Phone sex
Once means of transmitting payment were developed, phone sex turned into primarily a commercial activity, with customers and sellers.
Couples may choose to engage in phone sex when the inconvenience of distance makes physical intimacy impossible.
Nevertheless, phone sex should not be confused with prostitution wherein money is exchanged for in-person sexual services or physical interaction.
[2] Leonard recorded her own voice informing callers of the contents of the next issue of High Society magazine before its publication.
Originally phone sex services consisted of a managed network of dispatchers (live or automated) and erotic performers.
Performers would come to a studio where they received a cubicle, coaching, and cash incentives to keep callers on the line longer.
When public pressure forced the phone companies to stop providing this service to sex workers, a transition was made to pre-paid blocks of time.
Typically the telephone companies would bill callers to phone sex lines and then remit 45% of the money collected to the performers.
[6] In 2007 the group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington estimated that phone sex earned U.S. telephone companies close to $500 million per year.
[8] The vast majority of modern services in the United States use toll-free numbers whereby clients can dial up to request a call with a particular performer using credit cards, ACH Network systems, and a variety of other billing methods.
This self-promotion can involve a personalized website where the phone sex performer lists their specialties and services, engaging prospects in social media, various methods of advertising, or surfing of sexually themed chat rooms for interested clients.
Some phone sex services use state-of-the-art customer acquisition techniques such as active database marketing to reach potential clients.
Most phone sex workers were recruited through word of mouth or the internet as the companies were widely forbidden from advertising in mass media.
[12] The industry's regulatory body Phone-paid Services Authority (formerly ICSTIS and PhonePayPlus) monitors and enforces specific community standards in terms of content and price for premium rate numbers.
The legality of phone sex businesses was challenged by the U.S. Federal government in July 1988 with the passage of the Telephone Decency Act, which made it a crime to use a "telephone ... directly or by recording device" to make "any obscene or indecent communication for commercial purposes to any person," punishable by a $50,000 fine or six months in prison."
[2] Sable Communications of California filed suit against the FCC in federal court to overturn the Telephone Decency Act.
"Sable, which has the burden of complying with the prohibition, is free to tailor its messages, on a selective basis, to the communities it chooses to serve.
The most valued attributes of a phone sex professional are the voice, acting, and sexual roleplay skills, along with the experienced ability to discern and respond appropriately to a broad spectrum of customer requests.
