In a sense, we are all newbies when it comes to premium telephone conferencing, not least since, to my knowledge, no such thing has existed - until now:winkwink:
We are familiar with the concept of telephone conferencing. It is nothing new, and there are hundreds of conference providers out there who typically offer their services ?for free?, in return for a small kickback from the telephone networks who collect the money to make such calls from their subscribers.
Premium phone conferencing simply takes that concept one stage further: participants need to call a premium-rate number to gain access to the conference, which is hosted by the ?star of the show? who pays nothing by dialling in on an 800 one instead.
This could be anyone that adds-value to the call: a porn star, a solo or cam girl or boy, or an existing phonesex operator. Such conferencing has many applications in mainstream too.
The host announces that they will be available by phone at a predetermined time and date in the future. This event is then announced on their website, together with a countdown clock, so that curious surfers can see exactly how much time is left until the conference which also makes static websites come alive. The page advertising the event should also include a bookmark & social networking widget, so that the event can be both remembered and disseminated accordingly.
Shortly before the conference is due to start, the host logs in online so that they can control the conference from their internet enabled PC, and dials into conference.
Obviously, if you have say fifty callers calling at one time into an open conference, it would be far too noisy and chaotic ? it would only take one caller with say a screaming child in the background to ruin the event for everyone.
To this end, callers that wish to speak to the host indicate their interest in so doing and are placed in a queue accordingly. Those that do not are the ideal kind of customer, since they are paying just to listen, and not partake.
Callers are then connected 1 to 1 to and by the host, with all others (up to 599) listening in.
And this is where it starts to get interesting: since all participants are dialling in on a premium rate number, there is some serious money to be made by hosts of such conferences. Money which, rather conveniently, is collected by various phone companies around the world on the host?s behalf, with no credit card needed.
Of course, such ?party lines?, are nothing new. As Steve Lightspeed pointed out on his board, conferencing is ?so eighties?. But that?s exactly the point: it?s tried and tested technology, and the web as we know it was not around back then.
Furthermore, the convergence of the internet and conferencing technologies makes making money with premium conferencing non-location critical. In other words, conferences can be held ad-hoc, anytime, and ? unlike in the eighties ? anywhere.
Given the globality of the internet, premium conference hosts can make money from all countries simply promoting the relevant number and the corresponding time zone in that country.
For example, the forthcoming conference to be hosted by UK?s most prolific producer, porn legend
www.ben-dover.com. The event is also being marketed down under, so that his fans in Australia and New Zealand can join in the fun too.
Furthermore, such phone-events could be used to upsell memberships to paysites. You wanna actually SEE what her pussy looks like? Join today!
Another possibility might include a cam-event with no sound ? if surfer wants to hear the action and tell the model what to do, they must call. Here, the telephone?s role becomes that of a microphone, loudspeaker, and billing mechanism. It might sound cliché, but with premium conferencing, the applications are limited only by the imagination. This is user generated content, alive and kickin? ?and such phone-events can be promoted offline too.
In those countries that do not support premium rate numbers, then callers need to make a regular International Direct Dial (IDD) call to somewhere like West African country of Sierra Leone. From there, the call is bounced to the Conferencing Bridge in Europe, even though the host might be in USA ? this is globalization at its finest!
With IDD calls, since the revenue needs to be split between two phone companies, not one (and he usually pays less anyway), the payouts are a fraction on what is on offer with local or ?domestic? premium rate numbers, which typically begin with the prefix ?09?. But, hey, money is money, and the world?s a big place!
However, those of you hoping to make a quick buck with premium conferencing are going to be seriously disappointed. Due to the revenue collection and clearing procedures associated with premium-rate numbers, it can take up to 45 days from the end of the month in which a call was generated to turn into cold-hard cash.
Perhaps that?s the bad news. However, the good news is that, on the assumption that you have been hosting attended conferences:1orglaugh, you will receive regular monthly payments thereafter. All thanks to an essential recession-proof ubiquitous utility that everyone has access to ? the telephone. Money does indeed talk.:pimp
