A Special Operator Services Report From The PELORUS Group

 THE FUTURE OF
OPERATOR SERVICES

A Benchmark Five-Year North American Opportunity Analysis 

Exclusive Data Packed With Proprietary
Opportunity Assessments – Through 2006!

·       Detailed U.S. And Canadian Markets Assessments

·       Market Drivers, Market Barriers And Regulatory Issues

·       Emerging Vendor Platforms

·       Competitive Operator Services Offerings:  Products, Target Markets, And Strategies

·       Force Management In The Age Of Automation

·       Calling Cards (Prepaid & Credit), 0+ And 0- Calling Trends, Payphones, Emergency Calls, Collect Calls, Person-to-Person, Third Party Billing, Conference Calls, International Calls

·       Outsourcing Operator Services – The Correct Option?

·       Speech Recognition:  Meaningful Solutions

·       Sizing The Market: Wholesale vs. Retail

·       Operator Services In The New Economy

·       Operator Services Providers’ Opportunities And Strategies:  AT&T, Bell Canada, BellSouth, Cincinnati Bell, MCI WorldCom, Nordia, Qwest, SBC/PacBell, Sprint, TELUS, Verizon, AND MORE

·       MARKET FORECASTS THROUGH 2006!

 

A COMPELLING VISION OF NEW DIRECTIONS IN OPERATOR SERVICES! 

The PELORUS Group
Helping Navigate Change In
Operator Services

 OPERATOR SERVICES:  TURNING THE CORNER

hifting usage patterns and calling volumes are reshaping operator services.  Despite some bright spots, the current market for operator services is challenging, to say the least. But new and sometimes innovative approaches from the rank and file of LECs and IXCs hold promise, and are helping breathe new vigor into this telephony workhorse.  Meanwhile, industry and regulatory forces continue to elicit provocative alternatives to the service mix, as well as to pricing and outsourcing models. Many vendors of operator services equipment have exited the market, only to be replaced with smaller and arguably more nimble companies. Carriers have moved into each other’s market as well, and in doing so they have brought with them competitive operator services.  Meanwhile, prepaid cards and wireless phones continue to tug at the market’s direction and scope, as the number of operator-assisted calls declines, as does the payphone tally.  The market will further be transformed as carriers move to update legacy systems. The rules by which this game is played are changing, and the stakes have never been higher.

This exclusive report probes each of the major components of operator services -- including toll & assist services, calling cards, prepaid cards, callback services, dial-around services and payphones. (Directory assistance markets are examined separately in The PELORUS Groups’ companion study, “North American DA Markets.”).  The report also explores the ramifications of the tremendous growth in wireless services, including the availability of wireless operator services. 

The Future Of Operator Services” is uncompromising in its granularity. It digs deeper into the myriad of issues, while delving more thoroughly into opportunities relating to operator services than any report ever generated by this company with a rich history in operator services research.  Its findings, insights, and recommendations are the result of three decades of hands-on research into the ever-changing operator services landscape.  The data you will find contained in these pages can be found nowhere else.  It is proprietary, as are the models employed to map out and delineate market directions, trends and potential over each of the next five years.  Only readers of this study will be able to tap into its strategic assessments and benefit from its recommendations. 

 The PELORUS Group’s
The Future Of Operator Services”
isolates and analyzes:

 

  • Market opportunities in toll & assist services, calling cards, prepaid cards, callback services, dial-around services and payphones, and more
  • Over 50 leading providers and their respective strategies
  • Core services: collect calls, third party billing, emergency interrupt, person-to-person, time and charges, and conference calls
  • Changing payphone market dynamics and associated potential
  • Key platform vendors and their current positions
  • Emerging dynamics for alternative operator services (AOS) firms
  • Opportunities in US and Canadian markets
  • Regulatory updates on operator services, payphones, TOCSIA, and AOS
  • Competitive offerings from long distance carriers, ILECs, CLECs and outsourcers
  • Calling card offerings, target markets, usage patterns and calling card plans
  • Impact of outsourced and wholesale operator services
  • Growth in prepaid calling card markets
  • How automation will ultimately impact this market, including the move to IP telephony and softswitches
  • Speech recognition – Who’s doing what, where
  • The latest data on specific offerings, by service provider, including local and long distance wireline, wireless and payphone operators
  • International operator services and multilingual demands
  • HIGHLY DETAILED MARKET FORECASTS THROUGH 2006

 

CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

THE MARKET LANDSCAPE

  Definitions
  History of Operator Services
  Regulation and Competition
    Ground Rules for Competition
      Universal Service Order
      The Fourteen Point Checklist
    Update: RBOC Long Distance Approvals
    Update: Triennial Review and UNE
    Internet Freedom and Broadband Development Act
  Payphones
    History of Payphones
      Deregulation
    AOS Industry
    Consumer Protection Laws
      TOCSIA
    1996 Telecom Act and Payphones
  Calling Cards
    History of Prepaid Cards
    Current Card Usage
    Calling Card Plans

OPERATOR SERVICES, PRICING AND APPLICATIONS

  Background
    Local and Long Distance Operator Services
  Core Operator Services
    Service Descriptions
      How They Work
      International Calls
    Offerings and Rates
      Local Calling
      Long Distance Calling
      International Calling
      Transfer Fees
  Payphones
    Payphone Offerings and Rates
  Callback and Dial-Around Services
    Callback
      Internet Callback
    Dial-Around Services
      How They Work
      Dial-Around Rates
  Calling Cards
    How They Work
      LEC Cards
      IXC Cards
    Calling Card Surcharges
    Targeted Cards
      Student and College Cards
      International Cards
      Military Cards
    Prepaid Calling Cards
      How Prepaid Works
  Wholesale Operator Services
  Applications
    Impact of Price Increases
    Travel
    Institutional
      Hotels
      Prisons

MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

  New Opportunities and Challenges
    New Long Distance Market Dynamics
    Status of Local Competition
      CLECs
    Growth in Wireless Services
      Location-Based Services
    Growth in Prepaid Cards    
      Increased Usage
    Payphone Markets
      History and Competition
          Overview of ACTS
          COCOTs
          New Generation Payphones
          Canadian Payphones
        New Market Directions
  Key Players and Strategies in US and Canada
    Operator Services Platform Vendors
      Cisco
      Heritage Communications
      InterVoice-Brite
        Omvia
        BT Cellnet
      Lucent Technologies
        OSPS
        EXS Converged Service Platform
        Cyberlog
        Broadband Utilities
      MDTelecom
      Nortel Networks
        Evolution of TOPS
        Migrating to Succession Operator Services
      Siemens
      Taqua
      Telcordia
      varetis
      VoltDelta
    US Carriers’ Operator Services Offerings
      ILECS/CLECs
        BellSouth
        Qwest
        SBC
        Sprint Local
        Verizon
      Long Distance Carriers
        AT&T
        Broadwing/Cincinnati Bell
        Global Crossing
        MCI/WorldCom
        Sprint
      Wireless Carriers
        AT&T Wireless
        Cingular
        Sprint PCS
        Verizon Wireless
    Canadian Carriers
      Local Service Providers
        Bell Canada
        MTS Communications
        TELUS Communications
      Long Distance Carriers
        AT&T Canada
        Bell Canada
        Call-Net Enterprises (Sprint Canada)

        Primus Telecommunications
      Wireless Carriers
        Bell Mobility
        Rogers Wireless
        TELUS Mobility
        Microcell Connexions
    Other Service Providers
       CanTalk
       Centris
       Convergys
       ILD Telecommunications (Intellicall)
       Nordia
       OSC/Billing Concepts
       BCE Nexxia
       Qwest Wholesale
        SBC Wholesale
        Canada Payphone Corp

MARKET DYNAMICS AND TRENDS

  Market Drivers and Challenges
    Mobile Users
    Outsourcing and Wholesaling
      Wholesaling
      Outsourcing
        Foreign Call Centers
    Call Centers
      Force Management
      Operator Services to Contact Centers
  Technology Decisions
    System Architecture
      Move to IP Telephony
      Softswitches
    Operator Services Automation
       Impacts on Legacy Systems
          Lucent Technologies
          Nortel Networks
       Import of Speech Recognition
       Key Speech Firms
           AT&T Labs
           InfoSpace
           Nuance
           Philips Speech Processing
           Phonetic Systems
           Preferred Voice
           SpeechWorks International

MARKET FORECASTS

  Future Trends and Issues
    More Regulatory Change
    International Calling
      Multilingual Demands
    Payphone Markets & Alternative Operator Services
    Calling Cards And Prepaid Calling Cards
  Five-Year Operator Services Revenues: ILECs vs. IXCs vs. CLECs vs. Payphone Providers vs. Wireless Carriers
  Five-Year Market Forecasts:
      Operator-Assisted Calls
      Payphones
      Prepaid Calling Cards
      International Operator Services
  Conclusions
PLUS OVER 40 CHARTS AND TABLES!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mark Thompson is Director of Research for The PELORUS Group.  Mr. Thompson comes with extensive research and analysis experience from AT&T, Telcordia Technologies, Dow Jones & Company, and Lucent Technologies.  He has close to 20 years experience in the telecommunications industry, five of them at the helm of his own consulting practice.  His technical expertise covers intelligence gathering, market research, competitive assessment, opportunity analysis, and strategy development.  Previous studies authored by Mr. Thompson for The PELORUS Group include “Global Speech Recognition” and “The Future of SMS”.  He holds a Bachelor degree in Fine Arts from Carnegie-Mellon University, a Master of Information Science, and a Master of History from Case Western Reserve University

Editor Al Fross has researched and written about the operator services and prepaid arenas for three decades.  He has edited and published many groundbreaking studies, including The PELORUS Group’s “Operator Services” and “Enhanced Directory Assistance” reports.  He holds an MBA in Finance from Rutgers University.

 The PELORUS Group
Helping Navigate Change in Operator Services

The PELORUS Group is a market research, consulting, and business planning firm.  Its charter is to provide market research, business management, strategic planning, and competitive intelligence services to its worldwide base of clientele.

Its challenge is to veer away from consensus research, and expose the myths within key telecommunications and information services industries.

Additional reports available from The PELORUS Group:

“North American Directory Assistance Markets”

“Wireless Speech Recognition”

“Canadian Telecommunications”

“European Call Center Markets”

“The Future of Contact Centers”

“Broadband To The Residence”

“Enhanced Directory Assistance”

“CRM: The New Call Center Paradigm”

“European Directory Assistance Markets”

“Operator Services”

“The Future Of Prepaid Telephony”

“Prepaid Telephony”

“Global Speech Recognition”

“Softswitches & Broadband Switching: The New Environment”

“Enterprise Unified Communications”

“The Future of SMS"

“Unified Communications For The Service Provider”

“Unified Messaging CPE”

“Wireless PBXs”

“Wireless Location-Based Markets”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ORDER NOW!

Please accept my order for _____copy (ies) of “The Future of Operator Services” at $3,395.00 US per copy. Discounts are available for multiple copies. NJ and NY residents, please add applicable sales tax. Price includes one hardcopy, a PDF softcopy.

___ Check enclosed.                       ___ Bill my company, P.O.# _______

___ Credit Card: Type/Account # _________________________________Exp. Date:     /     /    

Name:  _____________________________________________ Title: _______________________________________

Company:_______________________________________________________________________________________

Address: ________________________________________________________________________________________

Mail Stop:_______________________________________________________________________________________

City/State/Country/Zip_____________________________________________________________________________

Phone: ________________

Fax: ___________________

Email:________________________

Signature:_______________________________________________________________________

MAIL TO: The PELORUS Group, First Growth Plaza, 33 Second St., Suite J, Raritan, NJ 08869-1841
(908) 707-1121 * FAX (908) 707-1135 * EMAIL: info@pelorus-group.com
Visit us at
www.pelorus-group.com

Return To The Future of Operator Services

Return to Reports