The World Wide Web is fast becoming a worldwide resource for business and Internet Office Parks, a member of the Paradigm Group, is spearheading the exploitation of the Internet for small businesses. From fax services over the Internet to LAN link dial and ISDN service offerings the company is providing a one-stop-shop for any business with technology needs.
Blake Smith, Internet Office Park`s general manager, Johannesburg, says that the Internet allows companies to cut the costs of doing business, especially if they are involved in communicating with companies overseas.
"We are providing businesses with a locally produced dialer that allows the company to fax overseas at a fraction of the costs of an ordinary fax," he says. The dialer plugs into the company`s existing fax and intercepts internationally routed calls. "The service is based on the Internet - the dialer dials out from South Africa but only dials out via a local call to one of our fax servers. From there it is routed over the Internet and to the destination country`s fax server. Once there it is faxed to the company," explains Smith.
The set-up of the fax service is extraordinarily simple and doesn`t require any technical knowledge on the part of the business. In any case Internet Office Park provides turnkey solutions and makes sure that the dialer works. "Most of the businesses that we work with are fairly small and don`t have a dedicated IT department," notes Smith.
He doesn`t believe that the free fax services already available on the Internet provide a professional enough service that would meet the business needs of companies. "The companies that we are aiming at would have to spend a minimum of R100 on their Internet faxing services. The savings to the business are in the region of 25% and as high as 50% depending on the destination of the fax." Smith points out that it is not necessary to purchase the dialer.
Internet Office Park`s service also provides confirmation that the fax is received and a receipt is faxed back to the originator of the fax. Internet Office Parks is selling the fax service on to its existing customer base and is currently fine-tuning the service.
"We have picked up, for example, that our customers like to receive their fax confirmation almost immediately, whereas currently it takes five minutes to fax back the confirmation of receipt. We are working on reducing that time."
Editors Note
A new way of thinking
Internet Office Parks is a member of the Paradigm Group, an information technology company specialising in providing turnkey solutions to both consumers and business sectors.
Internet Office Parks provides Internet access to small and medium sized businesses.
Paradigm is the holding company of several companies that focus on providing consumers and corporations with a one-stop-shop for all their information technology requirements, from rentals to finance.
Based on the premise that companies and individuals don`t need to own technology, but simply need to own the use of technology, Paradigm provides a range of services covering all aspects of the Internet, digital satellite television, cellular services, computer and software rentals, as well as a range of services that support electronic interaction.
Share
Editorial contacts