Vodacom announced last week that it has been allocated two new number ranges, 0740- and 0749-.
While this gives South Africa's biggest cellular network access to another two million subscriber numbers, it also heralds the start of a long-predicted complexity in the corporate least-cost routing (LCR) market, which is bound to bring out your LCR provider's true colours.
In short, up to now, LCR providers have had to route their customers' outbound calls to just the first three dialled digits, eg, 082, 073 etc. Now they will have to route to four digits - which means their job has just become exponentially more complicated.
There are two possible ways to control routing of a corporate customer's calls: either the routing codes can be programmed into the client's PABX system, or an external routing device can be installed after the PABX (commonly known as an "in-line" routing box).
With four digit routing now in play, it is becoming increasingly complicated to programme PABX systems, which generally have fairly limited routing capability and routing table space.
Compounding this problem is the fact that the smaller the PABX, the less capability it has, and the higher the cost of programming becomes in relation to the savings that will be generated. Another significant cost factor is that re-programming is needed every time a new code is released, and the PABX vendor will charge the client for this maintenance each time it is done.
The financial down-side of this to the client is that an incorrectly routed or "off-net" call will cost as much as two times what it would have if it was routed correctly.
However, this ever-growing problem, as more new number ranges are issued, is easily circumvented by using a dedicated inline LCR box, such as TelePassport's "Genie Box" - which is locally designed, developed and manufactured, and is easily the current market leader in analogue inline routing.
The Genie Box will seamlessly handle all LCR requirements at small to medium-sized businesses, which also makes it the perfect solution for most branch offices. The Genie Box is a "plug and play" solution, and once installed, it is managed and updated remotely, ensuring that all routing changes are done transparently and immediately as they happen, without the need for a technician to visit your offices.
Advanced features of the Genie Box include routing to any number of digits, different routing patterns for different times of the day, mobile number portability awareness, and the ability to create daily efficiency graphs, showing you exactly how well the solution is working for you.
Inline routing technology is the future of proper managed telecommunications, and the Genie Box is available exclusively from TelePassport.
In other recent news about TelePassport, the company is set to list on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in August 2007. With proprietary technology like the Genie in its stable, TelePassport is sure to have a bright and sustainable long-term future in SA telecoms.
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