Digital magazine - 2tcommunications.net
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Digital magazine - 2tcommunications.net
perspectives.2009_9_01:perspectives 12/4/09 2:55 PM Page 1 perspectives on public communication VOLUME 17 / NUMBER 6 DECEMBER 09 OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE APCC® Straight to the point PSPs answer five key questions about their businesses perspectives.2009_9_01:perspectives 12/4/09 2:55 PM Page 2 CONTENTS MATT HAGE Follow the leader 6 THE PERTINENT POINTS by Tracey Timpanaro PSPs give the inside scoop on several aspects of their businesses. 11 PAYPHONES TO THE RESCUE by Flori Meeks The proof is in the pudding, as these two 911 stories will attest. 13 TECH TALK PAYPHONES GOING GREEN by Alan Rothenstreich One PSP makes a great case for using green cleaning products. 19 LAST WORD WE LOVE LARGE TELEPHONE COMPANIES by Dennis Williams If you need a good laugh, you'll want to read this PSP's story about what should have been a simple repair call. www.apcc.net DEPARTMENTS Editorial ...................................3 Introduction ............................5 Legal & Regulatory .............15 Industry Briefs.......................17 Classifieds...............................21 Many companies sell air/vac/water machines, but only one has been around since the beginning, leading the way in manufacturing, distribution, service and support. ARV Corp. is owned by the founder of AIR-serv*. From 1981 to 1998, we manufactured and marketed more than 100,000 machines and placed and operated thousands of our own. We differentiate ourselves by offering extensive sales and marketing support to help you place machines profitably. If you’re already in the air business, we can help you grow dramatically. If you’re not in the air business now, we can show you how to get started and become successful in your new venture. Give us a call. We’ll put you on the right path. ARV Corp. 507.263.2962 arvcorp@frontier.com * AIR-serv is a trademark of ASI Holding Corp. PERSPECTIVES DECEMBER 2009 | 2 perspectives.2009_9_01:perspectives 12/4/09 2:56 PM Page 3 EDITORIAL 'MANNING THE WALLS' In the 1992 blockbuster movie “A Few Good Men,” Jack Nicholson’s portrayal of Col. Nathan Jessep includes a number of terrific scenes, not the least of which is his “You can’t handle the truth” speech. No one who has seen the movie could forget it. There is one scene leading up to that pivotal moment that particularly resonates. This is when Col. Jessep lectures his young antagonist (Tom Cruise) that there’s a tough world out there: “Son, we live in a world that has walls and those walls need to be guarded…” Well, like Jessep’s paean to the U.S. Marines, APCC is continuing to man those walls for the payphone industry against many, and formidable, opponents. Enforcing the FCC’s DAC rules, and fighting for the payments our customers are entitled to, has been our primary focus since the FCC’s adoption of the new “tollgate” rules in 2004. With several recent complaint settle- ments, these enforcement efforts have now generated over $7.5 million in settlements for the benefit of our customers — a lot, surely, but not all of what they deserve. One reason it’s been so costly and time consuming to bring the complaint carriers to meeting their responsibilities has been the basic and inherent flaws in the FCC’s system. Simply put, there are just too many “loopholes,” or at least a lack of clarity, in the regulations that unscrupulous or badly motivated carriers have been able to exploit. But another reason is the FCC’s lack of real enforcement of its own rules, a lack of enforcement that has gone on for years. Well, finally, we may be seeing some change at the FCC. APCC has pushed for years for the agency to be more committed to enforcing its own rules. And just this month (on Nov. 12), the FCC has released an Order (see Page 15) holding a carrier accountable for its failures to comply with its obligations. In a Consent Decree between the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau and Next-G Communications Inc. to resolve a long-standing investigation of the carrier’s failures to comply with its DAC obligations, the FCC has obtained a $250,000 payment (in the form of a “voluntary contribution” to the government). In addition, Next-G has been ordered to www.apcc.net NCIC NC I C IS IS C COMMITTED OM M IT T E D TTO O TTECHNOLOGICAL ECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION, INNOVATION, EXCELLENT EXCELLENT CUSTOMER CUSTOMER SERVICE SERVICE AND CREATIVE CREA ATIVE V MARKET STRA STRATEGIES. ATEG T GIES. NCIC NCIC provides provides telecom telecom solutions solutions tto o iinmate nmate ffacilities, acilities, p pay ay p phone hone p providers, roviders, hospitals, hospitals, h hotels otels a and nd llocal ocal eexchange xchange ccarriers. arriers. TThe he IInmate nmate PPhone hone S Service ervice a and nd the the *77 *77 International International Collect Collect C Call all PProgram rogram a are re two two services, services, among among many, many, that we are proud to offer offer to you. a the newest generation n of its inmate telephone NCIC is pleased to announce platform called the Inm mate Calling Engine (ICE). 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Call us now at 888.686.3699 email info@ncic.com or em mail us at info@nc ic.com NCIC Operat Operator or Services 606 E. Ma Magrill agrill St. Longview TX 75601 Longview,, T Fax: 903.7 757.4899 903.757.4899 www.ncic.com www .ncic.com perspectives.2009_9_01:perspectives 12/4/09 2:57 PM Page 4 EDITORIAL have an effective Compliance Plan in place within 30 days to ensure it lives up to its obligations in the future. And the Bureau also has demanded that Next-G file (within 60 days) an application for section 214 authority to operate in the future. This is in effect a licensing proceeding that, should Next-G not comply with its obligations under the Consent Decree, will be available to challenge the company’s basic character to continue to operate. But regardless of these successes, it remains overwhelmingly true that our customers still are not getting all the DAC payments they deserve. Simply put, the FCC’s rules are, and have been, materially flawed from the very beginning. This is why a primary target of APCC’s policy work at the FCC going into 2010 is to get the DAC system changed — quickly, without years of rulemaking delays — so that collecting what is owed occurs without the costs and delays that result from carriers “gaming” the existing system. In addition, other policy targets for the coming year include getting the FCC (and Congress as well) to do the right thing and allow payphones to benefit as recipients from the USF fund. We also are working to help the affected state petitioners to once and for all get a ruling from the agency requiring Bell company refunds for their years of overcharging in violation of the FCC’s NST cost-based rates requirements. Rest assured, APCC will be there defending your rights. A final note: with this initial issue of Perspectives in electronic format, we are beginning a new stage in the publication’s life. Certainly the costs of continuing the printed form of the magazine had risen to be out of reach. But this new format has been sized right, and a solid plan is in place for it to continue publication based on advertiser support. In that regard, the advertisers you see in the magazine are the support for its publication. But they all do much more than that; in fact, they strongly believe in and support each and every one of you in your critical efforts to meet the needs of the American public. They deserve our support in return. Willard R. Nichols President www.apcc.net PERSPECTIVES DECEMBER 2009 | 4 perspectives.2009_9_01:perspectives 12/4/09 2:56 PM Page 5 GOING DIGITAL YES, VIRGINIA, WE’VE GONE DIGITAL I’ll offer a few pointers for those who would like them. When the magazine opens, you’ll see a vertical gray box on edition of Perspectives on Public Communication magazine. Sharon Cordell (our graphic designer) and the rest of the team the left. It will have the table of contents. You can click on what you want to read and you’ll be taken to that page. (We at APCC have worked long and hard over the last four months will still have a table of contents page in the magazine as well. to get to this stage. Who knew going digital would involve so When you’re there, you can also click on pages to be taken many details? straight to them.) More than 200 of you participated in our APCC member There are also buttons at the top of the screen for scrolling survey about this issue, and I want to thank you for your purposes. Just click on the arrows to go page by page, or type responses. Many of you wrote in great comments of support. I was very surprised to see that nearly half of you actually pre- in a page number to go there directly. In my opinion, the very best ferred a digital edition, but I’m the biggest Ludite there is. way to read it on screen is to minThe other significant statistic I want to share from our imize the vertical gray box on the survey is that 88 percent of the responders said they would left. That way, the magazine can read a digital Perspectives if it were the only option. So here take up the whole screen, and it’s we are. super easy to read. For those of you who prefer a printed version, you’ll be I do have to add, though, that heartened to know that you can print this issue and take it it is much easier to read on a big with you. You can print either certain pages or the issue in monitor (19 inches is perfect) vs. its entirety. a small one. And for those of you who want to keep the magazine on There are other features availyour computer, you can download a pdf of it and do just that. able that I’m sure I’ll never learn, I test drove quite a few digital magazine providers before settling on Texterity, which is the industry leader. Many maga- but feel free to play to your heart’s content. zines created by other providers were just about impossible to If you have any questions read on screen. This one is super easy; you don’t have to scroll at all. If I can figure out how to read this on screen, so can you. about navigating the issue, please don’t hesitate to contact me — I’m beyond allergic to anything remotely technical in nature. I AM VERY PLEASED TO WELCOME YOU to the first digital www.apcc.net (281) 646-7200 or via e-mail at tat66@apcc.net. I’m also very open to general suggestions or story ideas. One final note: please do consider supporting the advertisers who appear in these pages. Without them, this would not be possible. Thanks very much for your support. I look forward to entering this new chapter with you. — Tracey Timpanaro PERSPECTIVES DECEMBER 2009 | 5 perspectives.2009_9_01:perspectives 12/4/09 2:58 PM Page 6 PERTINENT POINTS THE PERTINENT POINTS PSPs ANSWER FIVE KEY QUESTIONS ABOUT THEIR BUSINESSES MANY OF YOU WILL REMEMBER the “questions” features we ran a few years back. We posed a list of pertinent questions to payphone service providers (PSPs) and published their responses verbatim. It was a popular series, so we’ve decided to bring it back. Payphone providers are obviously located all over the country, and there are not many opportunities to gather in one geographical location. Since that is the case, Perspectives can serve as a unifying tool to foster camaraderie in the industry. And as always, we are open to your story ideas and suggestions. Feel free to call or write Publisher Tracey Timpanaro at any time. The number is (281) 646-7200, and the e-mail address is tat66@ apcc.net. I would love to hear from you. If you would like to look up the previous “questions” features, they appeared in the April, July and October 2007 issues. And one final note on this month’s feature: usually the answers PSPs give have common themes, but this time the similarities are uncanny. I promise I did not feed any of the answers. Take a look for yourself. Our PSP panel for this month includes: • Anonymous, small PSP in New Jersey; 20+ years in the business • Matt Brink, president, Paytel Communications, Bellevue, Wash.; 250 payphones; 23 years in the business • Brian Chamberlain, president, Madison Communications Inc., Jackson, Tenn.; 82 payphones; 15 years in the business www.apcc.net by Tracey Timpanaro • Jay Colvin, owner, Suntel of SC Inc., Camden, S.C.; 150 payphones; 7 years in the business • Roger Specht, general manager, Gemini Co. Inc., Sioux Falls, S.D.; 48 payphones; 7 years in the business 1 What cost-cutting measures have you implemented? Anonymous: We have cut every cost that can possibly be cut — any general cost has been cut. I had to let my techs go several years ago. Recently we lowered our 1+ cost by shopping around. And in the last 60 days we’ve pulled 20 phones. We started cutting costs several years ago, and it’s an ongoing process. I have to say that my cash flow is good, though. I’ve never bought new equipment. I’ve always bought refurbished equipment. I’m still using the same boards I’ve used for 22 years. I’ve also saved a lot by buying my commission checks through www.intuit.com. Brink: We’ve cut back on low-producing phones, and we’re limiting the number of employees we have. We are always looking to find better or more competitive rates for the products and services we buy frequently. We review our phones every month, and every quarter we make the big decisions about which ones are going to be pulled. We’ve trimmed down a lot. If the phone doesn’t have a net revenue of $30 a month, we pull it. Chamberlain: I now collect most phones only when needed, as opposed to the same time every month. I have also tried to PERSPECTIVES DECEMBER 2009 | 6 perspectives.2009_9_01:perspectives 12/4/09 2:59 PM Page 7 PERTINENT POINTS WE CONSIDER SEVERAL FACTORS WHEN DECIDING WHETHER TO PULL A PHONE. OBVIOUSLY WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE IT’S PAYING THE PHONE BILL. THE SPECIFIC LOCATION AND THE DISTANCE FROM THE OFFICE MATTER TOO. WE ALSO HAVE TO CONSIDER IF WE HAVE OTHER EQUIPMENT AT THE LOCATION. JAY COLVIN 2 Have you reduced or eliminated commissions paid to locations, even good ones? If so, how did you approach the location owner? Anonymous: If we eliminated commissions entirely, we’d www.apcc.net get kicked out of some locations. I pay what I have to pay. The squeaky wheel gets the grease. Those guys might get more than they deserve, but for a good location, I’ll do it. I adjusted commissions six years ago, three years ago, and this year as well. Recently, I sent a letter to a few location owners who had been receiving a fixed amount. I explained to them what was going on in our market, and that I had to adjust the amount because I couldn’t justify what I had been paying them. I reduced the commission to a percentage basis. I didn’t hear a word from most of them. One of my customers, whom I’ve had for 15 years, said, “Look, I have a cell phone and my 10-year-old has a cell phone. I understand your situation. I know I’ll get less money, but the phone can stay.” Brink: We’ve cut commissions drastically. It has been a learning process for our customers. We’d been educating them all along. We’re reduced some, we’ve eliminated some, and have gone semi-public in some locations. Chamberlain: We pay payphone commissions only to locations that allow us to provide air/vac and/or ATM service, with just a few exceptions. Almost all location owners understand that payphones alone are no longer generating the profits they once were. Colvin: We’ve reduced some, but we haven’t eliminated commissions completely. We still pay it to some of our larger customers. Oftentimes, it depends on how understanding MATT HAGE reduce my windshield time by removing the marginal phones that are furthest from my office. Colvin: We closely monitor all our phones every month, and if they’re not making the grade, then we have to pull them. We pulled several phones last year, and we have definitely cut down our routes. We only poll twice a week now. We consider several factors when deciding whether to pull a phone. Obviously we have to make sure it’s paying the phone bill. The specific location and the distance from the office matter too. We also have to consider if we have other equipment at the location. And of course, we consider the customer. It helps if you have understanding customers in this equation. If we have other equipment at his site and the phone isn’t doing well, we’ll often leave it in to keep him happy. You have to take the good with the bad sometimes. Specht: We’ve always run pretty lean. We are taking out phones that aren’t producing a minimal profit. If it pays the phone bill and makes a few bucks more than that, we’ll leave it in place. Our phones are producing profits in the lower income parts of town. PERSPECTIVES DECEMBER 2009 | 7 perspectives.2009_9_01:perspectives 12/4/09 2:59 PM Page 8 PERTINENT POINTS the customer is and what other equipment we have at the location. If a phone is not generating much revenue, we’re not paying commission at all. If it’s generating a little revenue, and we just have a phone at the site, we’re not going to pay commission. It’s not worth it to cut just one small check. But if it’s a phone that’s making a little bit of revenue, and we’re sending commission on the air/vac and the ATM, we’ll go ahead and add the phone commission as well. Sometimes we send letters with the commission checks saying we’re reducing or eliminating commissions. Lots of times in this day and age they understand. We’re also calculating commissions on a quarterly basis now. It’s not worth sending a check every month. Specht: At least three times in the last seven or eight years, we’ve sent out letters to our customers. They say, “If a phone doesn’t do X, we can’t pay commission.” For the most part, the letters have been accepted well. 3 What are you doing to bring business back to your phones? Anonymous: We have tried various things. We put advertising on our phones, and we did it all ourselves. Some of our clients would renew, some wouldn’t. One of our best clients was a bail bonds service. Because we’re a small company, I know every location very well. I check my competitors’ rates and often make adjustments accordingly. A lot of my phones are 10 cents a minute with a one-minute minimum. Our faceplate states that. Brink: We try our best to keep them clean. We’ve done all the moving we’re going to do. We’ve improved the locations of the www.apcc.net PERSPECTIVES DECEMBER 2009 | 8 perspectives.2009_9_01:perspectives 12/4/09 3:00 PM Page 9 PERTINENT POINTS phones gradually through the years. At this point, we’re not trying to upgrade the value of the site. Chamberlain: We do the same things we have always done — keep them working and keep them clean. We also advertise some preprogrammed speed dial numbers (* numbers) to frequently called 800 numbers like the lottery, prayer lines, and Social Security. That has helped maintain our dial-around income. Colvin: We’re doing our best to keep them clean and keep them working. We haven’t made a lot of changes in the last year or two. We’ve started several other businesses and haven’t focused on the phones like we should. Specht: A few months ago, we switched operator service providers, and I think we’re seeing an increase in our international revenue because of that. They gave us very colorful cards for the upper and lower housing, and stickers that go on each side of the keypad. We’re advertising two programs — one is international and the other is an 800 program. 4 How do you organize your day? What do you do first thing in the morning? Anonymous: I leave at 5 a.m. to do my collections and maintenance. If I’m not out of some of my neighborhoods by 3 p.m., it can become an uncomfortable situation. I split New Jersey into northern and southern territories, and I mix up my schedule so I’m not at the same phone on the same day. I do my polling in the evenings on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Brink: We poll every morning, but we don’t service as well as we used to. It’s no longer “Johnny on the spot,” but more www.apcc.net when we can get there. If a phone is down for two or three days, I realize it’s a loss of money, but oftentimes it would cost more to drive there and fix it. If it’s a really good phone, we’ll make a special trip. But there’s no advantage to going to marginal phones more regularly. We’re spread out across the state, and we divide it by the east and west sides. Once a week we get together to review the route. Chamberlain: Quite frankly, our payphones require a lot less attention than they used to. There are very few troubles or issues to deal with on a daily basis. Our daily focus revolves more around the ATMs and air/vacs. Of course we check out our payphones while on site to service the other equipment. Colvin: We really take things day by day, because it’s so hard to plan ahead. We have phones, ATMs and air/vacs, and there’s always something to do. The majority of our phones are in one general area. We try to schedule our phone service on the days we’re loading our ATMs, since they’re in the same areas. Specht: We poll every night, and so our first task in the morning is to look at the reports and send someone out for coin collection or repair if we need to. After that, we do paperwork. 5 Other than payphone management software, what software do you use to manage your route (Word, Excel, database and accounting programs, etc.)? Anonymous: I use Quicken for commission checks and paying bills. I also use Excel. Brink: We created a sophisticated database program 15 years ago that we use to run our route. It makes everything easier. We do use Excel to print certain reports. For example, we have some truck stops that want certain reports, so that’s how we print them. Chamberlain: Besides QuickBooks, we use M.I.S.T. business software to handle all of our payphone data and hope to start using it for the air/vacs and ATMs soon. Colvin: We use Word, Excel and QuickBooks. We have an Excel spreadsheet set up for our commissions. Any income we take in goes through QuickBooks, including ACH transactions. Specht: We use Lotus for our spreadsheets and financial management. We use Microsoft Money for our checking functions. Please see the sidebar on the next page. Tracey Timpanaro is publisher of Perspectives on Public Communication magazine. WE ALSO ADVERTISE SOME PREPROGRAMMED SPEED DIAL NUMBERS (* NUMBERS) TO FREQUENTLY CALLED 800 NUMBERS LIKE THE LOTTERY, PRAYER LINES, AND SOCIAL SECURITY. THAT HAS HELPED MAINTAIN OUR DIAL-AROUND INCOME. BRIAN CHAMBERLAIN PERSPECTIVES DECEMBER 2009 | 9 perspectives.2009_9_01:perspectives 12/4/09 3:00 PM Page 10 PERTINENT POINTS P.S. FIND MORE SCOOP HERE Editor’s note: In the course of talking to PSPs for the main feature, other tidbits came up during my conversations. The information didn’t quite fit the story’s categories, but it is certainly worth passing on, so I’ve included it here. Some of the topics are sensitive, so I chose not to use attribution. These are all direct quotes from my interviews. Well, except for my exceedingly clever headlines. 1. ICE, ICE BABY. There is a large nationwide ice packing company that has not been doing a great job with service in our area. The company was taking care of its large accounts, but wasn’t providing good service to its mom and pop accounts. It’s hard to manage a large company like that; they get so big that they can’t keep up. We decided to go into the ice packing business, and have picked up 30 to 40 new customers already. Because we already had the locations in a lot of instances, it was easy to come back in with another product. It’s going really well because we had all those contacts. 3. quite a few phones, and we’ve been able to sell most of our extra equipment. We’re down to selling internal parts. SEND CASH PLEASE. Our ATMs are programmed to send alerts when they have a low cash balance or money is jammed. My e-mail goes straight to my cell phone, and this has proven immensely helpful. Sometimes I’m in town on the weekends, and it saves a great deal of time if I can handle the problem when I’m in town vs. driving back in during the week. www.apcc.net We’re looking at doing group management for all of us as a way to eliminate costs. Nobody wants to buy anybody anymore. If we could put three or four companies together so we could combine collection and service, it would eliminate more costs. 4. COIN, GLORIOUS COIN. We’ve been concentrating on coin phones. A good coin phone is still a good coin phone. We have a lot of phones that held the same amount of coin even through the economic downturn. This has been a good business, and it’s still a really good business. You just have to take care of your customers. 5. 2. PARTS, ANYONE? Over the years, we have removed 7. LONG LIVE THE PAYPHONE. We have had to work with quite a few customers who want our phones removed. We’re doing our best to save what we’ve got. It’s been a real problem. 6. ALL IN THE FAMILY. Over the years, all the PSPs in our state association have worked hard to keep a good relationship. Everybody knows everybody, and we’re all in survival mode. We help each other in as many ways as we can. WASH, DRY AND SURF. In 2003, I put Internet kiosks in Laundromats, and I still have them. I charge 10 cents per minute. I built the cabinet for the kiosk myself. There was a lot of revenue in the machines when I first put them in, but the revenue fell in the fall of 2008 and 2009, just like with my payphones. I think a large part of the reason was because a lot of Hispanic immigrants had trouble finding jobs here during the economic downturn, so they went back to their native countries. — Tracey Timpanaro PERSPECTIVES DECEMBER 2009 | 10 perspectives.2009_9_01:perspectives 12/4/09 3:01 PM Page 11 TO THE RESCUE PAYPHONES TO THE RESCUE IN TWO SEPARATE STORIES, A 911 CALL FROM A PAYPHONE ENDED UP SAVING A PERSON’S LIFE Most people in the payphone industry have heard their share of arguments over the years for removing payphones. The phones get blamed for criminal activity, blight, loitering — they’re a common target for municipal officials and law enforcement representatives who typically misunderstand the true role payphones play in communities. Payphone service providers (PSPs), meanwhile, have been consistently making a case for the contributions payphones offer. The phones provide a lifeline for millions of people with no phones of their own; the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) estimates that almost 6 million U.S. households have no phone service of any kind. This population, typically low income households, relies on payphones for their everyday communication needs. Payphones are also reliable sources of communication during emergencies, such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks, blackouts and hurricanes. Not to mention that payphones provide around the clock 911 service. Good arguments one and all, and now it’s safe to take those arguments one step further. Payphones can save lives. At least two payphone providers have shared stories recently of callers using their payphones to rescue others in the midst of lifethreatening situations. And in both cases, the rescue attempts were successful. A TWIST ON TECHNOLOGY When Touchtone Technologies Inc. developed technology for www.apcc.net placing collect calls on cellular telephones, the company promoted it as a new revenue opportunity. The service, TTI Collect 2 cell, incorporates automated interactive voice response with text message invoicing, an interactive Web portal and recorded sound files for call acceptance confirmation. After a call is completed, a text message is sent to the called party. In some cases, the customers send replies. Most are a brief “thx” or “check is in the mail.” In May, however, the company received a message reading, “OK I’m not sorry I accepted that call. My son saved a child’s life with that call for 3 mins. I’ll put money order in today’s mail…” “When I first read the text message I thought it was a joke, so we called the cell phone number that sent the message,” said company president and CEO Stephen Muoio. “The technology was developed for telecom carriers. We hadn’t considered what a positive impact the service would have on end users.” The message was genuine. It was sent by Portland, Ore. resident Retta Jeffries. When her cell phone rang May 4, an automated voice told her, “You have a TTI collect call; press one to accept.” Jeffries accepted the call and found herself talking to her 19-year-old son, Emanuel, who was asking for instructions on performing the Heimlich maneuver. The technique calls for using a series of under-thediaphragm abdominal thrusts to save the life of someone choking on a foreign object. Emanuel was working at a camp in South Dakota at the time. He told his mother a 3-year-old boy there had swallowed a penny. The coin was lodged in the PERSPECTIVES DECEMBER 2009 | 11 MATT HAGE by Flori Meeks perspectives.2009_9_01:perspectives 12/4/09 3:01 PM Page 12 TO THE RESCUE “OBVIOUSLY, PAYPHONES PROVIDE A SERVICE TO THE COMMUNITY,” MUOIO SAYS. “IT’S A CONVENIENCE, AND WHEN PEOPLE DON’T HAVE A CELL PHONE BECAUSE THEY CAN’T AFFORD IT OR THEY FORGOT IT OR THE BATTERY DOESN’T WORK, IT’S A SAFETY ISSUE.” STEPHEN MUOIO boy’s throat, blocking his airway, and he couldn’t breathe. Emanuel, who didn’t have a cell phone, called his mom from a payphone. Jeffries walked him through the Heimlich maneuver, and he was able to dislodge the penny. “Obviously, payphones provide a service to the community,” Muoio says. “It’s a convenience, and when people don’t have a cell phone because they can’t afford it or they forgot it or the battery doesn’t work, it’s a safety issue.” A DIRE SITUATION Jeff Wallmark, the owner of American Products in Fort Smith, Ark., learned about the contributions one of his payphones made while he and his wife were watching the evening news in November of 2008. “They were telling the story of a gentleman on 6th Street. A couple of guys just decided to beat on him.” The man tried to get home, but he was seriously injured and unable to make the walk. That’s when an observer used a corner payphone to call 911, the news report stated. “My wife and I looked at each other and said, ‘that’s our phone,’” Wallmark says. The call brought life-saving medical assistance to the crime victim. A CONCRETE CASE A couple of weeks later, Wallmark attended a community meeting where city officials and residents of a local apartment complex were discussing the possibility of removing some area payphones because they felt it would reduce criminal activity. Wallmark, who owns two payphones in the area being considered, was intent on making a case for keeping the payphones www.apcc.net in place. “The residents were misinformed about how the phones were being used,” he says. As far as his call records indicated, callers were using his payphones for conversations, not illegal purposes. “I watch the traffic,” Wallmark says. “There’s more long distance calling than local.” Further, Wallmark said, payphones can be used as crime-fighting tools. “I explained that the phone traffic was being monitored, and if subpoenaed, it could provide a record.” Wallmark also pointed out payphones’ social value in the community. “I reminded them of payphones’ legitimate purposes for visitors and those who don’t have other phones.” But the key to his argument was the fact that a payphone near the complex, one of his payphones, became a rescue tool when it was needed. “That phone you say is a conduit for criminal activity saved a gentleman’s life,” Wallmark told the others at the meeting. The City Council members at the meeting did consider Wallmark’s comments. They liked the idea of the payphone traffic being monitored, and they liked the idea of a payphone saving a life. There have been no additional requests to pull the payphones since that meeting. These cases are far from the only times payphones have been used to summon help. But the rewarding aspect for Muoio and Wallmark is that they got to hear the happy endings. “It felt good to know the phone served its purpose, and it helped somebody,” Wallmark says. “There have been a lot of stories about payphones being removed,” Muoio said. “Here’s a story that shows a payphone saving a life. Being in the telecom field, it was good to see something like that happen.” Flori Meeks is a freelance writer who is based in Houston. She has 21 years of writing and editing experience, and has been writing for Perspectives for 10 years. PERSPECTIVES DECEMBER 2009 | 12 perspectives.2009_9_01:perspectives 12/4/09 3:03 PM Page 13 TECH TALK PAYPHONES GOING GREEN? ONE PSP MAKES A CASE FOR USING GREEN CLEANING PRODUCTS by Alan Rothenstreich Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of articles that will address cleaning products. EVERYONE IS GOING GREEN, so why not us? It makes sense for payphone service providers (PSPs) on many levels. In this article, I’m going to offer three reasons why you should consider making the switch. IT JUST MAKES SENSE The first argument is the easiest — going green is better for you, your employees, your customers, and the environment. Most of the products used in the industry today — from general cleaners to graffiti removers — are aerosol sprays, so they contain fluorocarbons or mixtures of volatile hydrocarbons stored under pressure. Active ingredients like these are pretty toxic (not to mention flammable), and are obviously harmful to both humans and the environment. When the cleaner comes into contact with plastics, it is usually corrosive. It can cause all kinds of problems for a human body — irritating the skin, eyes, nose and throat for example. It can create headaches and cause fatigue and nausea. Overexposure can cause permanent brain and nervous system damage. For these reasons, most companies have discontinued manufacturing aerosol products. From an employee standpoint, you can avoid workers compensation claims and make your employees happier. Plus, an employee who is not worried about the cleaning www.apcc.net solution burning his skin or irritating his eyes is more likely to clean. With many of the green products, you can clean without gloves because they are so safe. Liability should be part of this discussion as well. In most cases, phones are located outside, and when you’re cleaning, you are spraying products outside where the public is. If the product you are dispersing accidentally gets in someone’s eyes or on his skin, you will be liable. And we know you don’t want that. The good news is that new products are coming to market that are biodegradable and green. The newer products have less volatile organic compound in them, but that does not make them less effective. We will be discussing some of these products in upcoming issues. IT WON’T BREAK THE BANK My second point is that going green is not as expensive as you might think. Although the products cost more initially, there are some hidden savings over the life of the product. Dilution is one example; not every situation requires the full strength of the cleaning product. (With your standard aerosol products, dilution isn’t an option.) PERSPECTIVES DECEMBER 2009 | 13 perspectives.2009_9_01:perspectives 12/4/09 3:04 PM Page 14 TECH TALK ONE LAST ADVANTAGE TO GOING GREEN IS THAT YOU CAN USE IT AS A SALES TOOL, FOR BOTH YOUR LOCATION OWNERS AND PAYPHONE CUSTOMERS. YOU CAN MENTION ON SALES CALLS THAT YOU ONLY USE GREEN PRODUCTS. Another example is that you will be able to buy cleaning solution in bulk, which saves money. You’ll be putting the solution in your own plastic bottles, so there is savings inherent when you’re dispensing the solution. First off, you will be using less product than you would with conventional cleaners. Secondly, you will ultimately use 100 percent of what is in the bottle. With aerosol cans, about ¼ of the active ingredients are wasted due to a variety of factors: wide dispersion, overspraying, a loss of pressure in the can, or because your technician damaged the tip and had to throw the bottle out. Something else to consider is that you very well may save on the rags or towels you use. There are companies that buy unused extra fabric from factories and turn the fabric into rags. These companies sell the rags or towels for the same price or cheaper than new rags. YOU’LL MAKE NEW FRIENDS One last advantage to going green is that you can use it as a sales tool, for both your location owners and payphone customers. You can mention on sales calls that you only use green products. You may even want to Fun facts consider putting some type of sticker In his research, Rothenstreich found one on your phones that informs customers green product that was promoted as that the phone has been cleaned by “safe enough to eat.” Another product green products. The environment is a was actually kosher, and the company hot topic these days; your new approach rep said, “You can eat it, but it doesn’t taste very good.” We think we’ll take his may even help you gain new customers. word for it. As the Editor’s note mentions, I will be covering cleaning products in www.apcc.net ALAN ROTHENSTREICH upcoming Tech Talk columns. I would love to hear from you. You can send suggestions, questions, or even recommend a particular product. Obviously, clean phones are in everyone’s best interest, so let’s help ourselves and the environment at the same time by using green products to keep our phones clean. Alan Rothenstreich is director of projects for TCC Teleplex and serves as the technical consultant for the Independent Payphone Association of New York. PERSPECTIVES DECEMBER 2009 | 14 perspectives.2009_9_01:perspectives 12/4/09 3:05 PM Page 15 LEGAL & REGULATORY by Dan Collins NEXT-G TO PAY $250,000 TO FCC TO SETTLE INVESTIGATION On Nov. 9, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted a Consent Decree with Next-G Communications Inc. The decree concluded the FCC Enforcement Bureau’s investigation into whether Next-G violated the commission’s payphone compensation rules by, among other things, failing to: • pay dial-around compensation; • establish a call tracking system; • engage a third party auditor to verify that the call tracking system complies with the commission’s requirements, • prepare an annual system audit report to be filed with the commission; • submit quarterly call data reports to PSPs; and • provide sworn statements from its chief financial officer certifying that the compensation paid for a particular quarter was accurate and complete. Under the Consent Decree, Next-G agreed to pay $250,000 to the FCC and to create a plan related to the company’s future compliance with the FCC’s payphone compensation rules. Next-G also agreed to waive its right to administrative or judicial reconsideration, review or appeal of the Consent Decree. The decree does not prevent the FCC from investigating new evidence of noncompliance of the agency’s payphone compensation rules by Next-G. For years, APCC Services has been leading efforts against nonpayors at the FCC. APCC Services has been pressing the FCC to pursue sanctions against nonpaying carriers who do not comply with their responsibilities under the dial-around compensation orders. www.apcc.net FCC HEADQUARTERS PLEASE NOTE IMPORTANT FILING DEADLINES FOR 2010 As we approach 2010, you should mark your calendars for the following important FCC filing deadlines: Feb. 1 Form 499-Q Quarterly filing for Universal Service contributors April 1 Form 499-A Annual telecommunications reporting worksheet May 1 Form 499-Q Quarterly filing for Universal Service contributors Aug. 1 Form 499-Q Quarterly filing for Universal Service contributors *Sept. Form 159-W Annual regulatory fee worksheet Nov. 1 Form 499-Q Quarterly filing for Universal Service contributors Please note that all PSPs must file Form 499-A and Form 159-W regardless of whether they qualify for the de minimis exemption for direct payments to the USF. *Please also note that the specific September date has not yet been set for the Form 159-W deadline. PERSPECTIVES DECEMBER 2009 | 15 perspectives.2009_9_01:perspectives 12/4/09 3:05 PM Page 16 LEGAL & REGULATORY QUESTION OF THE MONTH DO PSPs HAVE TO PAY THE SLC? The Subscriber Line Charge (SLC) is not a government fee or tax, but a fee that carriers charge to recover the cost of providing access to the telephone network. The SLC, also called the federal Subscriber Line Charge, Federal Access Charge or Customer Line Charge by some carriers, is regulated by the FCC and is currently capped at $6.50 for a single line. PSPs are not exempt from paying the SLC, but payphones must be treated as single line business lines for assessing the SLC, not the higher amounts assessed on multi-line businesses. FCC ANNOUNCES 4TH QUARTER USF CONTRIBUTION FACTOR According to a Public Notice issued by the FCC, the USF contribution factor for the fourth quarter of 2009 will be 12.3 percent, a decrease of 0.6 percent from the third quarter 2009 contribution rate. Dan Collins is corporate counsel for the APCC. PLEASE NOTE NEW MAILING ADDRESS FOR USF PAYMENTS As of Oct. 22, the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) changed the addresses for companies who send in Universal Service Fund (USF) contribution payments. For payphone service providers (PSP) who are direct contributors to the USF, the new addresses for payments made by check are: Regular Mail: USAC P.O. Box 105056 Atlanta, GA 30348-5056 Overnight Courier: Bank of America c/o USAC (105056) 1075 Loop Road Atlanta, GA 30337 USAC will charge any applicable late payment fees for payments sent to the old delivery addresses. Additional information on making direct contributions to the USF can be found at: www.usac.org/fund-administration/collections/payment-instructions.aspx. If you are a PSP who qualifies for the de minimis exemption from direct USF payments, you will continue to make indirect USF payments through your carrier bills. www.apcc.net PERSPECTIVES DECEMBER 2009 | 16 perspectives.2009_9_01:perspectives 12/4/09 3:06 PM Page 17 INDUSTRY BRIEFS IN MEMORIAM LOBSTER, ANYONE? JERRY ROMNEY Jerry Romney Jr., a payphone industry pioneer, passed away on Sept. 18. He was 55 years old. Romney entered the industry in its infancy as a payphone service provider (PSP), but he was best known for his leadership of Teltrust, an operator service provider (OSP) based in Salt Lake City, Utah. “I believe he was the first OSP to offer an unbundled product to the market, where you could pick from a menu of service options,” said APCC board member Gary Pace, president of Midwest Communication Solutions Inc. “It was a pretty innovative approach to the market from what I saw.” Pace said he remembers how at ease he felt the first time he visited Romney and his colleagues at Teltrust. “You got a very comfortable feeling that you would be well taken care of. The honesty and integrity he had was very apparent.” Romney and Pace became close through the years, and Pace has many fond memories of his friend. One of his favorites is a trip that was arranged by Teltrust for its biggest customers. The whole group spent four days together on several houseboats on Lake Powell. “It was probably the vacation of my lifetime,” Pace says. “I remember being completely and utterly relaxed.” Romney was known for his generous hospitality, and his talents in the kitchen were legendary. He was a voracious reader, and absolutely loved the outdoors, particularly fly fishing and hunting. “Everyone knew him as a great individual,” said friend and business associate Gary Buehner, who is CEO of the new Teltrust. “He had many, many friends. He was always happy and jovial, and he had a great sense of humor. He’ll be missed.” Pace said Romney’s generosity was immense. “If I needed a nickel and Jerry only had a dime left, he would offer me the dime.” Pace also remembers being blown away the first time he saw Romney skiing. Romney was traversing a black double diamond slope like it was a walk in the park. “He was so fluid, so athletic,” Pace said. “It was like he barely touched the slope.” We think that’s a good way for all of us to remember him. — Tracey Timpanaro www.apcc.net THE LOBSTER ZONE IS OFFERING PSPS A NEW revenue opportunity with its Lobster Zone amusement vending machine, which is typically placed at sports bars, casinos, restaurants and the like. The crane machine houses live lobsters, and players can try to catch one in a giant claw. If successful, an employee of the establishment will retrieve the lobster and cook it for dinner. It costs $2 to play, and a contestant has 60 seconds to work with the machine. “It is definitely a spectator game,” said Mark Shmikler, president of Illinois Payphone Systems, who has quite a few machines in the field. “When someone puts $2 in, right away everyone is watching him play. And if he wins, there is lots of screaming and yelling.” Shmikler said when the game is first placed in an establishment, it does really well. His best machines have earned $1,500 per week for the first few weeks, although the national average is between $400-$450. “Play does diminish over time, however,” he said. “The best locations are ones that draw a transient crowd, so there are always new faces coming in. But I would say the machine runs its course in three to 12 months, and then you find another location for it.” The machines do require service every week, and it takes about 30 minutes, including counting the money. It’s not hard to learn how to service the machines, but it is very important that it is done properly. “We’re very happy we have the machines,” Shmikler said. “Due to those contacts, it has helped us place ATM machines as well.” “It’s a really good fit for PSPs,” said Lobster Zone CEO PERSPECTIVES DECEMBER 2009 | 17 perspectives.2009_9_01:perspectives 12/4/09 3:06 PM Page 18 INDUSTRY BRIEFS Ernie Pappas. “You already have great potential locations and people to service the machines, so it makes a lot of sense.” There are currently 700 machines placed around the country. The machines cost $12,500 each. For more information, please visit www.thelobsterzone. com, or you can call Pappas at (407) 592-2735. His e-mail address is epappas@cfl.rr.com. Shmikler said he would be happy to answer questions from other PSPs. He can be reached at (708) 598-7200, or via e-mail at mshmikler@mindspring.com. FINDING BURIED WIRES IS A SNAP LOCATING BURIED WIRES AND CABLES CAN BE A nightmare, and the equipment that makes it easier typically costs a fortune. TelVend has a new product that will solve this problem for PSPs. TelVend is pleased to introduce the Pro871 buried wire, cable, pipe locator/break detector. The unit incorporates a dual frequency transmitter and a sensitive receiver, and can detect wire, cable and pipe that are up to three feet underground. “If your payphone wire breaks, and it’s buried, it can be very costly to find the break,” said Cliff Wilson, president of TelVend. “You have to rip up asphalt and tear up the ground in some cases. This product saves a lot of time, effort and money.” Similar products on the market cost between $2,000 and $4,000, Wilson says. The Pro871 is $499, and just came out on the market this year. Wilson says the Pro871 is very easy to use. You simply connect the transmitter to ground and the wire to be tracked and turn it on. A series of beeps will guide you to exactly where the wire is broken. You can use the unit to trace good wire as well. An inductive clamp (IC871) can be added for an additional $100. The clamp allows non-metallic connection to wires and cables, inducing signal onto the conductor and providing a tracing signal. For more information, call (508) 675-5474, or send an e-mail to telvend@aol.com. PHONE IS WEATHERPROOFED TO THE MAX THE G-TEL WP500 IS A WEATHERPROOF PHONE designed for locations where durability and weather resistance is needed. All the components have multi-layer waterproofing and dust proofing. The phone can be used for direct dialed calls and also has the capability to store nine unique speed dial numbers for fast push button access by the user. The WP500 is perfect for use as an emergency phone in transit applications or parking garages. It can also function as a courtesy phone, a security phone, or a hotline phone. The phone is designed to be either wall- or pedestalmounted, and can be wall mounted without the need for a www.apcc.net separate mounting device. The G-TEL WP500 is made of durable powder-coated steel and is protected by a sealed door with a latch. The phone utilizes several gaskets and waterproof gels to keep water out. The phone is keypad programmable and vandal resistant, and it has a magnetic hookswitch (i.e. no lever). It works with any standard telephone line or VoIP. It can be used on most PBX systems as an extension phone, and the door latch allows the door to be locked if necessary (but the padlock is not included). The optional Security Screw Kit allows the main fasteners on the front of the phone to be changed out with special tamperresistant screws during installation. The kit includes 10 security screws and one security screwdriver bit. For more information, please call (800) 884.4835, or visit www.payphone.com. PERSPECTIVES DECEMBER 2009 | 18 perspectives.2009_9_01:perspectives 12/4/09 3:07 PM Page 19 LAST WORD WE LOVE LARGE TELEPHONE COMPANIES A PSP HAS HIS PATIENCE TESTED OVER WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN A SIMPLE REPAIR CALL by Dennis Williams HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED HOW A COMPANY can be in business for such a long period of time (decades apparently) and have lousy customer service? Well question it no longer; I have the answer. I do, however, have to choose my words wisely when telling this story, because some of the words I’d like to use are too colorful for print. I’ll be polite and won’t name the company in question, but suffice it to say it’s a large telephone company in Canada, and you all have similar counterparts in the United States. When thinking about such companies, I have to wonder the following: who hires their employees, who comes up with the rules for dealing with customers, and why am I the lucky one who gets to deal with such companies on a daily basis? What have I ever done to deserve this? Of the many stories I could share with you, one in particular comes to mind. It all started about a month ago when one of my technicians visited a payphone because we had lost contact with it. After several minutes of troubleshooting, it appeared that the payphone had lost dial tone, as it was not a handset or board problem. We actually had no dial tone coming into the payphone. REALLY, WE CAN’T FLY However, my technician could not verify a problem at the demarcation jack, as the local exchange carrier (LEC) had installed the jack 30 feet up a telephone pole, and our techniwww.apcc.net cians do not carry 30 foot ladders or sky-jacks with them. In fact, my technician does not own a 30 foot ladder or sky-jack, but maybe the telephone company should supply them. Maybe I’ll approach them with this idea; I’m sure it would go over big. After my tech told me about the problem, I prepared myself for the ordeal I knew I would have to endure. I called the company’s toll-free “so-called” repair number. I was then asked to enter “1” for English or “2” for French. Since I knew I was going to have a hard time, I thought I might try French for fun, even though I don’t speak it very well. But since I really did have to try to solve the problem, I chose English, mostly because I know more swear words in it. I told the person who answered the phone (let’s call him Roy) that we had no dial tone at our payphone. Without asking any questions, he transferred me to residential repair before I could say a word. I was so pleased with this, as I knew the folks at residential repair would be payphone experts. So “Judy” answered the phone, and once again I explained the situation. She then asked me why I had called residential repair since I was calling about a payphone issue. And then, without a word, she transferred me to the payphone division. You are thinking, “Good choice, right!” Not so fast. She had transferred me to the company’s own payphone division. Yes, the division that looks after its payphones and not the competitive payphone lines. Therefore, when “Rudy” answered the phone, he said, “This is not our payphone. I can’t help you.” Really??? DENNIS WILLIAMS PERSPECTIVES DECEMBER 2009 | 19 perspectives.2009_9_01:perspectives 12/4/09 3:08 PM Page 20 LAST WORD So yes, you guessed it; I was again transferred to another department, which thrilled me no end. After about 20 minutes on hold, my call was picked up by Roy. I was so happy because he had proven so competent in our first exchange. I believe at this point the decibel level of my voice was slightly (OK, highly) increased from the last time I had spoken to him. I’m pretty sure I said something along the lines of “if you transfer me again, I will stick my hand through the phone and choke you to death.” I then made him feel better by saying, “You know, I am not upset with you, but with the company who would hire someone as incompetent as you.” Amazingly, that did not go over well. He placed me on hold for 15 minutes before his supervisor answered my call. “All I wanted was for the demarcation jack to be 6 feet above the ground, rather than the 30 feet it is now. Is that too much to ask for?” I asked the supervisor on duty. “Just send someone out to lower the demarcation jack and check for dial tone.” THIS IS PROGRESS? OK great; we’re making progress here. After approximately one hour on the phone for a simple repair request, it seems the order has been placed and the demarc will be relocated to a lower level. Furthermore, it is to be completed by their technician within two days. Whatever! Really, how important is dial tone after all? I should have known better. After three days of waiting for this repair to be made, I still could not communicate with the payphone. So I dispatched our technician once again. He called me www.apcc.net from the site, and the demarcation jack had been lowered to 6 feet above the ground as requested, but there was no dial tone present. I remember thinking, “Can you believe that?” I also remember repeating a particular four letter word, but I’ll leave that to your imagination. Soooooooooo what next? Yes, it was back to the phone to experience some more of that terrific customer service. Suffice it to say that my blood was boiling after 35 minutes of that. But after a very heated conversation, I was able to talk directly to the technician who lowered the demarcation jack. The tech actually had the balls to tell me he was there to lower the demarcation jack to 6 feet and he had not been asked to confirm dial tone, nor had he thought of that himself. In fact, he was pretty adamant that he had done his job, and done it well. “I was only there to move the jack; I did not check dial tone. I did not have to check dial tone.” Who in their right mind would service a line and NOT check for dial tone? I don’t even think the word incompetent covers it. ARGHHHHHH! At press time, the dial tone issue had yet to be resolved. However, I do have an answer to my initial question about how a company can be in business for such a long period of time and have such lousy customer service. It just doesn’t care! Dennis Williams has been involved in the payphone industry for 11 years and is currently operations manager for FCT Communications Inc., which is based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He can be reached at dennis.williams@rogers.com. Feel free to send questions or ideas for Tech Talk columns. PERSPECTIVES DECEMBER 2009 | 20 perspectives.2009_9_01:perspectives 12/4/09 3:09 PM Page 21 CLASSIFIEDS CLASSIFIEDS FOR SALE PAYPHONE SERVICE & REPA IR DIGITAL PERSPECTIVES SPECIAL FOR SALE ATM ROUTE FOR SALE - Substantial ATM route available. Route includes over 500 machines located primarily in Florida. An opportunity to move to Florida and get back into a growth mode. Approximately half the machines are loaded by the Seller with the balance being sites where the Seller performs processing and maintenance services. Mostly all sites are under contract with nationally branded retail petroleum operators. Qualified buyers only at BIZ4Sale08@aol.com or call 1-866.372.1694. Fantastic opportunity to re-energize in a growing business with increasing potential. FOR SALE 30 used Elcotel Series 5 Quadrum complete payphones, excellent working/cosmetic condition (most were recently removed from lifetime inside locations), all boards have reset button, Assa Desmo locks available (extra). $4500/OBO, delivery negotiable. Call Scott at 316-640-3175, coin@cox.net, Touch Tone Communications. FOR SALE Recently pulled from route: Elcotel Series 5 boards, Quadrum style phones unarmored and armored without locks. Pedestals, masts, enclosures (indoor and outdoor), misc. parts. Will sell or part, reasonable offer accepted. Please call 609.548.4860 or e-mail DA7193@aol.com. FLAT RATE Circuit Board $ Repairs Happy holidays 8 thank you for your business for orders of $100 or more 25 $ Coin Relays CoinCo Coin Mechs $ Keypads REPAIRED Protel Scanners $ REPAIRED 10 15 NO EXTRA CHARGE FOR PARTS OR “HANDLING” 6 MONTH WARRANTY VISA, MasterCard, Discover accepted 888-926-8057 CUSTOM TELEPHONE PRINTING 25 years and counting… Holiday specials: NEW handsets $10 Protel batteries $2.95 (sale ends Jan. 15; ask for details) • handsets • handset parts • inmate handsets • batteries PT Solutions E L E C T RO N I C S R E PA I R MEMBER Your Source For... 59 Lauderdale Ln Crawfordville, FL 32327 QUALITY SERVICE SINCE 1997 718.876.6000 • 800.628.8097 sales@handsetsource.com • www.handsetsource.com Uppers & Lowers, Aluminum Signage, Vault Door Covers, Backer Cards, Handset Labels and so much More!!! You will do foolish things, but do them with enthusiasm. Yes, you can do it. — Colette Call us for a • Air/vac/water machines are an easy way to make extra money. • Our AIRKING machines are very easy to install and maintain. • Call us and we’ll tell you everything you need to know. • Mention this ad to receive a free air or vac hose when ordering a machine. American Products 800.542.3336 In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. — Albert Einstein www.apcc.net FREE sample pack! Phone: 800-753-5300 or 815-338-0000 F ax: 800-933-5303 or 815-338-0009 Visit our Website at: www.customtel.com Email us at: sales@customtel.com WANTED Classified ads are accepted on a prepaid basis only. Classified ad rates are $1 per word with a 40-word minimum, or $50 per column inch for display ads. Classified ads are accepted in written form only. To place an ad, please call Tracey Timpanaro at (281) 646-7200, or send your ad to: Perspectives magazine, 625 Slaters Lane, Ste. 104, Alexandria, VA 22314 PERSPECTIVES DECEMBER 2009 | 21 PAYPHONE ROUTES WANTED NATIONWIDE 25 PHONE MINIMUM PLEASE E-MAIL CONFIDENTIAL INQUIRIES TO: TROSE@CPMC.BIZ perspectives.2009_9_01:perspectives 12/4/09 3:09 PM Page 22 CLASSIFIEDS CLASSIFIEDS FOR SALE PUBLISHER Tracey Timpanaro DESIGN Sharon Cordell, In Graphic Detail CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Dan Collins, Flori Meeks, Alan Rothenstreich, Tracey Timpanaro, Dennis Williams • Air/Water Machines • Payphone Enclosures • Air Vacs • Pedestals • Security Vaults • Inmate Products APCC PRESIDENT Willard R. Nichols CALL TODAY FOR MORE DETAILS APCC STAFF Evelyn Bruggeman Daniel P. Collins Ruth Jaeger Willard R. Nichols David Rossé Helly Shareefy Deborah Sterman Tracey Timpanaro 1-866-874-8210 WWW.TPITEXAS.COM PAYPHONE SERVICE & REPAIR FREE IS GOOD! Send in 5 boards for repair, pay for 4 and get the 5th one FREE* * You must mention this ad to qualify for repair special. www.payphone2000.com 800.798.5616 MEMBER 쏼N COMMUNICATI CONNECTION Providing value and service to PSPs for over 20 years. ©2009 by the American Public Communications Council Inc. This publication may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the express written permission of the American Public Communications Council Inc. Perspectives is published six times per year by the American Public Communications Council Inc. Perspectives is offered for information purposes only. Statements of fact or opinion by authors or advertisers are believed to be true, but should not be considered as legal advice. If legal advice is required, contact your attorney. Perspectives reserves the right to reject any advertisement submitted for publication. www.apcc.net Happy, happy holidays from all of us at APCC APCC BOARD OF DIRECTORS Chairman James Kelly III Michael Bright Don Goens Mason Harris Lin Harvey Janie Hughes Ray Kadingo Tom Keane Gary Koos Troy Lee Rick Lubbehusen Bill Manko Tammy Martin Ray Mastroianni Howard Meister George Niden Dennis Novick Gary Pace Bruce Renard Walter Rice Tom Rose Bruce Sandys Mark Shmikler Ralph Tipple Vincent Townsend APCC 625 Slaters Lane, Ste. 104 Alexandria, VA 22314 (703) 739-1322 • (703) 739-1324 (fax) apcc@apcc.net Perspectives magazine Tracey Timpanaro 625 Slaters Lane, Ste. 104 Alexandria, VA 22314 (281) 646-7200 • (573) 392-4772 (fax) tat66@apcc.net For subscriptions and address changes: www.apcc.net Official magazine of the American Public Communications Council Inc. PERSPECTIVES DECEMBER 2009 | 22
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