Home Country Direct

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Home Country Direct
Is there a future for a Travellers Companion?
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Is there a future for a Travellers Companion?

• What does HCD mean to me?
• A personal viewpoint -
• A variety of billing options, post paid, prepaid
  or collect service
• Either a calling card, account or credit card
  service, which passes a call to an automated
  platform, within my home country, with in
  language customer service support.
• I would like to be able to access from either a
  fixed line, Mobile or Payphones
• I would like to have a choice of using toll free
  or local geographic numbers

3
Is there a future for a Travellers Companion?

• Personal View
• If I am travelling, I would like to be able to
  call home, whether I am in distress, to receive
  messages or to catch up with friends or family.
• I have selected my products and I am fully aware
  of call tariffs before travelling I have a
  number of options to be able to make a telephone
  call.
• I am also happy that I do not have to get a
  pocket full of coins for a local Payphone or go
  walking to find a Payphone that accepts TF calls
• I am also happy that, upon return home, I do not
  receive a massive Mobile roaming charge.
• I also am happy that I can make a call home or
  any destination worldwide and be billed in my own
  currency.

4
Is there a future for a Travellers Companion?

• What do we consider the main competitors to HCD?
• Mobile Roaming - high cost (reducing within the
  EU) but very convenient.
• Collect Call Agencies - Collect/Reverse Charge -
  pay for the call when you get home - Distress
  call high cost but reliable.
• Low cost competitors alternative telecoms
  providers, are taking advantage of customer
  requirements to call home cheaply reducing
  market place.
• In Country Call Shops - offering reasonably
  priced, often poor quality calls to all
  destinations and offering access to Skype.

5
Is there a future for a Travellers Companion?

• Negative effects surrounding HCD
• If we take a straw poll of the carriers at this
  forum, how many carriers
• can say that HCD is a product which excites the
  marketing or product
• teams?
• Volumes are slowly declining as Mobiles become
  more reasonably
• priced.
• Roaming costs Europe specific - are reducing,
  however, customers
• appear to be content to pay a premium for the
  convenience of being to
• make and receive a call almost anywhere in the
  world.

6
Is there a future for a Travellers Companion?

• New Concepts/Developments
• There are several things we could do to make the
  product more attractive,
• by adding Value Add functions and features such
  as
• CLI recognition
• Voice mail
• Dial Up Internet etc
• All of these features would probably cost money
  to develop, market and sell.
• Lets be clear that a plain old HCD voice calls
  from Point A to Point B, isnt exciting.

7
Is there a future for a Travellers Companion?

• One last hurrah for HCD or time to make the tough
  call?
• Recent surveys, in the UK, have indicated that
  when customers travel
• for vacation or Business, they like to be able to
  stay in touch or be
• contactable to friends/family and business
  associates.
• Have we allowed mobiles to steal a march on HCD
  to a point whereby
• we cannot recover?
• The next session will be a discussion on what to
  do next?

8
Is there a future for a Travellers Companion?

• Discussion
• Is it worth continuing pumping resource into
  something not really wanted?
• Can new developments be made cost effectively?
• Maintain as is accept the decreasing volumes?
• Is it worth turning all HCD into IFS, changing
  the billing method?
• Should carriers make the tough call and close
  down?
• Your views?