Cerillion Launches Pre-Pay content rating via SMS and IN based Balance Management
London, 1st November 2002 – Convergent CRM and Event Based Billing specialist, Cerillion Technologies, has announced a new platform to provide prepaid balance management. The system augments IN based and other forms of pre-pay platforms.
This platform delivers a new low cost alternative to pre-paid vouchers for topping up accounts. Via software systems such as Cerillion CRM, CSRs can accept payment through cash or credit card to top up accounts. This can even be done directly by the customer using Cerillion’s Web or Handset based Self Care system. This significantly reduces sales channel costs and voucher print and distribution costs. Also, because of the more direct nature of the payment, it removes the cash flow distortions to the business, inherent in a voucher based system.
The platform also includes a highly flexible rating platform. This can, for example, rate MMS or SMS messages based on distance, time of day or content. This opens the way for significant new revenue streams for operators as it allows products such as emails, sports results, ring tones and logos to be charged at variable rates.
Said Business Development Director, Guy O’Connor: “Pre-pay has been a huge success. However it has suffered from a number of drawbacks. A primary drawback, in today’s increasingly margin conscious times, is the high cost of pre-paid voucher printing and distribution. This can often reduce margins by 15% or more. Our system allows payments to be made by credit card over the web or by phone. It even allows for cash payments over the counter or via direct debit. Whilst operators may still feel the need to provide voucher schemes for some customers, this should still help to significantly improve margins.”
Said Robin Burton, Head of Marketing: “The flexible rating capability of our platform gives operators some very profitable opportunities. It is very much the first step on the road to widespread pre-paid use of multimedia mobile communications. Our solution sets operators free to offer a wide range of innovative products to the pre-pay marketplace. Most importantly it allows these products to be impulse purchases by eliminating the need for complex registration processes. Customers simply pay the rate for the service from their balance. It’s simple, quick and direct.”
Said Louis Hall, CEO of Cerillion Technologies Ltd: “This will deliver higher revenues, increased margins and lower rates of churn. In turn this should result in a higher valuation being accorded to pre-paid customers. Typically today pre-paid customers are valued at about 20% of post paid subscribers because of higher spend, purchasing of higher margin services and higher levels of loyalty. Our solution will help to reduce this gap.”
The system has already been ordered for implementation by one European mobile operator.
Cerillion also offers a full CRM solution for the management of pre-pay customers. This can be fully integrated with a post paid solution to provide full pre-paid / post-paid convergence.
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