The Eastern Cape government has rolled out a least cost routing (LCR) solution that is expected to save R6 million in telephony costs annually, says finance MEC Billy Nel.
Nel says the provincial government`s monthly cellular and national calls expenditure came to R1.9 million before the solution was implemented.
Initially a telephone management system was installed to a switchboard system managed by the finance department to analyse each extension`s call activity, providing a more accurate reading of telephonic usage of the six departments linked to it.
The system also helped reduce telephony costs to R1.2 million, Nel says.
The second phase of the project was the installation of least cost routers in June this year. Tema Telecoms, an Orion Telecom`s black economic empowerment partner, was awarded a tender to install 180 cellular and national least cost routers at three government sites.
This resulted in a further decrease of telephone costs to R700 000 a month, saving the organisation R500 000 a month.
"That`s a lot of money in anyone`s language," says Nel.
He adds that the strategy not only fits in with the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), which promotes the effective and efficient use of limited resources, but also addresses the need raised by the provincial government`s R3.5 billion deficit.
Tema Telecoms is also talking to other departments that have own switchboards within the region.
According to director Anton Hattingh, Tema Telecoms has R1 million worth of proposals pending at two different entities. These will result in an additional R400 000 in savings for the Eastern Cape government once the projects are signed and implemented, he says.
He adds that both Orion Telecom and Tema Telecoms intend to use the partnership with the provincial government as a platform to implement their social development polices.
Hattingh says the majority of people involved in the project are from the Eastern Cape. "They are an integral part of our skills development strategy," he says.
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