GSM callback
By Chuck Poole, Chief Technology Officer

Customers: Amimex, Athens, Greece
                    Incomex, Sofia, Bulgaria

Deployment Summary:

In Greece, one large aspect of Amimex’s business is providing calling card services to the maritime industry. Typically, the crew of a ship will come into port and will proceed to one of many mobile shops or call centers near the port looking to communicate with loved ones after being at sea for weeks or months. Many of them will also purchase Prepaid GSM SIM cards for their mobile phones, so that loved ones can call them as well. GSM also gives the crew the ability to make calls from the ship, which is a great convenience as many of these crews only get a small amount of time away from the ship while at port due to the increase volume of work required while in port.
The problem most of the crew experience with Prepaid GSM is that the airtime is expensive and needs to be replenished frequently. Also, the international rates are very high. Amimex devised a marketing scheme whereby the GSM customer calls their TSP prepaid calling card platform, lets it ring one time, and then hangs up. The TSP then calls the GSM customer back and allows them to make international calls without depleting their GSM airtime. This is because inbound calls to a GSM device in Europe are free. Amimex has made a name for itself by providing inexpensive international rates, and the convenience of having one account to replenish. The old method required the customer to recharge his GSM account and buy phone cards for local access.
Amimex has also seen other positive shifts in the market due to its service. In many cases, the crew now only has to buy one GSM SIM and they share it amongst themselves while on the ship. The only other thing the crew has to buy now is phone cards. In fact, many crewmembers have set themselves up as agents to resell the cards to their shipmates. Also, Amimex has signed up most of the mobile shops near the port as resellers.
In addition to maritime marketing of this service, Amimex discovered that many local GSM subscribers found the service inexpensive and convenient to use. The Amimex business continues to grow at an extraordinary rate.

Hardware Solution:

The equipment used for this solution includes the following:

-  Redundant Voiceware Systems TSPs with GSM callback module
-  E1 GSM access device with PRI interface
-  Local E1s from the PTT
-  High Performance File Server
-  IP Agent Gateway

The Voiceware Systems TSP is a standards-based, Class 4 tandem switch with modules for prepaid calling card, prepaid mobile, prepaid local, voice mail, fax mail, conference calling, and a variety of other applications. It provides full control over rating and routing of calls across multiple E1s and carriers.
The E1 GSM access device is a fixed mobile terminal that allows the platform operator to load SIMs from multiple providers and create trunk groups for special mobile-to-mobile rates. This allows the platform operator to save money by circumventing the PTT network
The file server allows multiple TSPs to share a common database. This allows the TSP to scale into multiple cabinets. The file server can also be redundant allowing for a completely fault tolerant system.
The IP Agent Gateway gives the TSP system operator the ability to delegate customer service and management responsibilities to multiple agent groups. These agents are independent sales organizations that re-market services supplied by the TSP system operator. The IP Agent Gateways allows the agent to access certain customer ranges and perform functions such as changing rates, view billing information, add money to accounts, close or establish new accounts and a host of other features.
For further information, please contact your Voiceware Systems sales representative.


Call your sales representative at +1.561.803.5412

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