Allo Mundo

AlloMundo.com is a web portal that specializes in selling IP-telephony cards and providing other telephone-related e-commerce services. The site is a handy tool for a customer< to choose the right card quickly, to make a secure payment, and receive any additional supportive information. It is a location for centralized communication, with a strong search engine that enables to browse the database and compare card rates for different locations. The main purpose of this website was to provide an effective online facility for those who regularly or occasionally make a large number of calls to different locations. Currently this system is successfully functioning provides services to customers from 3 European countries.

Target group

AlloMundo was targeted to people who regularly make a large number of telephone calls to different world locations, who would like to lower their expenses on phone communication.

Goal

The technical goal was to create the an e-commerce system that would have enough capacity to handle thousands of online customers and provide efficient system of their verification (in order to block fraudulent activities).

Objectives

• to implement an effective and convenient search tool that would enable users to pick the card based on comparison of call rates to different locations
• to set up smooth and secure money transaction mechanism
• to implement multistep user verification system
• to establish and provide automatic support for 2-level affiliate system
• to design a promotion partner system
• to create a complex loyalty program that would gather statistics on each system user and grant bonuses for the points gained
• to arrange multilanguage support
• to launch user forum

Challenge

AlloMundo had to organize a straightforward process for buyers of prepaid telephone cards: to pick a suitable card through comparison options; to pay for the phone card by credit card or cheque; to immediately receive card PIN and details via e-mail; and to ensure security and privacy of the whole process.

Solution

We designed a system that supports several payment methods including cheques, credit cards and payment by coupons issued by the system (granted to users as bonuses), created a special powerful search engine and established a flexible system of user verification that can be adjusted by system administrator. The system of automatic mailing supports the transfer of card details to the user, and additional features (such as customer loyalty modules, affiliate programs, etc.) add value to services delivered by AlloMundo.

AlloMundo portal is functioning for over ... years and is a good example of successful e-commerce solution delivered by Program-Ace.

AlloMundo Features

Website Structure

A website visitor can search for available cards that support the selected call destination, and check call duration.

To place an order the user should open an account and select validation time (so that an administrator can verify that this user really exists by dialing their primary telephone number).

The customer then submits payment via credit card. Depending on system settings, new customers can either receive their PIN code instantly via e-mail, or after they have been validated by the administrator.

In the first case the user who places an order and submits payment receives 2 instant e-mails:

• invoice
• PIN code supplied with an IP-telephony card user manual which describes the card's properties (call duration to customer's favorite destination for different types of connection, etc. ) and rules for using the card. PIN code can often be received only after validation by administrator.

If a user needs to be validated, the system performs a two-step transaction:

• an authorization transaction which is intended to check the customer's payment details;
• a debit transaction if the authorization transaction is successful.

In addition to phone validation, it is possible to check customer details through SMS. In this case the customer should use the code contained in an SMS message sent by the administrator when the payment form is being submitted. If this code is correct, then the customer is eligible to receive a first-order PIN code.

It is also possible to place an order by check; in this case the administrator should validate it manually after the check is received.

The customer can use discount coupons that can provide an absolute amount discount or a percentage discount. All coupons have a minimum order amount (customer is eligible to place the current order only if its amount is higher than the coupon's minimum order amount). Each coupon can be used a limited number of times and can apply either to any customer or only to the selected one.

Bring-A-Friend System

Each customer can send an invitation to a friend. Each time 5 friends submit successful orders, the customer receives a coupon for one free card.

Loyalty Program

Every time a customer receives their PIN code, they gain certain points (set for each card by the administrator). When the total number of points reaches a certain number (this value is also set by the administrator), the customer can receive a discount coupon.

Administrator's Area

The administrator manages customers, orders, sets a domains white list (if the user's mailbox belongs to one of the domains on the white list, then they are eligible to receive a first-order PIN code instantly).

The administrator can also manage forums, affiliates and partners, view different statistics, set some site constants, manage coupons, etc.

Affiliate Model

The website provides search forms and links for affiliates. Each affiliate can earn 2 types of percentage:

• percentage calculated based on the orders placed by primary customers who came through the affiliate's website
• percentage calculated based on the orders placed by secondary customers taken to the AlloMundo website by primary ones (as described above, an affiliate can send invitations to other affiliates).

An affiliate can view their detailed statistics (how many people came from their site, registered, placed orders, price changes etc.). Each time when an affiliate's account reaches X, the administrator can send them money and reset their account.

Partner System

The website records clicks from search engines (google, etc.) and generates the corresponding statistics. It also allows to calculate rates per click for each partner.

Forum System

The forum can be accessed from the Contacts page. The customer can select a standard question which describes their problem from the available database, and the system will pick out an answer to their question automatically. If the problem is not listed, the customer can fill in the form and start a new forum thread. After a question is submitted, the administrator receives automatic notification. Each time the administrator submits an answer, the customer also receives notification.

Each member can keep no more than X open threads. Administrator can either close the thread manually or by using automatic script (which closes threads with no new messages from customer in X days).

Internationalization

The system supports a multilingual engine. Administrator can switch the website to message edit mode and directly change the relevant data (text or graphics).

With this multilevel design, the customer is able to receive first class customer service and any additional supportive information.