In a bid to encourage the uptake of unified communications, MTN Business has reduced costs for fixed connection lines by almost 20%.
The price cut, instituted today, comes as the operator is working to move increasingly towards convergence of its services.
Angela Gahagan-Thomson, managing executive of MTN Business, says the industry in SA is getting to the point where any size business can benefit from valid convergence, “thanks to service providers who are adamant to achieve fixed mobile convergence (FMC)”.
The company says, in the past, the availability of true converged solutions for enterprises has been elusive, “mostly due to impractical broader industry promises and buzz words that have been prevalent in the market, and in some cases, lack of necessary transparency to a phased and sustained approach to realising true convergence or FMC”.
Gahagan-Thomson says MTN Business has showcased a custodian approach to delivering FMC to the marketplace over the past two years, and is now able to offer the technology in a phased approach. “We are determined to offer customers a new unified communication experience via hosted services and enterprise applications from the cloud.” She says a reduction of overall communication expenditure is a critical component to uptake.
This price reduction, coupled with MTN Business's fixed converged service offerings, allows enterprises to operate on converged products. In line with this, MTN Business offers a range of communication products in conjunction with the fixed call rates, including hosted PBX, hosted call centre and UniPresence, among others.
MTN Business says FMC makes the mobile phone a true extension of enterprises' PBX. “Organisations will have the ability to dramatically reduce their voice bill, while increasing productivity, and fixed and mobile users can share the same interfaces to the network on a single core network. So, in essence, no matter the size of the business, it needs just one number, which provides substantial potential for businesses on the move.”
The notion of merging desk and mobile phone will soon become a reality, says Gahagan-Thomson. “As we near our third and final phase of FMC, it's my opinion that it will signify a fundamental shift in the way South African businesses conduct operations, manage cost centres and deliver services. It's just a matter of time before we physically see the benefits and bold changes that FMC will make to the face of commerce locally.”
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