The big switch: Intellicall brings its prepaid calling service offering to the U.S.

Intellicall is coming home. The 13-year-old company originally developed its switching platform, the N-Genius Network System, to support prepaid phone services in underdeveloped countries. Proven abroad, Intellicall is launching the product stateside.

"N-Genius was originally an enhanced service switching and database platform," explained John Hird, vice president of business development at Intellicall. "The first applications were for prepaid calling services such as calling cards, prepaid wireless and pay phone calls." People in service-sparse countries buy calling cards at a store and use a pay phone or a handset on a bus or a train, he said.

N-Genius is a digital switch that can simultaneously run various applications, depending on trunking groups, Hird said. It validates up to 50,000 calls an hour and supports wireless and wireline service. The switch sits next to the central office and provides enhanced services. It performs prepaid calling card, prepaid wireless, prepaid personal identification number, voice over Internet protocol (IP) routing, satellite connectivity and gateway/tandem switching services.

N-Genius also operates as a regional switching hub with a centralized administration platform. Carriers can use N-Genius for back office management or tie N-Genius into their own management systems. Real-time billing is also provided.

Callers swipe magnetic strip debit cards in access terminals, and N-Genius validates the card, monitors the credit balance and routes the call. Intellicall believes N-Genius will allow service providers to promote the untapped mark et for prepaid calling services.

"Our customers in the U.S., the [competitive local exchange carriers] and even the [incumbent] LECs, are looking to provide prepaid services in the U.S.," Hird said. One example is in the cellular market. Using N-Genius' prepaid model, "customers can purchase a handset and airtime, and they can buy additional airtime as they need it," he said. Customers can have mobility without meeting traditional credit requirements.

The platform supports multiple services and correlating rate plans. In Sri Lanka, callers can opt for conventional circuit services or a discounted voice-over-IP service. The N-Genius switch identifies the call type, then routes it and manages the billing for the carrier. Hird sees voice over IP as a viable U.S. service as well.

Intellicall's tactic is to integrate the switching platform and the software. That niche approach, however, has limitations. Switch vendors Summa Four and Excel partner with software developers to provide application functionality, and they support multiple software packages.

Summa Four's Project Sigma programmable switching platform supports a unified call and media control API. By writing to Summa Four's API, developers can build many types of applications, including debit card packages. About 50 companies are developing software for Summa Four's product, said Peter Carlino, Summa Four's director of business development.

"The fundamental difference between [Intellicall's] product and ours is that they have an embedded solution," he said. "It includes some software and some hardware. What we produce is an open programmable switch that enables multiple applications."

Hird noted that N-Genius has an open API for interfacing with customer administration systems, but Intellicall has no immediate plans to open its system to outside software developers. The single-source approach is an asset in terms of the price/performance ratio. "You aren't going through two markups," he said.

The market for prepaid calling services will likely expand in the U.S., and N-Genius has proved its viability overseas. In that niche, Intellicall will excel. But as customers demand more and varied services, Intellicall will have to open its doors to independent software developers.

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