Where can I find information on different technologies, software, and
hardware used for pre-paid phone cards?

<This site describes the technologies behind various types of phone
card including chip cards, magnetic cards, remote memory cards,
inductive cards and more.
http://www.all-cards.net/all.cards/accards.html

Cards using a pin number.
http://www.oag.state.ny.us/family/kids/finance/phonecrd.html

Many phone cards use smart card technology. These are plastic cards
that incorporate a memory chip to store data. The type of card used
for this application is stored value memory cards. The chip has a
number of memory cells, one for each telephone unit. Each time the
card is used a memory cell is cleared. When all the memory cells have
been used the card becomes useless and is disposed of. Alternatively a
rechargeable card can be re-charged credits.
http://www.smartcardbasics.com/typesofchips.html#sto

Integrated circuit (IC) memory cards can hold 1 to 64Kb of data. As
there is no processor on the card, they are dependent on a card reader
for their processing.
http://www.didya.com/about_smart_card.asp

This site shows the manufacturing process, how the cards work and
their applications.
http://www.vmeng.com/mc/slides01/Introduction_to_SC.pdf

The Smart Card Alliance has links to information over the technology
of cards. http://www.smartcardalliance.org/industry_info/index.cfm

Smart Cards Primer.
The technology of cards is covered with illustrations showing the
construction of cards.
http://www.smartcardalliance.org/industry_info/smart_cards_primer.cfm

Programming smart cards.
http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-12-1997/jw-12-javadev-p4.html


Smart card overview.
http://www.smartcardbasics.com/overview.html

Smart card software.
http://www.vct.com/VCT/website/smartcardsoftware.html

Smart card faq’s
http://money.howstuffworks.com/framed.htm?parent=question332.htm&url=http://www.faqs.org/faqs/technology/smartcards/faq/index.html

Standards for smart cards  - ISO 7816
http://www.maxking.co.uk/iso78161.htm

Smart cards.
This article highlights the security problems associated with smart
cards including electrical disruption, physical interference, reverse
engineering and programming.
http://www.computerweekly.com/Article24158.htm
>



<Additional links:>

<History of phone cards.>
<http://www.active-phone-calling-cards.com/history_of_phone_cards.html>

<History of smart cards.>
<http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:xi--LAZxoNYJ:www.oberthurcs.com/_upload/files/downloads/documentation/Smart%2520Odyseey.pdf+%22prepaid+phone+cards%22+%22white+paper%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8>

<Smart card web development kit.>
<http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=260716>


<Search strategy:>

<"phone card technologies">
<://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=%22phone+card+technologies%22>

<"phone card technology">
<://www.google.com/search?q=%22phone+card+technology%22&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&start=10&sa=N>

<"ic memory cards" "phone cards">
<://www.google.com/search?q=%22ic+memory+cards%22+%22phone+cards%22&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&start=10&sa=N>

<"software solutions" "pre-paid phone cards">
<://www.google.com/search?q=%22software+solutions%22+%22pre-paid+phone+cards%22&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&start=10&sa=N>



<Hope this helps.>

---

Request for Answer Clarification by maxtel-ga on 14 Oct 2003 21:51 PDT

Thank you very much for your response, but I think my question is a
little ambiguous because what I meant to ask was the different
technologies, software, and hardware required to set up a pre-paid
phone cards provider. I will really appreciate if you can help me with
this. Thank you very much for your help.

---

Clarification of Answer by belindalevez-ga on 15 Oct 2003 04:39 PDT

<Eurotelsat provides turnkey solutions for prepaid phone cards. The
key elements of their system is a VoIP gateway, billing software and
interactive voice response software. The VoIP gateway plays the role
of the interface between the caller and the IP network (internet).

How it works.
The caller purchases a card with a pin number. The caller dials the
local number of the service provider. The VoIP gateway with the
assistance of the IVR server prompts the caller to enter a PIN number.
The caller is then authenticated, notified of the account balance and
then invited to dial the destination number. When the call is
completed the charge is deducted from the callers account.
http://www.eurotelsat.com/pro1/cartestelephoniques.html

What is VoIP.
VoIP is voice over internet protocol. It allows voice messages to be
digitised so that they can be sent across the internet. For the
service provider this lowers the cost of international calls as they
can be routed via a local internet service provider.

In order to set up a phone card service, the provider needs to set up
gateways. The gateway is hardware that connects the caller to the
internet. The caller phones the local gateway, provides a pin number
and the call is connected to a corresponding gateway local to the
call’s destination.

A service provider can either set up gateways or pay to use the
gateways of another service provider.

This site explains how a VoIP system works.
http://www.apcomgroup.com/Dax/FAQ/VoIP.htm

Cisco systems has a selection of white papers on VoIP which describe
various aspects of the technology.
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk652/tk701/tech_white_papers_list.html

A white paper describing the protocols which are typically involved
when transporting voice over an IP based network.
 http://www.erlang.com/protocols.html

Calling card services
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk652/tk701/technologies_white_paper09186a00800d6b64.shtml#xtocid6

White papers on ViOP.
http://www.juniper.net/solutions/literature/white_papers/

VoIP Hardware
http://www.voip-news.com/quintum1.htm

VoIP hardware and software.
This site provides links to manufacturers of VoIP hardware and
software including billing systems.
http://www.voip-news.com/storagelinks.htm

Consultancy services. 
IP Smarx Technology Inc. offer consultancy and advisory services for
VoIP. They are able to develop business plans tailored to your needs.
http://www.ipsmarx.com/service-consult.htm

For the latest VoIP news see
http://www.voip-news.com/index.html>

<Search strategy:

<"what is voip">
<://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%22what+is+voip%22>

<voip "white papers">
<://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=voip+%22white+papers%22>

<"phone card solutions">
<://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%22phone+card+solutions%22>


<Hope this helps.>

I really appreciate your effort to collect as much information as
possible to answer my question. Thank you very much for your help.