The tradition of tarot reading and fortune telling goes back many centuries, and the mystery of the “unknown” is fascinating, even to the most cynical. Service providers have been running telephone-based tarot services for many years and they are a very lucrative business. Sundial Telecom Ltd, however, has taken tarot to a whole new level; they have combined their traditional tarot services, that use C3’s IVR software, with their own, unique Instant Messaging solution, so they can provide their customers with a much more visual and interactive experience.

The Instant Messaging software branded as IM-Cash, has been developed by Sundial Telecom. It is based on Flash Media technology and forms the core of the tarot website www.tarotim.com. IM-Cash operates independently of established messaging systems such as MSN or Yahoo, so users do not have to download specific Instant Messaging software to their PC’s in order to access the tarot service. The Flash element allows their customers to view the card deck, choose their own cards and then see what they have chosen in real time.

The tarot readers profiled on the Tarotim website are all self-employed. The set-up fee is usually free of charge and the business model is revenue-share between the readers themselves and Sundial Telecom. The tarot readers create their own profiles, highlighting their areas of expertise, using Sundial Telecom’s bespoke software. They can also use the software to create personalised   banner adverts, (widgets), if they want to profile themselves on other relevant psychic websites. Sundial Telecom’s software automatically creates the relevant html code that can simply be copied and pasted into other websites.

Before users can contact a reader, they have to create themselves an account on the Tarotim website and pay credit into this account. Payments can be made via credit card, PSMS, IVR drop charge or via “UKash” payment vouchers that can be purchased in newsagents or other outlets.

Users are only offered billing options and currencies appropriate to their location, which is determined by their IP address. A visitor from Italy or Spain, for example, would only be given the option to pay by credit card because the other payment methods are based on UK premium rate numbers and short codes.

Sundial Telecom’s tarot service is much more flexible than traditional web-based tarot because it allows its visitors to interact with tarot readers in many different ways; via instant messaging, by phone or by webcam. C3’s multimedia platform is used to facilitate the billing and to provide the IVR functionality for users choosing to have readings done by phone.

If visitors chose to have a reading done via instant messaging, they are billed for each message they receive and the amount of credit they have left in their account is displayed on screen in real time. If they choose the telephone option, they dial a specific 09xx number that is answered by C3’s IVR software and charges are added to their phone bill. They follow some simple instructions, are given a unique reference number for the reader they have chosen, and are asked to in-put this number by pressing buttons on their phone. C3’s IVR system, then calls the reader and they have to in-put the same unique reference before they can start the reading.

The Tarotim service has been running successfully for almost two years, and the average spend is £10 per visitor. In the future Sundial Telecom plan to use their Instant Messaging solution for other services such as specialist information services, life coaching and legal information services.

Says Shane Carter, Managing Director of Sundial Telecom. “We have been using C3’s IVR platform to facilitate our virtual call centre services for a number of years so it seemed only logical to integrate their IVR capabilities into the Tarotim service. Their platforms are scalable, which means we can expand as our business grows, and we hope to use their live video streaming functionality in the future for services such as live palm readings”.