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[P620]Prepaid Calling Cards To

by Ma. Roma C. Agsalud, Ma.

For over a decade now, prepaid calling cards have been a growing business. The idea of prepaid calling card was first thought of by a vending machine manufacturer and operator in Italy way back in 1975 during which time there was a shortage in coins for use in pay phones. But only in 1976 that the first phone card was introduced. It was made of thin printed cardboard with magnetic strips and is inserted into the phone where it would deduct minutes from the card. The first batch of phone cards encountered problems, just like any new product. The cards were too thin and easily jammed the pay phone. Nevertheless, its novel idea spread across the continent and was adapted by European countries in 1977 the first of which were Austria, France, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. In 1982, Japan, who was also faced with coin shortage problem, adapted the phone card system to solve the situation.

Along with the adaptation of the phone cards by these countries, the quality of the material used gradually improved. By 1984, France introduced the first chip-based “smart card.” Then in 1987, phone cards were introduced to the United States whose quality was better than that of Europe's “smart card.” The U.S. created a card with magstripe, a technology similar to that of the magnetic strip. The U.S. was the first country to mass produce these phone cards in 1989.

In 1990, New York came with a non-magstripe phone card which is similar to prepaid phone card today. The new system requires dialing a toll free access number and using a personal identification number, or PIN, to place charges on your account. The system was considered the most versatile among the phone cards. It allows used with any type of phone.

The phone card industry has continued to prosper over the years. In 1992, telecommunication giants released their own brand of phone cards without the magstripe and completely switched to an access number and PIN.

Over the years, the prepaid calling card business exploded and has become a very lucrative business. In the new millennium, it became a multi-billion industry in view of its diverse marketing and unlimited client potential.

What is behind the success of prepaid calling cards?

Prepaid calling card is cheaper than regular phone service. You can save money on your long distance calls by simply using prepaid phone cards. Not too long ago, making an overseas call to a family member or friend was very expensive and prohibitive. Nowadays, rates have considerably gone down and anyone can buy prepaid calling cards that allow access from anywhere.

The most important advantage which the prepaid card calling services offer is convenience and flexibility. It aids consumers and business end-users to effectively plan and formulate a budget for their long distance calls on a regular basis.

Even in the advent of advancing technology such as the Internet and mobile phones, which services pose some limiting factors, prepaid calling card is definitely not going away. It is here to stay.

Communication is very important. It is the reason why there are lots of ways that are being created and introduced so that people can communicate wherever they are.
With the technology today, there are plenty of ways to communicate. You can keep in touch with family, friends and associate by sending and receiving e-mails, and by chatting with them. Yes, these are good ways to communicate but there are still some who do not have access with these kind of communicating or they do not have enough knowledge to make use of it such as the older people like grandfathers and grandmothers. They do not have enough understanding on how to operate the computer so they can't send and receive e-mails or chat.
Fortunately, there are telephones out there which they can use to make calls in order to keep in touch with their loved ones. But making international calls can give one huge phone bills, so some are being hindered to make international calls due to high rates from their telephone providers.
But here come prepaid calling cards to save the day. Yes, there are plenty of prepaid calling cards out there; you can have it in a lot of different stores such as convenience stores, newspaper stands, gas stations and even through the internet.
Prepaid calling cards are telephone minutes that you can purchase in advance. Usually, these cards come with PIN, which you need to dial each time you make a call. But there are some phone card companies that offer PIN-less cards which are best for those who feel like dialing PIN every now and then is a hassle.
With the use of these cards, you can make calls any time and any where with the use of any phone such as cell phone, landline, hotels' phones, and pay phone. These cards offer cheaper rates for making international calls, reason why more and more people are using these calls in making international calls and even local ones. With using these cards, they can cut their phone bills in half.
These cards come in different increments such as five, ten, and twenty. So it is up to you how much you prefer. This is actually one of the good things about prepaid calling cards, you can budget you expenditure in making calls. But take note, it doesn't mean when you buy ten dollars worth of card, you will be having ten dollars worth of calls... Since there are cards that have different fees and charges such as maintenance fee, connection fee, and so on.
It is advisable that before you buy a card, you have to make sure that you have all the details you need about the card. So it is best to make a little research. Know the features, services, rates and fees that few cards offer. Compare each and decide which prepaid calling card suit you best.
Eliza Maledevic Ayson
http://www.flatrateonline.net/Public/default.aspx

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Both Ma. Roma C. Agsalud & Adolph K. Reekie are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Ma. Roma C. Agsalud has sinced written about articles on various topics from Mortgage, Phone Cards. . Ma. Roma C. Agsalud's top article generates over 1600 views. to your Favourites.

Adolph K. Reekie has sinced written about articles on various topics from Medicine, About Branding and Digital Camera. To compare rates on , please visit our Store. Adolph K. Reekie's top article generates over 301000 views. to your Favourites.