Phone sex, psychic readings, chat lines and more; all fall under the category of "pay-per-call" services, referred to by those in the industry as simply "audiotext." Many in the adult business - particularly those on the Net - think of this as an archaic form of entertainment. But Ted Liebowitz, CEO of audiotext giant American TelNet (www.americantelnet.com), disagrees. "Almost 90 percent of people who invest in audiotext and adult Internet are getting more profits from audiotext," he says. "You can't replace the intimacy that the telephone has. People like to speak one on one."
Indeed, predictions that cable television back in the 80s and now the Internet would put audiotext out of business have yet to come true. According to Liebowitz, sex, sports and psychic lines are three of the most common types of pay-per-call, with the sex line being the most popular. "Many people find [the Net] less anonymous than a sex line because on a Web site you have to give up a lot of personal information like your address," says Liebowitz.
Liebowitz, together with other telecom veterans, started up the Florida-based American TelNet in 1992. Because of a lack of business models in the industry at that time, they focused on developing a solid infrastructure to service what was then a niche market in the 800/888 and 900 pay-per-call industries. Today, they have over 600 employees (including operators) and are one of the largest audiotext content and service providers in the world.
Liebowitz says the company prides itself on fresh ideas and the overall quality of its services. One example of this, he says, is making sure their 800/900 operators are thoroughly trained in their specific jobs. "We're real sticklers for training operators. We like to have masters in their own field such as having an actual dominatrix for a fetish call line," he says. Because of this skillfulness, Liebowitz says the company has award-winning hold times for keeping customers on the line, servicing millions of U.S. and Canadian call minutes per month.
Significantly, American TelNet has its own direct billing agreements with the Regional Bell Operation companies and their associated Local Exchange Carriers. These partnerships mean that a customer's telephone bill can be charged for payment without the use of a credit card. Not surprisingly, the company also offers billing solutions. In fact, Liebowitz claims that American TelNet is the only audiotext company offering the service. "Audiotext has the same problem with chargebacks that adult Internet has seen," he reveals. "Fifty percent of audiotext customers don't want to pay. How many industries have to deal with that? Also, the phone company is very lenient when it comes to giving customer credits." Because of this problem, Liebowitz says the company has developed sophisticated anti-fraud measures, such as the capturing of a caller's voice. Because of their experience as a third party processor, Liebowitz wants to offer their billing solutions for Web masters. "Our expertise in billing and collection makes us a good choice for them," he says.
Liebowitz says American TelNet offers several options for those who want to get into the audiotext industry. For example, American TelNet can handle everything from billing and customer service to providing content. Investors only worry about advertising the pay-per-call number via magazines, TV ads and other routes.
Another option is for small "mom and pop" clients to have their own operator service. American TelNet would just handle the technical logistics. Pay-per-call psychologists, computer techs, insurance agents, lawyers, and other experts have recently become very popular. "It's no longer the one dimensional sex numbers anymore," Liebowitz says.
Audiotext services can also help a company's marketing department with phone-response events such as fundraisers, political voter opinion polling and other promotions. Through the use of real time ANI (automatic number identification) technology with 800 and 900 telephone numbers, a database foundation can be established for demographic analysis. This can help determine who a company's consistent and new caller customers are.
"If Web masters would put the same energy into audiotext that they do for their site, they would see much more revenue," says Liebowitz.
