Vycera unveils new dial-around service

Vycera Communications today launched its first dial-around long-distance service targeting the Hispanic market in the U.S.

Linea Latina 10-10-150, which will be provided through a newly created Vycera subsidiary of the same name, provides customers a flat rate of $1.50 for a call up to 10 minutes to Mexico. Additional minutes are charged at 15 cents per minute.

Like all of the company’s services, Linea Latina will include in-language and in-culture sales and support.

The move, however, marks the first time Vycera has moved into the dial-around market. Previously the company offered prepaid service but only for its pre-subscribed customers. According to Derek M. Gietzen, president, CEO and co-founder of Vycera, the company did a fair amount of market research before entering the dial-around market.

“Our research shows that typically the people that use 10-10 dial-around programs and those using pre-subscription are different customers,” he said. “Customers that use the dial-around services are much more rate savvy then the average pre-subscribed customer,” he said.

In its research, Vycera discovered that about 41% of Vycera’s customers frequently use dial-around services in addition to their pre-subscribed long-distance plans.