Can you “here” me now? In a joint venture with Verizon Wireless, Freefone, Inc. is set to replace hundreds of pay phones across the country with phone systems that play audio and video ads and offer free local calling to users.
The concept was tested in 500 different locations with college campuses, airports and shopping malls leading the pack as the most successful. Tests in restaurant lobbies didn’t pull their weight, with an average 30 to 50 calls made per day per phone, compared to a couple of hundred calls made per day per phone on college campuses, with some phones pulling in as many as 900 calls, said Peter Volny, president and CEO of Freefone, Scottsdale, AZ.
Freefone had its orange and purpled colored phone “booths” on display on the show floor yesterday. The phones include a video display monitor and speakers located just above the handset. An eight-minute loop plays continually, but mutes when the caller picks up the phone. The loop includes up to six-minutes of paid ads (15-, 30-, or 60-second spots), one minute of air time for the host company and one minute for PSA announcements related to local events.
Plans call for replacing about 10% to 20% of Verizon’s 400,000 pay phones in high traffic locales across the country with Freefones, Volny said. Five hundred college campuses have signed to have the phones installed, which will take place during the upcoming summer recess. The host company has zero cost and Verizon takes a percentage of the revenue.
Volny said Freefone is in talks with a number of “major advertisers” but declined to name any citing confidentially. He said marketers in a number of categories are showing interest, including fast food, soda, cell phones, video game makers and the armed forces.
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