Shreveport Firm Grows from Pay Phones to Software
Published Mar 11, 2008
Shreveport’s Praeses LLC may be best known now for its industry-customized software programs and personal data assistant applications, but it was the humble pay phone that gave the company its start – and remains a core business.
Praeses began in 1987 to serve many companies created after telecommunications deregulation by taking on their back-office sales functions.
Until about 2000, that was still a large portion of the company’s business, Chief Information Officer Philip Breuer says. But since then, revenue and profitability have grown about 15 percent a year, while the source of it has changed significantly.
Praeses’ account management software for companies with complex telecommunications needs helped it transition into a business process outsourcing service, offering products such as Jurisdiction Online, a Web-based software system now used by 17 states and one city as a risk-management tool.
Another product is Pocket Life, a PDA that allows life insurance agents to have wireless access to customer data and insurance quotes.
Even with a record of developing innovations, Praeses still manages about 40,000 pay phones in North America.
“Sometimes people say, ‘You’re all over the map,’ ” Breuer says. “To us, everything we do starts with the customer. We always start by developing the relationship, finding out what their specific needs are and developing solutions.”
Story by Jeannie A. Naujeck
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