![]() ![]() Access through a local number has become increasingly popular in recent years. One is via a toll-free number, with larger companies offering this internationally. It is necessary to dial an access telephone number to connect to the calling card system. Making a remote memory prepaid or calling card call requires the user to make two calls. But by the mid-to-late 1990s, highly secure technology aided the spread of chip phonecards worldwide. The initial microchips were easy to hack, typically by scratching off the programming-voltage contact on the card, which rendered the phone unable to reduce the card's value after a call. Many other countries followed suit, including Ireland in 1990 and the UK circa 1994–1995, which phased out the old green Landis+Gyr cards in favor of the chip (smart) cards. These were first launched on a large scale in 1986 in Germany by Deutsche Bundespost after three years of testing, and in France by France Télécom. ![]() The third system of stored-value phone cards are smart cards and use an embedded microchip. ![]() Such technology was very secure and not easily hackable but chip cards phased out the optical phone cards around the world and the last Landis+Gyr factory closed in May 2006 when optical phonecards were still in use in few countries like Austria, Israel and Egypt. Optical cards were produced by Landis+Gyr and Sodeco from Switzerland and were popular early phonecards in many countries with first optical phonecards successfully introduced in 1977 in Belgium. Visible marks are left on the top of the cards, so that the user can see the balance of remaining units. This optical structure is heated and destroyed after use of the units. Optical phonecards get their name from optical structure embossed inside the cards. The next technology used optical storage. The balance is shown by the vertical marks on the white bar. The first magnetic strip phonecard, manufactured by SIDA, was issued in 1976 in Italy. The earliest system used a magnetic stripe as information carrier, similar to the technology of ATMs and key cards. There are several ways in which the value can be encoded on the card: Used primarily for payphones, stored-value systems avoid the time lag and expense of communication with a central database, which would have been technically complex before the 1990s. Some magnetic cards also show the remaining value. While ATMs (as well as the remote memory systems discussed below) use the card merely to identify the associated account and record changes in a central database, stored-value systems make a physical alteration to the card, or write data to an embedded chip or magnetic stripe to reflect the new balance after a call. This is superficially similar to a bank automated teller machine, but a stored-value card is more closely analogous to a change purse. This balance can be read by a public payphone when the card is inserted into the card reader. Stored-value phone cards Ī stored-value phone card stores the available credit balance in an analog or digital memory physically embedded in the card. Companies that sell virtual calling cards online typically PIN via email. Once the users makes their first call, some companies offer the option of eliminating the PIN altogether to speed up the calling process. PINs often are printed on a piece of paper found inside the calling card's packaging. ![]() Most companies require user to enter the PIN before granting access to the calling card's funds. The system for payment and the way in which the card is used to place a telephone call vary from card to card.Ĭalling cards usually come equipped with PIN for user protection and security. Standard cards which can be purchased and used without any sort of account facility give a fixed amount of credit and are discarded when used up rechargeable cards can be topped up, or collect payment in arrears. It is not necessary to have the physical card except with a stored-value system knowledge of the access telephone number to dial and the PIN is sufficient. Phonecards from Olneyville, Rhode Island - 2008Ī telephone card, calling card or phonecard for short, is a credit card-size plastic or paper card, used to pay for telephone services (often international or long-distance calling). ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |