “I remember when Randy married Miss Elizabeth in the ring at a WWF pay per view event and fans sent all sorts of gifts to our office to give to Randy and his wife.  It was great fun working with Randy and he was always a true gentleman.”

The Crossword Puzzle 900 Line

Anthony Wayne    900 Numbers, media     900 number, crossword puzzle, newspaper

In the early days of 900 numbers in 1989, Advanced Telecom Services was a start-up company funded by 20-somethings with second mortgages on their first homes.  So, there wasn’t a lot of extra money to go around.

The very first 900 number program that ATS did was a 900 number television commercial for CD rates.  In 1989, CD’s were not something that you listened to music with, they were an investment for certificates of deposit.  Back then, you could actually get a decent rate on your money at the bank, not like today when I receive 0.17% on my bank deposits.

“It soon became obvious, however, that we couldn’t survive too many failures when we were buying advertising,” said Bob Bentz, president of Advanced Telecom Services.  “Plus, there was the problem of cash flow from guys that quite frankly didn’t have a lot of it.”  Advertising required pre-payment and the return from AT&T on the 900 numbers did not happen until 30 days after the end of the month.

One night, the employees were looking at the newspaper for a win-win-win solution for everybody when they noticed the crossword puzzle.  Why not offer a 900 number for people to cheat on the crossword puzzle rather than wait for the next day when the solution is printed in the newspaper?

The team took the concept to The New York Times and the other major daily newspapers in New York City.  A few months later, all of the major New York newspapers had signed up for the crossword puzzle answer line and the concept of having a 900 number cheat line in the crossword puzzle became national and ultimately international when ATS took the same concept to its London office–an office that still thrives today.

Here’s a look at Merl Reagle’s crossword puzzle answer line from the Sunday Philadelphia Inquirer.

Advanced Telecom Services invented the crossword puzzle answer line in 1990 and the business still thrives today.

Telemedia360 a Royal Success

Anthony Wayne    900 Numbers, Canada, Telemedia, United Kingdom     Advanced Telecom Services., Manchester, Telemedia360

Manchester, England — The second annual Telemedia360 event, held this year in Manchester, was another great success for organizers and attendees.

ATS's Bob Bentz with Telemedia360 organizer Jarvis Todd and Bob's autographed Blackburn Rovers jersey.

Over 250 delegates were represented at the event with the majority coming from the United Kingdom, although there was representation from telemedia experts representing Ireland, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Finland, Malta, Hong Kong, Canada, and the United States.

Visitors to Manchester were greeted by two big news stories in England.  Of local Manchester interest was the protest by students against the proposed change in tuition fees from 3000 pounds per year to 9000 pounds per year, as the UK government attempts to generate savings in this time of austerity.  Coming from the USA, where students at private universities can pay more than $55,000 per year, I couldn’t find a lot of sympathy for the students.  On the second day of the event, the major announcement of the engagement of Prince William and Kate Middleton was announced; this news dominated the telly all day.

The event opened on Monday night with a party at the RA!N pub just a few blocks from the unique Palace Hotel where the event itself was held.

Telemedia360 began early (by delegate standards) on Tuesday morning and there were a series of continuous speeches in the adjacent meeting room that were attended by most of the professionals.  The only complaint of the event that was heard was that it was difficult to hear between the two simultaneous discussions that were happening in the conference room, as the divider between the two was nothing more than a mere curtain, thus making the louder speaker the more audible one.

While the conferences were occurring, many executives were out in the lobby and bar area renewing relationships and friendships and making deals.  Given the activity in the restaurant and bar, it’s hard to believe those staying at the hotel that were not part of the show were too pleased with the constant activity.

On Tuesday night, a dinner was held and many delegates that were not British (including me) got their first taste of Yorkshire Pudding.  At the dinner, autographed football shirts were auctioned and several thousand dollars were raised for the charity Her Breast Friends.

With the business activities done, the group headed to Barca Bar for the rest of the evening.  Many delegates were seen returning to the hotel when some of the delegates were heading out Wednesday morning for early flights.

Study: Why People Don’t Call Premium Rate Numbers

Anthony Wayne    900 Numbers, United Kingdom     900 Numbers, premium rate numbers, research, study

PhonePayPlus, in its 2010 research, polled 5001 people about why or why they don’t use premium rate numbers.  The numbers are interesting and give 900 number entrepreneurs some insight on what they should be doing to get more consumers involved in calling premium rate numbers.

LACK OF INTEREST: Why most don't call 900 numbers.

The single biggest reason cited as to why consumers don’t call premium rate 900 number is that they don’t find the services interesting enough to call.  In fact, 76.6% of all consumers that don’t use premium rate numbers said this was the reason.  Among those aged 11 – 19, however, only 47.7% said the services were not interesting so perhaps this is a good single for the premium rate industry of the future.  No doubt that innovation would be a great boon to the 900 number industry and entice some of those previously not interested in the services to give them a try.

Interestingly, trust of services was not a major reason why people don’t use premium rate numbers.  14.4% of non-users say the don’t trust paying in this way.

One other major reason for not using such services is a perceived lack of clarity of pricing for services billed by premium rate numbers.  45.1% said they typically were not certain as to the eventual cost of such services.  71.1% said that this uncertainty had stopped them from using such services.  This further enforces the reason to put the price in the advertisement and not try to hide it.  Perhaps another way to promote 900 numbers is to say how long an average call will last if it is billed on a per minute basis.

Fixed Lines in Canada

Anthony Wayne    900 Numbers, Canada     Canada, fixed line phones, landline phones

Fixed line phones no longer ringing true with Canadians.

The total number of fixed lines in Canada continues to decrease since 2003 with the rise in cell phone only households.  Therefore, it is vitally important that a Canadian premium rate program also allow for easy access from cell phones.  Advanced Telecom Services pound codes and premium SMS solutions for Canadian programs will do the trick.

Total Landline Fixed Line Phones in Canada

UK Premium Rate Service Revenues 2009

Anthony Wayne    900 Numbers, United Kingdom     premium rate services, revenues, UK

UK premium rate phone regulator PhonepayPlus has published research that shows the amount of revenue that is allocated per category in the UK market in 2009.

Horoscopes remain a mainstay in the UK PRS industry.

According to the study, the oldest category for premium rate services, directory assistance, is still the largest share of the industry, although it continues to show drops annually as more options remain for directory inquiries.

The study places the value of the UK premium rate services market at 810 million pounds annually.  Categorically, it breaks down as follows:

1. Directory assistance - 220.5 million pounds
2. Adult entertainment – 131.1 m
3. 087 business information – 72.3 m
4. Mobile games – 55.3 m
5. Information services – 55.2 m
6. Competitions and quizzes – 53.6 m
7. Mobile phone entertainment – 53.2 m
8. Gambling and lotteries – 36.3 m
9. Participation TV Shows – 31.7 m
10. Mobile personalization (ringtones) – 27.2 m
11. Dating – 19.6 m
12. Tarot & Astrology – 17.4 m
13. Payment for non-adult content -  11.6 m
14. Charity donations – 10.8 m
15. Call services – 6.9 m
16. 087 flirt and chat lines – 5.9 m
17. Virtual gifts – 1.5 m

Advanced Telecom Services operates a service bureau with offices in London.  It is primarily a service bureau for newspaper dating services and charitable donations.

Hulk Hogan 900 Number Revisited

Anthony Wayne    900 Numbers     900 number, hotline, Hulk Hogan

According to sources at AT&T, the Hulk Hogan Hotline was the most called 900 number of the early 1990′s.  Advanced Telecom Services was pleased to be the service bureau for the World Wrestling Federation, WCW, and Hulk Hogan in the decade of the 900 number.

Here’s a vintage look at the Hulk Hogan Hotline through the eyes of Bobby The Brain Heenan.

US Premium Rate Specialists Target UK Esoteric Sector

Anthony Wayne    900 Numbers, United Kingdom     900 Numbers, Marc Jarrett, premium rate

London —  2, August, 2010 – Advanced Telecom Services, a US based premium
rate service bureau, has announced that it will be targeting UK companies involved in the astrology and psychic sectors with the view to helping them make more money from the vast North American market.

The company, one of only three to be granted the necessary licences for “900″ premium rate numbers by sole US transit carrier MCI is a veteran in the premium rate industry and has been operational since 1989.

“Since most companies operating in this space in the UK are already using premium rate numbers, by adding US and Canadian ones they are able to monetize a whole new audience who already have access to their websites” commented Marc Jarrett, ATS’s European Business Development Manager.  “After all, the internet is a global medium, and the chances are that they are already receiving traffic from North America.  By working with us, they will therefore be able to create an instant new revenue stream with no additional marketing on their part”.

Unlike in the UK, MCI 900 lets information providers dictate their own charges of up to $5.00 per minute, or as a single drop charge of up to $35.00 per call.  Set-up is free, with routing costs being deducted from the accrued revenues which are paid 90 days from the end of the month in which a call was made.

For more information, visit www.advancedtele.com or email marc@advancedtele.com

About ATS:  Advanced Telecom Services provides 900 number and 800 number IVR solutions and mobile marketing services to media, advertising agencies, and entrepreneurs.  It also provides a variety of dating services, including internet dating and text message dating.  The Philadelphia-based company has international offices in Toronto, London, Dublin, Prague, and Bratislava.

Canada 900 Market Heats Up

Anthony Wayne    900 Numbers, Canada     900 Numbers, Canada, regulations

Lobbying for more improvements for Canadian 900 numbers.

World Telemedia published an article about the red hot Canadian 900 number market and its opportunities for international customers.  Advanced Telecom Services’ efforts to further improve the market are discussed.

The Canadian 900 number market has shown significant growth over the past two years due in part to deregulation of the industry and the opportunities created from it.