Local firms get overseas numbers

By Alex Kayle, Senior portals journalist

Johannesburg, 25 Nov 2008

Switch Telecom has rolled out a voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) solution enabling local companies to adopt a secondary international telephone number and allowing callers to pay for the call in their local currency.

According to Gregory Massel, founder of Switch Telecom, while it has been possible in the past for VOIP customers to secure overseas VOIP numbers, previously the local customer had to pay for the service in international currency, such as US dollars.

Switch Telecom facilitates South African companies to adopt telephone numbers with international area codes for hundreds of cities all over the world, at a cost of R100 a month. Massel says traditionally people would pay astronomical rates for international calls.

He points out that, with the service, a call from anywhere in the world to a London number, for example, will not terminate in the UK, but will instead be routed to SA.

A company's international clients are charged their local rates when calling a South African company that has this solution. “This is particularly relevant in the contact centre and import and export industries that might want a secondary international number. It makes it easier and more affordable for international clients to call a local number,” says Massel.

Cutting costs

Massel notes there has been a tremendous backlash against off-shoring in many countries and that, due to the economic recession, companies are reluctant to export jobs to developing countries. The solution was developed to allow Switch Telecom to focus on the needs of clients doing business internationally, as well as to reduce the communication costs for foreign branches of companies calling their South African offices, he adds.

“Overseas dialling was a key milestone for VOIP providers, because it was the last major technical barrier preventing large-scale business and consumer uptake of VOIP services as a complete replacement for fixed-line telephony.

“Other key barriers to VOIP uptake that have already been overcome, include the ministerial determinations of September 2004 and the ability of VOIP operators to interconnect with each other, as well as fixed and mobile network operators. All of these latest developments point towards VOIP coming of age, and geography becoming less important in our new wireless world.”

Companies wanting to find out if Switch Telecom offers their choice of overseas area code can contact 087 550 0000.