The TEL3Advantage team would like to wish all a Happy New Year! 2007 was definitely an amazing year and we would like to thank all our agents for making it a year of undeniable accomplishments. Thanks to the support and dedication of our agents we were able to take TEL3Advantage to the next level. With the implementation of new developments, improved agent communication, and endless promotions and opportunities, 2007 was definitely a year of attainable goals.
December 2007
Operations
New Verification System - 2007 was off to a fantastic start with the deployment of the new verification system. The new verification procedures assured all signups were verified and activated, and caused a drastic decrease in the number of fraudulent signups we experienced. This new system definitely helped alleviate some of the pending issues thus broadening the income potential of our agents.
Internal Wiki - The Internal Wiki was initiated to create a company knowledge base allowing TEL3Advantage staff to work together for collaborative documentation on issues pertaining to agents and customers.
Balanced Score Card – We have implemented a performance management system called the Balanced Scorecard. It ensured that all work was done efficiently by monitoring our daily performance level.
Canadian Credit Cards - In the month of November we informed our agents and potential customers about our ability to accept Canadian credit cards. This addition provided our agents with the ability to target a new market of customers and increase their revenue earning status.
Communication
Opening The Lines of Communication - Improving communications was one of our biggest accomplishments of the 2007-year. With the help of our valued agents we were able to take our communication efforts to the next level. After reviewing your feedback through surveys, emails, and phone calls, it was brought to our attention that we needed to focus more on communication. This recognition catapulted our communication efforts putting us on a level no other telecom company has journeyed before.
New PBX System - Increased communication provisions started by providing our agents with a new PBX System where agents were allowed to call and leave messages about issues that warranted attention. With the help of the new PBX system we were able to address our agents concerns at a swift and more accurate pace. Adding a new communications section to the agent back office followed the implementation of the PBX system.
TV Commercial - TEL3Advantage agents were also provided with their very own TV Commercial. This Marketing & Communication tool was provided to make sure our agents were up-to-date with the latest marketing tools and to provide agents with the opportunity to change from their everyday form of advertising and promote TEL3Advantage to a broader audience with little cost. Agents were provided with dedicated 800 numbers as a means of tracking their advertising efforts.
Agent Blogs - TEL3Advantage set out to provide our agents with information that is useful to the agent program as well as links to sites that are relevant to our agents, thus the Agent & Newsletter Blogs were created. Blogging provides our agents with new business ideas while keeping them in touch with the views of agent all around the world. Agents are allowed to comment their views and opinions in real time.
Agent Teleconferences and Podcasts - Monthly-recorded Agent Teleconferences and Podcasts were then established giving our agents the opportunity to stay informed and updated on changes and information pertaining to the agent program. Through the use of this communication tool, agents now have the ability to share insightful information and get professional advertising tips with their downlines with the click of a button.
Technology
Introduction of the New Platform –On April 19th we transported our database and website to the New Platform. This transformation allowed us to utilize web services easier and have different software systems communicate with each other in order to pass information and conduct transactions. The New Platform improved agent work performance and made it easier to evaluate your marketing performances. Agents were able to track customer signups via the Campaign Tracker with ease. Summary reports were also available giving our agents the ability to track customer signups as well as view the source of the signups. The payment history report allowed our agents the added benefit of seeing their commissions paid and earned as they were approved. Agents were also able to view the levels for which they are paid. Features were added to facilitate the marketing strategies of our agents providing you with more accurate feedback of your advertising efforts. The transition to the New Platform proved to be a highly successful migration.
Smart Plug Introduction – Also in April we launched our newest product, The SmartPlug Software - a free downloadable application for smart phones enabling a seamless connection for long distance calls via the TEL3 System. It is a simple one-time installation that provides you with significantly cheaper international calls, without cumbersome calling codes, access numbers and PIN codes. The Smart Plug software is definitely the perfect long distance solution of the future.
i.Platform - In September we introduced our revolutionary i.Platform for our customers. The i.Platform is our commitment to the customers to improve our service and call quality. With the I.Platform guarantee, any customer that experiences any type of quality issue while making a call will automatically receive a message informing them that we are aware of the issue and that a 3 minute credit will be added to their account while we work on resolving the issue. The i.Platform drastically cuts down our resolve time and has played a significant part in the increase in ratings we receive from our customers for communication and quality efforts. With the assistance of the i.Platform we are now able to provide our customers with clear, reliable connections.
Marketing
Promotions - 2007 was the busiest year to date in TEL3Advantage history when it came to promotions. Throughout the year we have launched numerous successful promotions to the benefit of our Agents and Customers. Little did we know that the success of the mentioned promotions was just the beginning of what would come to be known as one of the largest growth phases in TEL3Advantage history. With the phenomenal success of our Mother’s Day promotion, (double the free minutes) our customer signups increased by a remarkable 70% and our recharges set a weekly record for the 2007 business year. It became clear and evident that by providing our agents with creative promotions we were also providing you with the opportunity to indulge in higher earning for yourselves as well as the company. New customers were provided with endless signup promotions where they received double the free minutes with their initial signup. Existing customers benefited from our discount promotions such as the May Regional Promotion where customers received special rate reductions for making calls to our top five regions. With our Yom Kippur, Thanksgiving, and Ramadan promotions customers received 10% discounts when making calls to the specified locations. TEL3Advantage took every opportunity to show our customers appreciation throughout the year and the feedback we received was nothing short of amazing.
Constant Rate Decreases - TEL3Advantage has always promised our agents that we would provide you one of the most competitive long distance calling service in the industry and we have done just that. Throughout 2007 we made sure our agents, as well as customers, were provided with the most lucrative services available and decreased our rates for many calling destinations throughout the year.
New marketing material - New Marketing Material and professionally designed power point presentations were also made available in the communications section of your agent back office. The power point presentations were created to allow our agents to target different markets in the form of offline advertising.
Agent Reward Program - In July of 2007 TEL3Advantage implemented the Agent Reward Program giving our agents the ability to increase their monthly revenue by up to 50% by just increasing their monthly signups. Agents were simply required to increase their signups by as little as 20% from the previous month to qualify. The TEL3Advantage Agent Reward Program continues to be a big success for our Agents. Since the start of the program in July, qualified agents have increased their signups by a remarkable 42%.
Lower Signup Denomination - In November we introduced our $10 Lower Denomination Signup offer. This denomination was introduced to assist our agents in attracting additional customers thus increasing their conversion rates. This lower denomination offer did just that but also increased our monthly customer signups by as much as 33% since its introduction.
Ethnic Marketing Efforts - In November TEL3Advantage ventured out to provide our agents with a comprehensive online directory of over 1000 Ethnic Event Listings. We made it our business to provide our agents with the most informative, up-to-date ethnic marketing events available.
PayPal Introduction - In December after much awaited anticipation TEL3Advantage implemented PayPal as a payment option for our services. This will give agents the opportunity to reach out to more international customers, provide express checkout options and will provide customers with additional security benefits. Agents and customers alike can now take advantage of our new payment option.
