telecom@eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Moderator) (02/11/91)
A new aggregator (at least I've not heard of them before) is a
company called USI Communications of Orlando, FL. They offer AT&T
one-plus service at pretty inexpensive rates according to the
literature sent to me by their representative. They bill in six-second
increments, and have a $12 per month fee for their service. You get
billed direct by AT&T.
In addition to direct dialing, this company also offers a 'Convenience
Card' with nationwide 800 access. Calls billed on the card are at a
flat rate of twenty cents per minute (actually .1930 plus .0068 tax,
total .1998). There is no surcharge for calls billed to the card. They
do however require that you pre-pay for blocks of time in $50
increments. In other words, you pay them $50 or more, then use the
money on calls. When your reserve gets low, you send more money.
They also offer Voice Mail, which they call their Voice Communication
System. It can be used in connection with the 800 access number for
your convenience card at the same twenty cents per minute rate. This
appears to be a Storre and Forward service as well.
900 service is also available from USI, via AT&T's Multiquest program.
They charge $750 installation and $100 per month thereafter. They can
either route you to a voice mailbox or a live telephone. If to
voicemail, they charge 45 cents for the first minute and 40 cents for
each additional minute. Rates to a live phone are 50 cents for the
first minute and 45 cents for each additional minute. They also
collect 30 percent of the amount charged to each caller. Billing and
collection is done by AT&T, and AT&T must also approve the programming
content on 900 numbers.
USI can provide 800 numbers to you. They charge $100 installation and
$25 per month per 800 number. They can route it to voice mail at 20
cents per minute or to a live telephone at 30 cents per minute.
Voicemail for either 900 or 800 number terminations ranges in cost
from $12 to $40 per month depending on what features are desired such
as message capacity, length of outgoing message, etc.
This organization is also looking for independent distributors to
resell their products and services. Here, things start looking a
little like a multi-level-marketing type approach: You pay $50 per
year as a distributor fee, then you get 5% commission on the billings
of subscribers you signed up, etc. These commissions go on forever, I
guess, as long as your yearly distributor fee is paid and your
customer remains on line also.
USI Nationwide Communications:
201 South Orange Avenue, Suite 800
Orlando, FL 32801 Phone: 407-423-7592
But I do not think they will deal direct with you. They will tell you
to go through one of the distributors, in which case I guess you could
contact the fellow who sent me the literature:
Roy P. Nelson
Parks Marketing, Ltd.
33 Royal Street
North Quincy, MA 02170
617-471-8850
You do not have to be a distributor (i.e. $50 annual fee with
residuals from customers you sign up) to merely be a customer. You can
sign up for any of their services as is ... but a person wanting to
get into a new line of business might want to look at the
distributorship deal also.
I would like to add that Sprint now also offers an MLM type deal where
you get 5% commissions on customers you sign up ... but I don't have
the specifics on their plan yet.
PATwah@zach.fit.edu (Bill Huttig) (02/13/91)
In article <74444@bu.edu.bu.edu> telecom@eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Moderator) writes: X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 110, Message 1 of 8 >A new aggregator (at least I've not heard of them before) is a >company called USI Communications of Orlando, FL. They offer AT&T They are not new I had their info a long time ago.. The rates are not very cheap ... SouthTel bills in six second increments and is cheaper. As far as the other services goes it seems that other companies are cheaper. >I would like to add that Sprint now also offers an MLM type deal where >you get 5% commissions on customers you sign up ... but I don't have >the specifics on their plan yet. If you are refering to the info in the last issue of TELECONNECT, I called Amy Stublefield and she said that the article was in error and that Sprint did not have the 'sales agent program'. They do have several large marketing companies selling Sprint. If there is another Spint MLM deal I would be suprised. [Moderator's Note: I was referencing the item in *Teleconnect*. PAT]