This year’s honorees have forged a foundation for growth in a volatile industry and a tough economy
InteleCard News January 2004
For brothers Freddy and Dennis Sidi, founders of Auris Technology, patience has been a virtue. The fledgling company spent nearly 18 months developing its platform before turning up a single customer. "You need a lot of staying power to build a business like this," says Freddy Sidi, president and COO.
Introduced in early 2003, the company's web-based prepaid switching platform allows prepaid providers and distributors to create and modify rate decks, generate PINs, activate and deactivate cards and run real-time reports from the internet. The key differentiator of the Auris platform, says Freddy, is the ability for customers to access information and make changes from any computer with an internet connection.
Auris' growth has been steady; Freddy notes that the company has been extremely selective in whom it does business with, preferring larger customers.
What's the advantage of doing business with Auris? "We don't compete with our customers," says Freddy. "When we partner with customers, we both have the same goal — to grow our business."
Dennis, Auris' vice president, continues, "Our only revenue comes from platform service fees, and we don't increase costs if we get better rates. Our business is volume, and we keep our margins small to get that volume."
Because Auris also owns American Prepaid, customers have access to additional value-added services such as roadside assistance and translation services that they can offer to their customers.
Auris' customers can be found in the United States, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Spain, South Africa, France and Italy, and its primary focus remains on the international marketplace. Auris recently signed a partner agreement with Baratel Mexico, the second largest distributor of calling cards in Mexico. The company has also entered into a barter/trade agreement with a PTT carrier in Colombia, where Freddy says that Auris will be able to terminate traffic on the network at a lower cost than anyone else.
The coming year holds great promise for Auris, beginning with technology enhancements to its platform such as automated customer service and accountability capabilities that will enable customers to better manage their prepaid products. The new Profit Police program will allow customers to set profitability parameters for their calling cards.
Expanding its international presence is also on the agenda for 2004. With offices in Spain, Auris plans to build a network in South America as well. At the same time, the company is working on strategic alliances in Cuba, Brazil and eight other countries. "If we provide the lowest costs, we can dominate the market," says Freddy. |