Johannesburg, 29 Aug 2019
Telkom has announced the imminent termination of its fixed-line copper service as well as the inevitable death of its ADSL service.
In doing so, Telkom is finally embracing VOIP as its “new-generation dial tone technology”, to be delivered to customers via Fibre or LTE network infrastructure.
For tens of thousands of small to medium-sized businesses still reliant on Telkom copper lines for access to “dial tone” and the Internet, there exists a chasm in terms of budget, operations and trust when considering migration to these new services and technologies.
“In today’s tough South African economic climate, business owners are fearful of what steps to take next,” says Grant Broomhall, MD of Far South Networks. “They are naturally asking themselves: ‘Do we stay with Telkom or should we consider an alternative provider? Perhaps this is the moment to dive deeper and embrace new technology paradigms like the cloud, but we don’t have the budget to do so yet.’
“Far South Networks provides the SME business owner with a product that has the flexibility to allow businesses to take only the steps they are comfortable with, as and when they need to, while they are assured access to a cutting-edge technology roadmap,” says Broomhall.
The Wanderbox product from Far South Networks offers a single LTE VOIP Gateway for replacing all defunct Telkom copper lines, providing dial tone to the old office PBX and Internet services to employees' PCs and laptops. A quick, non-invasive installation is provided via a wireless, LTE broadband service. Simply plug in your service provider's SIM. Operationally, there is no change in the business’s processes. Life carries on as usual.
The same Wanderbox device can offer extended business services: (i) adding more “lines” when needed is easy via VOIP, and (ii) accessing call recordings (as well as future FICA, FAIS and POPI compliance). Not to mention cost-saving via lower call rates and broadband costs.
It is a simple process, says Broomhall: “1. Contact a certified Far South Networks reseller to deliver and install an LTE Gateway device. 2. Insert a SIM with allocated “data package”. 3. Enter your SIP/VoIP account details and start calling. 4. Login to your new WiFi Access Point and continue surfing the Internet.”
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