Facts About Premium Rate Telephone Services

Learn About the Premium Rate Industry
The premium rate telephone industry, widely know as "Pay-Per-Call" phone service, is a thriving billion pound industry with increasing volume records year after year. Premium rate numbers provide a large variety of packaged information, entertainment and services that people readily call. You see them advertised everywhere due to their enormous success.

When you operate your own own premium rate telephone service, the profits are made in accordance to the number of calls you receive. As a premium rate operator you will be able to promote your premium rate numbers in many different ways.

If you want your calls answered for you then a premium rate phone company can set up recorded messages for you, which will answers all your calls 24 Hours a Day 7 days week, so you'll never need to stay by the phone or buy expensive equipment. A premium rate phone company will keep track of your premium rate calls, and you pay them a small portion of the cost per minute to cover their telephone costs and expenses.

The Ideal Cash Generating Business
Premium rate numbers were first created in the USA 1980 for ABC Television during the Reagan/Carter debates. The premium rate numbers totalled over 500,000 calls during the debate.

Premium rate numbers for informational use came in 1982 when NASA started an information line for the space shuttle flights. Soon after, national companies realized the incredible opportunities in premium rate numbers.

In 1987, (after the privatisation of British Telecom) premium rate  numbers were introduced to the UK. This meant that anyone, anywhere could provide information regardless of their location. Many premium rate services for different topics began to spring up. At that point the premium rate indsutry took off.

Today, you will come across hundreds of premium rate numbers in daily newspapers, magazines, and on the internet. The cost of setting up premium rate lines has now become affordable enough for anyone to be able to set up their own telephone service.

Premium Rate Numbers: Terms and Definitions

Premium Rate Number - A premium pay-per-call prefix set by the telecommunications carrier in conjunction with OFCOM, specifically used for content and programs.

Activation - Establishment of account, set-up of premium rate lines, which includes installation of daily call tracking and pay ready system.

AIT - "artificially inflated traffic". This occurs when someone may ring their own premium rate telephone service from their place of work or from a stolen or cloned mobile phone. British Telecom watch for such activity very closely and if it is found AIT has occured, British Telecom have the right to not pay you for revenue generated.

Call Count - total number of calls received by a premium rate number.

Call Count Volume - volume in minutes for any given period. (ie: 7 calls per day @ 6 minutes each = 42 minutes X 30 days = 1260 minutes)

Call Count Revenue - total revenue generated by call count volume.

Network Operator - An entity which is accredited by one of the major telephone carries (for example, British telecom or Cable and Wireless) to process, program, and sell premium rate numbers. The carrier pays the service bureau for call count revenue, and in turn the service bureau remits payment to the service provider on a monthly basis.

Phone Pay Plus - This is the regulator of the premium rate industry. They have the pwer to shut down any service that is breach of their rules and also impose a fine. Anyone who operates a premium rate telephone service must fully comply with their rules at all times.

Programs - the content or material presented on a premium rate service.

Service Provider - The "owner" of a premium rate service, who is in the business of providing information for business, personal or entertainment purposes.

Telco - any accredited telecommunications carrier which also bills consumers for premium rate activity.

Turnkey - Ready for business, with no need to provide equipment, staffing, or other expenses.