TECHBYTES
Service Calling
Airports across the country have seen a decline in revenues from pay phones. So when telephone company Bell South left the pay phone business, the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority was “presented with a unique opportunity,” according to technology coordinator Eddie Burchell. “We decided it’s a good time to find a better way to serve our customers.”
Burchell says the airport considered installing pay phones that it would manage, “but we found that was very troublesome. There are a lot of regulatory requirements that have to be met, and just the manpower and time it would take to service the phone and collect the change.
“We considered not having any public use phones,” says Burchell. “But we found that a lot of travelers put their cell phones away or don’t want to incur roaming charges.”
Instead of searching for a new pay phone provider, the airport opted to become the service provider by installing what it is calling courtesy phones. The phones allow users to make free local calls throughout the greater Knoxville area, as well as place collect or calling card calls.
As for the installation, Burchell says, “It was a minimal investment up front. We already have our own telephone system and we sell service to the tenants. We used the existing infrastructure with some minimal hardware changes. Since the system infrastructure was already in place, we’re simply taking advantage of that.” The entire installation was less than $10,000, and the airport receives a commission on any 800-number dialed. Each unit cost around $40, compared to $500 for a standard pay phone.
“Overall, we were able to turn a negative into a positive,” Burchell adds. “We had no choice in Bell South leaving the pay phone business.”
The airport is also investing in machines that dispense calling cards. The cards will be available in any denomination and will work on any carrier’s phone.
So far, the courtesy phones seem to be popular with travelers, who have logged more than 700 calls on the system in the first few months of availability. “It’s just a real convenience for travelers,” says Burchell. “And, travelers like anything free.”
