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Guillaume HoussaFounder, WOW Telekom

“IPsmarx has enabled me to make myvision a reality. If a person wants to get into the business of telecomunications or IP technology,then IPsmarx is the best choice -no doubt about it.”

Guillaume Houssa, founder of Colorado-based VoIP service provider WOW Telekom, made the transition from geologist to telecommunications entrepreneur for one reason, “There were problems to solve and I had a vision of becoming a service provider in order to solve them.”

Originally from the west African country of Benin, Originally from the west African country of Benin, Mr. Houssa was determined to do something about the high fees and exorbitant per-minute costs charged by calling cards, which made it challenging, and sometimes impossible, for members of the immigrant community to keep in touch with family and friends back home. He was also frustrated by the difficulty and expense of using calling cards to call the United States expense of using calling cards to call the United States when he travelled to Europe. After evaluating a number of potential solutions and considering issues of scalability, ease-of-use, and call clarity, Mr. Houssa chose IPsmarx.

According to Mr. Houssa, IPsmarx’ solution met all his needs, “First, I wanted a solution that was scalable, where I could add different services on the same single platform as my business grows. Second, when I started, I didn’t have any background in IT or telecommunications. The IPsmarx training videos and articles helped me easily learn to configure the system articles helped me easily learn to configure the system so that my business runs the way I want it to. And, the feedback I get from my customers is that call clarity, the number one thing everybody complains about, is excellent.”

Because Mr. Houssa wanted to be certain that the calling cards he offered met the needs of both, the immigrant community and international business travelers, the community and international business travelers, the ability to own his own platform was key, “Because I own the platform, I control what services I offer to my customers. I can decide what fees I want to charge, whether I want the minutes to expire, and how I want

the cards to look.” With this he can tailor each of the five cards he offers to meet the specific needs of eachmarket.

Looking forward, Mr. Houssa is confident that his business will continue to grow. After adding the IPsmarxflexible IVR module, (which allows him to advertise WOW Telekom’s new features and services to customers WOW Telekom’s new features and services to customers when they place a call), he’s had requests to add on new services, plans, and even customers looking for services that are still in the testing stage. As the holidays approach and call traffic increases, the flexible IVR will allow Mr. Houssa to expand his advertising reach at very little additional cost, further growing his business and boosting his profits. What’s more, Mr. Houssa has been approached his profits. What’s more, Mr. Houssa has been approached by resellers from Germany to Botswana who are eager to offer his products to their customers.

Although clearly the success of WOW Telekom is the result of Mr. Houssa’s vision and his ability to create solutions for international calling card users, he is quick to credit IPsmarx, “IPsmarx has enabled me to make my vision a reality. If a person wants to get into the business of telecommunications or IP technology, then IPsmarx is the best choice—no doubt about it.”the best choice—no doubt about it.”