Celebrity Phone-Ins: How charities can benefit from premium conferencing

Celebrity sells, and no one knows that better than hard-pressed charities. The economy might be in the doldrums, but the public's voracious appetite for all things celebrity remains as strong as ever.

Wouldn't it be nice, therefore, if a forum existed that allowed celebrities to chat on the phone directly with their fans, and raise money for a worthy cause in the process? Well, now, thanks to premium conferencing, they can.

As the name suggests, premium conferencing is powered by premium-rate numbers which have been key revenue generators for the media in recent years. The prize money on offer on shows like 'who wants to be a millionaire?' is typically raised by such numbers.

Here's how it works: the celebrity decides a time and date in the future when they will be available for the event, which can be hosted anywhere with internet access and a phone.

The event is then marketed both on and offline, as an opportunity for fans to call for a chance of speaking directly with the celebrity, the conference host, and raise money for the celebrity's favourite charity in the process.

When the time arrives, the host dials in on an 800 number, whilst all conference participants dial in on a premium rate one. These typically begin with the '09' prefix, and are charged at a higher rate which is collected by the subscribers' phone company. When employed in a fundraising capacity, some or all of the accrued revenues can be paid to the hosts' chosen charity.

Callers that wish to speak to the host are placed in a queue, which the host can then monitor and control in real-time on the web. If the celebrity in question prefers, they can engage in the services of a trusted intermediary to act as a moderator for such an event. Needless to say, the CLI of the host is suppressed, so callers will be unaware of the host's location when the event takes place.

Premium conferencing therefore is the ideal vehicle for celebrities to hold QA sessions with their loyal army of admirers and meet three key needs at once: raise money for the chosen charity, deliver a 'reality' event to an audience obsessed with both reality and celebrity, and -- depending on how the host interacts directly with their fans - good PR for both them, and indeed the premium rate industry as a whole.

Furthermore, celebrities have worldwide appeal: thanks the worldwide reach on the web and the underlying international telephony infrastructure which acts as its veins, such phone events can be marketed to an eager global audience: Participants dial in on a local premium rate number in those countries that support them, or make a regular international Direct Dial (IDD) call in those that do not.

A caller from India, therefore, calls Liechtenstein for a chance to speak to the host who is in, say, the USA -- premium conferencing is globalisation, alive and kickin'!

As with twitter, eBay & Co, such technology simply facilitates the end-user experience which is generated by the users : so called User Generated Content (UGC) : The success or otherwise of such phone events will in large part rest on the shoulders of the host, the 'star of the show,' and how they interact with their audience.

Premium conferencing is essentially a hybrid of the latest web and conferencing technology, coupled with a proven billing mechanism - an excellent example of the ongoing convergence and bundling of existing products that make premium conferencing possible.

One thing is for sure: premium conferencing will certainly give a celebrity obessed public something new to talk about - "You'll never guess who I was chatting with last night . . . ", could be heard more often.