TRZ Religious Services FAQ:
Q: Who is TRZ Religious
Service?
A: TRZ Religious
Services is a telecommunications company based in Kent, Ohio with over 10 years
experience in providing live audio to consumers. The company is run by Tom
Zawistowski who is the CEO & founder. Our address is: 4682 State Route 43 in
Kent, Ohio (44240). Our main office telephone number is 1-800-846-4630.
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Q: What is TRZ's Corporate
Mission?
A: The mission of
TRZ Religious Services is to apply new communications technologies and services
to help religious groups better communicate with their congregational families
and to creatively and profitably use those technologies and services to raise
new money to help support all of their religious programs. In applying these
new technologies, we will design our services so that they will work for any
religious group regardless of its size, denomination, geographic location or
financial resources.
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Q: How exactly does this
service work?
A: Callers dial an
800 number which is connected to TRZ's equipment in Kent, Ohio. Their call is
answered by a computer which asks them to punch in, on their telephone keypad,
the church's access code and the caller's credit card or account number. The
caller's card or account is approved and the caller is then connected to the
live service. This is accomplished by TRZ's computer dialing out to your
facility to a telephone number that you provide, such as your fax number or
another seldom used phone line. That phone line is connected to our auto-answer
coupler which is connected to your public address system. When the coupler
answers, the audio from your facility is feed back to TRZ where it is connected
to all of your callers. The callers listen as long as they like and then hang
up their telephone. They pay only for the time they listen. The charges appear
on their credit card statement (since they call an 800 number there are no
long-distance charges) or they or their sponsor is billed at the end of the
month for their calls.
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Q: What is a auto-answer
coupler?
A:An auto-answer
coupler is a device that plugs into a phone line just like a home phone does.
It has an input on it that allows it to get an audio feed in the same way that
you plug in headphones to a radio or CD player. In your case, it would plug into
something like a Public Address system. The main thing it does is auto-answer a
call when someone calls the line it is plugged into - without having to have a
person present. When you join the service, TRZ provides complete instructions on
how to install this device.
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Q: What does it cost to sign up
for the service?
A:It does not cost
you anything to join the service. In fact, this service is designed to be a fund
raiser - to make you money. We ask only for a $250.00 security deposit for the
coupler device that we provide to protect our investment. That deposit will be
refunded in full when the coupler is returned in good working condition.
Someone who is handy can hook the coupler up to your PA system in less than 30
minutes at no cost. We try to use an existing telephone line, like a fax or
modem line, to access the coupler so you will have no additional cost for the
phone line. When you have callers, TRZ pays the long distance charges to call
the phone line, so you should have no cost for the service.
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Q: If it's a fund raiser, how
does it work?
A:TRZ charges a
minimum fee of 20¢ a minute for every minute of listening by callers. This is
the fee we need to cover our cost to provide the service. However, if you wish
to generate revenue from this service, you may choose to increase this basic fee
to whatever you want. Any revenue generated exceeding the basic 20¢ rate will be
paid to you monthly as a fund raiser. So, you can decide to charge 25¢ per
minute for regular services and 50¢ per minute for wedding services and funerals
if you want. TRZ collects the money from the callers, we deduct our 20¢ per
minute and send you a check for the balance each month. If you have callers to
weddings that listen to a total of 1,000 minutes per month (4 callers for 4
different wedding listening for an hour each) you would get a check for $300
(1,000 x 50¢=$500-$200 TRZ Fee= $300 profit.) Many churches/temples choose to
use the funds from credit card callers to subsidize account code access for
shut-ins and other members of the congregation that can not afford to call. If
you do not wish to charge the callers, some churches/temples arrange to have a
sponsor pay for the service and restrict the number of people who can call.
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Q: Are there any other fees or
charges?
A:None
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Q: What makes TRZ's service
different from taped audio services or videos?
A:By providing
"live" coverage of the services, your callers are able to experience the service
as if they themselves were physically present. It helps make the person who is
unable to attend feel as though they are still included. Taped audio and video
services have there purpose and we encourage you to continue to use them. Being
able to hear live services complements the taped services.
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Q: Who is the market for this
service?
A: Their are several
markets for this service. First you have the local market. Church/Temple/Mosque
members who can not attend due to illness, injury or having to stay home to take
care of someone are potential listeners. The local market can also include
board members who can not attend a meeting or congregation members who wish to
listen in to a lecture, discussion or choir practice for a few minutes. Then
you have the distant market. Church/Temple/Mosque members who are away on
vacation or who live out of the area for extended periods during the year. The
distant market really comes into play for weddings, funerals and other special
events. Many times people can not afford to travel to a wedding or a funeral or
they can not get off from work on short notice. This service is the next best
thing to being there and is affordable since few service last more than an hour
their cost can be as little as $12 or as much as $30 which is still much cheaper
than traveling.
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Q: We have a very small
congregation with only 2 shut-in members. How would TRZ's service benefit us?
A:The number of
callers it not a concern. You are providing a service to your members in order
to keep your congregational family united. We don't care if you have only one
person calling. That person is important to you and to TRZ. We designed our
service to be so efficient that we can afford to service even one person at a
time. Our philosophy is simple, if it is important to you it is important to us
and we will not discriminate against smaller congregations.
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Q: How do we let people know
about this service?
A:In our contract,
you agree to make your constituents aware of the availability of TRZ's service
and to provide them with the TRZ Religious Services 800 telephone access number,
1-800-846-4808, and your unique access code which will allow callers to access
your events. We ask you to include a description of how to use TRZ's service in
any materials provided to constituents who will be using clients facilities for
weddings, baptisms, funerals, confirmations, bar mitzvah or other special
services. You should also make periodic announcements to the general
congregation about the availability of the service for use when they are out of
town or unable to attend regular services or special holiday services. This is
very important to the entire program. Why go through the trouble to set it up if
no one knows about it? TRZ has made a multimillion dollar investment in order
to make this service possible and it will not work if no one calls. TRZ will
also provide sample promotional materials to help you get the word out.
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Q: Can people call from any
telephone?
A: Yes. They can
call from home, office, hotels, car phones, pay phones even from other
countries! We recommend using a speakerphone, so the caller does not have to
hold the receiver to his/her ear. It sounds like FM radio over a speakerphone.
International callers have to pay the long distance cost from the country they
are calling and direct dial a number in the United States (330-374-6300) to
access your events. Even from the other side of the world, your services will
sound great.
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Q: Can we call in to hear a
FREE sample demonstration of TRZ's service?
A: Yes. Just call
1-800-846-4812 to listen to a short demonstration.
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Q: We currently offer services
on a local radio station, TV station or cable TV channel - should we still join?
A: Absolutely. Our service is not intended to
compete with these services. Our service is intended to service those people
who can not enjoy these other services. If you like, we can even tap into those
broadcasts and make them available live to people outside the area.
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Q: What kind of services does
TRZ expect us to make available?
A:Anything and
everything. Regular Services, Bible Studies, Board Meetings, Musical Concerts,
Holiday Services, Special Speakers, Weddings, Funerals, Etc. We don't care if
you want to carry the live play-by-play of your congregations softball team!
Any service which you choose to make available to the general public is fine
with us. The possibilities are endless, and we are expecting you to come to us
with new ideas.
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Q: Anything else we should know
about TRZ?
A:We'll, we do
offer other services at very competitive rates like business and residential
long distance, traditional conference calling and our broadcast voice
technology. We will make all of these available to you once you join the
service. The broadcast voice technology is really interesting - it enables you
to call every family that is a member of your congregation with one phone call.
It's very useful in emergencies and it is a great technology for reminding
people about meetings and deadline and things like that. Give us a call at
800-846-4630 for more information.
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Q: What do we do now? How do we
sign up?
A: Sign your
contract and mail it back to TRZ with your security deposit. That will start the
process. We will send you your coupler in about a week with complete
installation instructions. We will help you hook up the coupler and test it and
then we will send you promotional materials that tell people how they can call
in. It is a fairly simple process and we can have your service available the
day you receive your coupler. If you have any remaining unanswered questions,
give us a call at 1-800-846-4630.
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