By Peter Berton
SAN FRANCISCO – The more things change, the more they stay the same — and that’s good news for fans of phone sex and adult performers. Believe it or not, despite the wealth of free content on the internet and relatively easy access to live human beings via webcam, fans still are willing to pay good money to talk to their favorite stars, whether those stars work in porn, sci-fi, sports, or even daytime TV soaps.
The problem is not how to monetize phone calls, but rather how to ensure stars are kept safe from stalkers and other potential threats. At the same time, no one wants to keep genuine fans away from the objects of their desire, especially if they’re willing to pay for the privilege of personal contact.
This is the intersection Verified Call inhabits. The company serves as a virtual middleman performers and the public, helping both sides to connect with one another in a safe, sane environment. VC helps performers set up accounts and profiles within its proprietary live-conversation system, books and discretely routes the phone calls, collects the cash and shares it, and also prevents call-tracing and reverse-dialing.
Kurt Vogner serves as the company’s president. After three years of development work, he’s happy to see the Verified Call concept catching on.
YNOT.com: How does the Verified Call system accomplish everything it’s touted to do?
Kurt Vogner: The process behind the mechanism is kind of cool, actually. It’s a double-blind dial-out that integrates the phone connection, duration monitoring and, of course, the billing.
Once a customer decides they want to talk to somebody, they purchase a call and set how long the call will last, to within 15 seconds. Their phone gets a call from our system, so they never see anybody’s phone number on the other end. At the same time, the [performer’s] phone is getting a call from our system, as well.
Both participants are asked to confirm that they either bought the call or want to accept the call. If everybody is on board, the lines are connected and the call begins.
We’re like PayPal, in a way: We provide the ability for the connections and payments. The performers tweet, put links on their sites, pass out cards, talk to their current fans, clients, patients and customers. The system is there for anyone to use, and we offer incredibly high payouts.
What big names in adult are using the system?
Within the adult industry, account holders include Tasha Reign, Teal Conrad, Bree Olson, Alexis Amore, Tanya Tate, Brett Rossi and too many others to list. More than 800 performers have accounts, and probably five to 10 new ones sign up every day.
In addition to individual performers, we have great relationships with several of the leading agencies and fan sites.
Recently, we launched a “fresh face” initiative to bring on a new performer as our homepage model, and we were thrilled to select Emily Austin as the winner. She launched with us just a few weeks ago.
Are mainstream actors following adult’s lead?
We are definitely seeing a follow-the-leader type of mentality. It’s kind of cool how folks are seeing the success of our current roster and wanting to get a taste of that.
Probably the most exciting development is coming out of the sci-fi world — Star Trek, Star Wars and so on. These are fans in the fanatical sense who really zero in on a specific actor, performer or show. The people involved in those productions are seeing how they can generate money similar to what they earn when they show up for trade shows and autograph signings, and they can do it all from the comfort of their home, car, whatever. Stand in line at the grocery store and talk to a fan for five minutes? Sure! That’ll pay for what’s in the cart.
What features are fans looking for when it comes to talking to their favorites stars?
You know, that’s the crazy thing. Many might think fans want to role-play or intimately interact, but [what they want] actually is more personal than that.
We routinely survey our [performer] account holders to ask how the calls are going, what people are talking about, if there is anybody we need to be worried about or block, etc. Time after time we hear the fans are amazingly respectful and just want to talk about day-to-day life.
After the initial “I can’t believe it’s really you!” the callers talk about everything from questions about the business or specific roles to their shared passion for a local sports team. They even trade recipes because they saw the performer tweeting about something. The longest and best calls always come down to being yourself and just having a conversation.
What advice do you have for stars wanting to maximize their returns from your service?
Three things:
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What is the most enjoyable part of the business for you?
What I’ve most enjoyed is how welcoming the industry has been in embracing a new twist on a very old way of communicating. The phone has been around for more than 100 years, and yet it is still one of the most personal ways to connect with someone.
We’ve been busy both in and out of the industry. Expansion is a conversation we’re always having, both inside and out of the building.
