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17 USES FOR PHONE CARD TECHNOLOGY

Promotional prepaid phone cards, which have been in the U.S. marketplace for the past five years, are gaining popularity among brand marketers. But most marketers have used them only as consumer premiums so far.Advocates say the creative potential has barely been scratched. Most agree that applications of the underlying communications technology -- with cards or without -- will be virtually unlimited

Promotional prepaid phone cards, which have been in the U.S. marketplace for the past five years, are gaining popularity among brand marketers. But most marketers have used them only as consumer premiums so far.

Advocates say the creative potential has barely been scratched. Most agree that applications of the underlying communications technology -- with cards or without -- will be virtually unlimited in the years to come.

Here are 17 ways brand marketers currently can use these cards:

1. Mini Billboard: Regardless of how prepaid phone cards reach the hands of the consumer, they represent durable and handy-sized pocket billboards for your product. Glossy renditions of your product can be custom-designed to become collectible items, or created to include copromotional partners.

2. Customized Voice Message: When cardholders dial the access number, they hear a brief promotional outgoing message. These messages can be changed easily and often, and can prompt other menu choices. They must be heard to activate the card. This service can be especially valuable to marketers who are looking to reinforce name recognition, such as the correct pronunciation of a new product name.

3. Demographic Market Research: Before accessing long-distance calling time or to be awarded additional time, cardholders can be instructed to complete a one-time, brief informational survey. Information can be captured based on the cardholder's calling patterns, demographics or geographics.

4. Value Added Services: Some phone card companies have links with other products or services where cardholders can be connected by the push of a touch-tone key.

5. Voice Mail Services: You can record your own outgoing message and access incoming messages through phone cards, using a special 800 number and an eight-digit voice mail box number.

6. Information Services: Phone cards can deliver the latest news, weather, sports or financial information with the press of a touch-tone. They can also inform clients about what's new in a specific industry or market, or provide a calendar of events.

7. Games: Using your product or characters, or celebrity voices, games can be designed where cardholders play by pushing touch-tones and win extra minutes or any other prize.

8. Build Data Bases: Cardholders can be asked to input their names and addresses, which will be captured in a data base for future use. This information can be collected through the card's packaging, as well.

9. Sweepstakes: Following applicable gaming laws, cardholders are asked to call in to see if they have won a prize. Prizes can be awarded on a first-come or nth call basis. Information on sweepstakes entrants can be transferred into a data base.

10. Key Chains and Book Marks: With the addition of simple hardware or sizing, these promotional cards can be die-cut to any size or shape and used as key chains, book marks and keepsakes.

11. Warranty Cards: Many companies are experimenting with this feature, offering a limited amount of time for warranty information or technical support. In a sense, this equates a card with an 800 number.

12. Coupons and Recipes: Through packaging, cards can be used as an alternative advertising medium. Coupons, special offers, information on related products and recipes can be attached to the cards through a peel-off back or by adhering the card to a larger package.

13. Greeting Cards: Phone cards can be included in greeting cards to extend the birthday or holiday wish.

14. Frequent Shopper Cards: As with paperless coupons and frequent-flier miles, cardholders would gain phone minutes for purchasing certain products in the store. Combined with voice messages, a retailer can change the sale items at will.

15. Trade Incentives: Free phone minutes can be used to motivate customer service representatives or to reward salespeople.

16. Entertainment: Through the customized voice message, cardholders can hear jokes, stories, dramatic readings, movie reviews, musical themes and more. One company used the card to recite a children's bedtime story.

17. Dealer Locator: With the push of a touch-tone key, or by entering a zip code, cardholders can receive information and directions to the dealer nearest them.

On the design end, one company is experimenting with electroluminescent or glow-in-the-dark cards, and others are about to unveil cards with an eight-second holographic stereogram. By tilting the card, the consumer can view an eight-second video clip in holographic form.

Now on the horizon is voice activation and voice recognition. With voice activation, the card is inactive until it hears your voice. Very few companies are using this technology right now, according to Cory Eisner, vice president of interactive systems at GTS, Elmont, N.Y. Voice recognition replaces the need to push the touch-tones to continue, but again, this has limited use because the technology lags behind.

"It's fairly simple to understand, although complicated in its implementation. The machinery is not yet there where it can recognize voices the way it can with touch-tones," Eisner says.

Sources estimate that among the 400 or so prepaid telephone card companies in the United States, about 10% offered one or several of the more advanced capabilities.