Who We Are & How It Started
KeepCalling is now…
… one of the leading Telecom providers, ranking #21 in the top US Telecom companies in 2012 according to Inc. 500|5000. As a fast-growing business, KeepCalling had a turnover of 3.4 million dollars in 2008, reaching 15 million in 2011.
That very year, the company was listed as the 27th fastest growing company in the telecommunications field out of all the companies registered in Atlanta due to its mounting from 1.5 million dollars in 2007 to 6.8 million dollars in 2010, therefore registering a 365% profit increase. KeepCalling went from small and modest to large and brave.
KeepCalling started business as a telecommunication provider and has continued developing ever since. Its telecommunication services are available from more than 35 countries through local and toll free access numbers to over 150,000 consumers and businesses worldwide. They address immigrant groups, but not exclusively. Through the various ethnic websites that exceed a total of 70, KeepCalling connects to each ethnicity separately by providing a culture-bound online space.
A story about phonecards, friends, $100, and the whole world
The first platform for virtual calling cards was launched in 2002 and was dedicated to Romanians living in the US. But the story goes back at least two years, to a small town called Americus, Georgia, USA. Florin Miron, a Romanian journalism graduate, was working as a video editor for Habitat for Humanity when it became obvious to him that using phone cards was as much his routine as any immigrant’s. Calling cards bought from the store were the choice at hand.
Yet internet broke into the public’s consciousness in the United States in the mid-late 1990s. So an idea sprung to Florin’s mind: reselling PINs online had a great potential to turn into a young vigorous business. In June 2002 SunaRomania.com was launched and KeepCalling was registered as a company in Georgia, USA.
At first, Florin bought the actual phone cards himself and coin scraped for the PINs to deliver them to the customers. He turned his crib into a home office, crowded with heaps of calling cards, and got busy teaching himself ecommerce and web tools.
Thinking outside the box was the key to change. From a potential customer waiting for friendly rates to call home, Florin Miron turned into an enthusiastic entrepreneur organizing a business on a shoestring, with an initial investment of only $100.
Who’s next in business?
Friends. Not any acquaintances, but good friends.
Three friends from the US joined in, one experienced in Finance, one in Customer Intelligence, and one in Human Resources. KeepCalling’s Customer Support voice was also one of Florin’s friends, providing assistance in English and Spanish, from her own home office in Cochabamba, Bolivia.
Other followers appeared soon. At the beginning of 2003 an office was opened in Sibiu, Romania, which is not only Florin’s native town, but the place fostering his childhood and youth memories. A Customer Service & PR department were also established, and sociable and curios young people joined in to learn and offer support by bringing in their own experience and creativity. The team grew rapidly in the following years when the Marketing, IT and Operations departments were created.
Business as a hobby
Among the things some learn in this life is how to build a company… like KeepCalling. Florin Miron, became the CEO of a company he made happen step by step. From one person scraping phone cards in a home office, to over 70 ethnic websites and 150,000 customers worldwide now. It could have stopped where it started, but business turned into a hobby, and the company expanded naturally.
A new office was opened in 2004 in Cochabamba, Bolivia. That same year, the first Spanish website SigueLlamando.com was launched, which made Spanish speakers and KeepCalling tango.
To engage other language communities, new languages were introduced on new websites, and translators from all over the world joined the team as collaborators and finally friends. By the end of 2005 KeepCalling telecommunication products were available on 5 online stores and KeepCalling had more than 20 employees and 1 million dollars in the pocket to welcome success.
12 websites in 2006, then 25 in April 2007 and by the end of 2007 there were 30 websites altogether, telling and selling, honestly and modestly. KeepCalling services became more and more accessible to non-US based users and products were available from 35 countries.
Americus, the American town where it all started, seemed to have been a gimmick name from the get-go. Once in the promising land of new trend business, KeepCalling took on board 50 new employees, and 102 more websites were launched during 2008 and 2009.
Heading ahead!
It would be an understatement to say that everything was planned to become the way it is now: Miron Enterprises LLC dba KeepCalling, a multinational telecommunications company, growing more and more popular each year. Getting stronger and more interesting was the side effect. This assured KeepCalling’s success in the long run. The team adapted and lined up to customer needs, encouraged by Florin’s friendly and open spirit. Word by word, click by click, day by day.
What made KeepCalling come so far are first of all the reliable products and features, but also the transparency and simplicity in addressing people interested in using them. From usage to names, Keepcalling products and services are friendly and simple: Voice, Virtual Numbers, Mobile Recharge, Monthly Plans, Web Call, Web SMS and WebFax.
Since everybody’s benefit is the real benefit, we learn and adapt to the current market, the dynamics of the online medium, and the telecommunication industry. We use modern technology, entertain authentic and friendly relationships with partners and collaborators, we laugh and exchange opinions. We plan little for the remote future and focus on now and what’s next, on quality of service and customers as real people with real wishes, just like any of us. It’s all that simple and all that complex in the end.
