People of Vox: Spotlight on Daanyaal Domingo
At Vox, we believe our employees are the beating heart of our company, with merit and value built into all our available positions. In this edition of People of Vox, we meet Daanyaal Domingo, who works as a Consumer Support Engineer: Level 2, based in Cape Town. His story is an inspiring example of how a solid career can continue developing when someone decides they are just not going to let obstacles stand in their way.
Having joined Vox four years ago, Daanyaal initially started out in Sales before moving into technical support in the Consumer Support division. Today, he’s involved in frontline work for Vox individual customers, where he has been going from strength to strength.
The team makes sure that customers with Fibre to the Home and LTE services can connect and enjoy reliable Internet speeds. The Support team’s aim is clear: “First-call resolution whenever possible, while trying to ensure that customers are satisfied and leave with a smile!” says Daanyaal.
But it’s not just the customers who are smiling when he’s at work. One of his colleagues clarifies: “Daanyaal goes the extra mile without being asked, taking the time to truly listen and making sure customers feel heard, valued and looked after. What really sets him apart, though, is how he treats his teammates! When someone needs help, advice or just reassurance, he’s the go-to guy: knowledgeable, patient and always kind.”
We find out more about Daanyaal, the humble guy who uplifts his whole team whenever he’s on duty.
Hard Work and People Skills
Born and raised in Milnerton, Cape Town in a single income home, Daanyaal says money wasn’t a luxury in his household when he was growing up. And so, after finishing high school in 2015, he went to work full-time for a year as a camera technician for a security company, where he installed CCTV cameras and alarm systems. His motivation was practical: to build funds for his future studies and help support the household.
He describes this year as being one of the most formative episodes in his life: “It taught me patience and resilience and also gave me a reality check. I saved most of my earnings in a 32‑day notice account so I wouldn’t be tempted to touch the money, and then, with some help from my mother, I was able to start studying the following year.
“I enrolled for a Bachelor of Education with the intention of becoming a teacher, but life had other plans… By the time I had completed the practical teaching placement, where student teachers go into designated schools and teach actual lessons to learners, I realised that being a teacher was not for me!”
Rather than continuing through three more years of study in a field he didn’t enjoy, Daanyaal made a brave and pragmatic choice and changed to a diploma in Information Technology (IT).
“I was annoyed about the money – and the time – that the year of teaching had cost,” he says, “and I felt bad about it, but I believe that the decision to change course quite early on during the study period saved me from committing to a career I wouldn’t have liked over the longer term.”
Nonetheless, from his brief teaching experience, Daanyaal gained valuable people skills and a new perspective on different learners’ backgrounds. He explains: “I do think that these insights helped me later in customer-facing support work. I think back on this year as being a lesson in empathy, because being on the opposite side of the teacher’s desk from all my years in school showed me how diverse people can be, and how different a situation can look from differing viewpoints.”
Early Career and the Move to Vox
Before Vox, Daanyaal worked in retail as well as for a competitor internet service provider (ISP) as a sales consultant. A friend helped him to get a job in Sales at Vox, and after that, his IT diploma then provided the stepping stone to apply for a support role. He started in Level 1 Support and then successfully applied for a promotion, a Level 2 position, earlier this year.
“My path wasn’t straightforward,” he says. “I first applied for a promotion a couple of years ago, but I didn’t get it due to insufficient experience. This initial rejection was demotivating at first, but I worked on my skills and reapplied at a later stage, when I was finally successful. This promotion has meaning for me because it’s confirmation that persistence and effort can actually pay off!”
Today, Daanyaal’s role involves consumer support for Fibre to the Home as well as LTE customers. He clarifies: “Historically, the consumer team focused on Home Fibre, but last year the company decided to include LTE support within the Consumer division as well.”
The expansion meant a learning curve for many in the team, including new troubleshooting steps, different hardware and network behaviour to understand, and new processes to create. “The changes brought some challenges,” says Daanyaal, “but with time the team adapted, and we now handle LTE issues with confidence.”
In addition to becoming a Level 2 Support Engineer, Daanyaal was also promoted to being a 2IC to his line manager, Francois Visser. Consumer support at Vox operates as a 24/7 service, but Daanyaal’s recent promotion means that he looks after his team during the day. As a result, his weekday mornings involve triaging emails and escalations, assigning tickets and preparing the team for the day, before moving onto to resolving customer queries and managing escalations.
Daanyaal is highly complimentary about the support he has received from his colleagues and line managers and says the culture at Vox makes coming to work something to look forward to: “Every single morning that I wake up, I’m excited to come to work!” he says.
“I really enjoy the camaraderie that I experience at Vox, and I appreciate being in a workplace culture where people are always ready to help each other, while management treat their employees respectfully.”
‘Gone Fishing’
Away from work, Daanyaal keeps things simple. He enjoys spending time at home and says that being able to go from renting to becoming a homeowner, two years ago, is a truly proud personal achievement, one which he attributes in part to the steadiness of his role at Vox.
When he has time, he likes to fish in the sea off the rocks, as a way to unwind while enjoying being outdoors. Unlike most fishermen, however, who tend to exaggerate the size of ‘the one that got away!’, Daanyaal is disarmingly honest and admits that he actually doesn’t normally catch much!
[Editor’s note: Definitely not your normal fisherman’s outlook 😊]
Aware that he’s making himself the butt of his own joke, Daanyaal explains: “For me, it’s more about the peace and patience of standing by the sea than having any major sporting success!”
He would be the first to agree that his best ‘Catch of the day’ – any day of the week! – is his partner, Cailin. “I really value my downtime with her when the working day is over,” he smiles. “We’ve been together a long time – we first met in primary school, after which we lost touch, and then we reconnected after high school. We have some great plans to travel together in the future, and have got beautiful places like Bali, Thailand and the Maldives on our wish-list.
“The appeal of these destinations is simple, because we’re looking for a retreat from life’s daily busy-ness and would love to relax in the tranquil surroundings of blue water and beautiful beaches. On a slightly opposite note though, we’d also like to visit Dubai just to see its amazing technology and extreme modern-ness.”
He adds that working at Vox has changed his life: “My career at Vox, in just four years, has allowed me to do things, and plan things, that I couldn’t do before, because of the practical impact of stable employment and the opportunity for growth.
“For me, Vox represents more than a job – instead, it’s a place where people are supported, where growth is visible and leadership is accessible. I really appreciate the way that Vox provides pathways for people who are willing to learn and constantly aiming for further growth,” he concludes.
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