According to a recent survey*, which included over 1 200 respondents, the majority indicated that spam is a major headache which plagues their in-boxes. Storm, one of SA's leading data and Internet service providers (ISPs), has introduced an innovative service dubbed the Spam Catcher. With this new offering, storm subscribers are further protected from unwanted spam and e-mail abuse.
Further findings* indicate that spam makes up 40% of an individual's inbox, translating to an average of 14% more junk mail than actual personal correspondence. In line with this growing concern, storm has implemented the Spam Catcher across its leased-line subscriber base.
"Sending of fraudulent, inappropriate and offensive e-mails in vast quantities to subscribers - although illegal in most of Europe - is common practice in SA," says Tim Wyatt-Gunning, managing director of storm. "With the Spam Catcher, storm is able to reduce the load of data that is stored on the network as it is able to intercept incoming mail before it reaches the recipient's server. This in turn results in less support calls from subscribers which leads to quicker response times from our support centre."
The Spam Catcher is connected directly to storm's router where it verifies the legitimacy of e-mails by cross-checking the sender's details with a valid domain and server. This is done without actually scanning the content of the mail - protecting the privacy of subscribers.
"We believe that the storm Spam Catcher provides our subscribers with an extra security measure against unsolicited mail. This value-added service will be offered to our existing subscribers at no additional cost, providing them with the added convenience and peace of mind that what is in their inboxes is worth their attention," concludes Wyatt-Gunning.
*Survey conducted by Executive Summary Consulting Inc and Quirs.
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Storm was incorporated as a South African limited company in December 1998. The business launched in Cape Town in June 1999. The company sees itself as challenging the major players in the telecoms market by providing products and services that help companies to communicate efficiently and cost-effectively.
Storm currently provides over 3 500 businesses with a range of high quality, cost-effective alternatives to existing providers of voice and data communications including storm international, storm cellular, storm access, storm fax and storm sms. Storm international lowers the cost of a business's international calls through its latest callback technology. Storm cellular and storm fax reduces the cost of calls to cellular phones and the sending of faxes. With the acquisition of ITI's ISP business in 2000, storm offers Internet connectivity which includes domain name registration, Web site design and server hosting services. Furthermore, the company is positioning itself to offer converged voice and data services on one network, once deregulation of the local telecommunications market takes place.
Storm will continue to differentiate itself in the industry by providing services which will include VOIP (once legalised) as well as value-added services such as its newly launched Customer Zone offering.
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