Simplified strips down Ventana for prepaid operations

Simplified, which initially targeted the largest carriers with supply chain software, today introduced a slightly stripped down version of that platform for small and mid-sized carriers in the prepaid market.

The company’s NexStep program includes most of the functions and capabilities of the full-sized Ventana platform, but does not include some of the reporting and analysis features. It also comes with a much lower price tag of around $100,000, compared with $500,000 and up for the larger platform.

“We’ve taken some of the tools out that are not critically important to running the business,” said Rich Phillips, chief communications officer with Simplified.

Austin, Texas-based Simplified is targeting not only prepaid calling card companies, but carriers that have started offering everything from prepaid Internet access to e-commerce applications.

“Prepaid isn’t just about the card business anymore,” said Phillips. “The prepaid model is very efficient because it doesn’t require a lot of people.”

Under the company’s new platform, carriers get a system that can control up to 768 (32 T-1s) or 720 (24 E-1s) ports or enough capacity to run 7 million to 8 million minutes of call traffic per month. As companies grow beyond a 768-port configuration, Simplified is offering a one-time fee to upgrade carriers to the Ventana license.