South Africans

Baby, It’s Cold Outside!

Posted on 27 June 202527 June 2025 by Vivienne Fouche

So snuggle up at home with your Vox Connectivity, and let the weather do its thing without you…

Winter in South Africa has officially arrived around the country (and if you don’t believe me, just ask our Vox Weather meteorologists). Or to put it another way: “Eish guys, it’s freezing!”

It’s raining, it’s pouring, it’s snowing, it’s windy and it’s just plain ‘NO MORE SUNNY SOUTH AFRICA!’ right now, almost everywhere.

So what’s a person to do in the quest to stay warm and dry and happy?

Here at Vox, we have some ideas.

Don’t Worry…

Grab your warm clothes and layer up against the weather. Beanies / scarves / gloves / rain jackets / warm socks, anyone? And as for leg warmers, let’s just call them retro cool; I mean, they can’t be a fashion faux pas any more when Shein and Temu are both bringing them back…
Grab a blanket! Grab two! Or a ‘shoulder blanket’, aka a shawl.
Close the doors, windows, curtains and blinds when the sun’s gone down. Conversely, open those curtains to catch some winter rays on sunny days when you wake up, to let any outside heat stream into your home and slowly warm it up. It’s a simple practice that doesn’t cost anything but it can make a difference.
Put on the heater or light the fire – but safely, please! – and never leave an open flame or fireplace unattended. If you have small children, be aware of any hazards to their safety.
Speaking of retro items, remember hot water bottles? The trick, apparently, is to avoid completely filling your bottle – instead, leave a little room for the hot air to expand so it doesn’t get a pressure build-up and burst. And cover your bottle with a towel if it didn’t come with a cover, to help keep the heat in and also not burn your skin.
And then there’s the non-water bottle – wheat bags that go into the microwave – which are also great for sprains or sore muscles as well as staying warmer. If you don’t have a wheat bag, you could make something similar by filling an old sock with rice, tying the opening closed, and heating up in the microwave for a short while. (Safety note: you probably shouldn’t do this in an air fryer 😊.)
Finally, warm your insides with a nice hot beverage. What’s your preference: coffee, hot chocolate, tea, Rooibos or herbal tea? And of course, wrapping your cold fingers around the hot mug helps as well.

… Be Happy

Right, now that we’ve sorted out some tips for keeping warm, let’s look at the positive side of the dropping thermometer, because cold weather is just made for home entertainment! And when all your connectivity options are covered by Vox, home entertainment is a breeze for the whole family.

Why not settle into a cold weather weekend of online-enhanced fun – here are some of your options to consider:

Streaming entertainment: Netflix, Showmax, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, and Apple TV+ are all available locally – just grab the popcorn and chocolate (and blanket) and get comfy.
For local content, we’ve got SABC+ especially for news hounds, eVOD with soapies galore, and Afriforum TV for Afrikaans series, podcasts, radio, reality shows and kids content.
For sports options, there’s DSTV Stream and F1TV Pro, as well as Tennis TV Premium for live grand slam tournaments (hey there, Wimbledon season!).
And don’t forget about your fix of YouTube, for the young and the young at heart.

Then there’s online gaming, of course, beloved by millions today around the world. Whether it’s World of Warcraft, Fortnite, Apex Legends, PUBG, Minecraft and so much more, there’s something for everyone, whether you’re a veteran or a curious newcomer, under 10 or a life-long teenager. You just need a keen imagination, fast fingers and faster connectivity. At Vox, we can’t do anything about your manual dexterity, but we can surely take care of your Internet speed!

Away from gaming, you might also want to stay in touch with friends and family with a long-overdue chat via WhatsApp or Vobi, and for those more introspective moments, the readers among us will reach out for a good book. Of course, you can always do it the old-fashioned paper-based way, but online books are also widely available – and often for far less cost.

And finally, let’s not forget about a fix of celebrity gossip – which high-profile million-dollar wedding is taking place for the international glitterati set? Who’s wearing what and who’s cosying up to who? (Looking at you here, Orlando Bloom!)

So really – who wants to leave home when “Baby, it’s cold outside!”

With Vox, the great news is that you don’t have to.

Enjoy!

PS: Just for an added bonus, here’s a link to a revamped version of the classic song, performed by John Legend and Kelly Clarkson (click on the image).

Turbocharge Your Business Operations with a Fibre Internet Line

Posted on 26 June 202527 November 2025 by Vivienne Fouche

How Fibre Internet can give your business – and your employees – a massive boost

Does the Internet at your company’s premises tend to lag or go down more often than not – so your employees are often forced to spend time doing nothing, or else are flocking to the coffee facilities (and then taking ages to get back to work)?

Perhaps your document saving and archiving is an on-premises administrative hassle, or else your on-prem PBX system is the weakest link when the power goes out.

If any of these scenarios sound familiar, then it could be that your organisation’s productivity would benefit massively from a Fibre Internet boost. Business operations today need fast, reliable Internet for everything from their business communication to customer service, and Vox Fibre to the Business is guaranteed to offer you the fastest speeds and most reliable service possible for your Internet connectivity.

The Extensive Benefits of Fibre-Based Internet

Vox offers scalable options with tailored value-adds to suit your business needs. Our Fibre to the Business (FTTB) offerings include Business Fibre, for broadband solutions at excellent prices; Premium Business Fibre, where you get more ‘bang for your buck’ with added value and an improved service; and Dedicated Fibre if your business requires uncontended connectivity and top priority service level agreements (SLAs).

The benefits of a Fibre Optic Internet service for your business include the following:

Faster uploads and downloads: Fibre connections use Fibre Optic cables to transmit data at incredibly fast speeds, by using light pulses, meaning faster uploads and downloads for file sharing and other data-intensive tasks.
Reduction in downtime: Breaks in your company’s Internet service have a negative impact on all operations, including the critical elements of internal and external communication. Setting up a Failover option will help your organisation to remain ready for any challenges, by providing a secondary connection to your company’s Internet via diverse routes and/ or technologies.
Improved productivity: With limited downtime and faster Internet speeds, your employees can download faster, collaborate better, and increase their overall productivity. Reduced lag and latency also improve online video conferencing. Your employees can save on time out of the office by having more online meetings with quality video or VoIP calls, instead of having to meet face-to-face or over a PBX conference phone.
Cloud services and data backup: Fibre Optic Internet connectivity means better access to cloud-based services for storage and backup, as well as other collaboration tools. You can quickly and efficiently access any stored data for seamless business operations.
Increased security: Fibre Optic cables are extremely secure, giving you peace of mind that your sensitive data is better protected.
Cost savings: By eliminating speed issues, increasing the reliability of your Internet, and improving business productivity, you’ll save costs over time. In addition, cloud-based storage options, as well as the implementation of VoIP telecommunications, will save even more in the longer term.
Scalability: With FTTB, you can easily increase your Internet capabilities as the business expands.

Employer of the Year?

As 2025 enters the second half of the year, why not investigate getting a Fibre Connection for your organisation? This way, you can make sure your business is always online with a reliable connection, and with incredibly high data transmission speeds, your employees can easily upload and download files and stay connected with each other, and your customers, at all times.

In addition, VoIP calls can cut your phone costs significantly, both locally and internationally. It all works together to help make the way you do business even better – and efficiently-run organisations tend to have more productive employees. In turn, employees who are enabled with higher business functionality also tend to be happier and more positive at work – nobody likes having to do their job with less effective products and solutions.

And with a bit more ready cash at your disposal, you could even earn some more ‘Employer of the Year’ brownie points with an improved brand of coffee in the kitchen facilities, when it’s finally time for those well-deserved breaks.

Convinced yet? We’d love to hear from you if you’re ready to make the move to Business Fibre.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Business Fibre Internet?
Business Fibre Internet is a commercial-grade Fibre connection with SLAs, priority support and optional uncontended bandwidth (Dedicated Fibre). It’s built for uptime, security and scalability.

What is Dedicated Fibre and why would my business need it?
Dedicated Fibre offers uncontended, 1:1 bandwidth with stronger SLAs, and is ideal for data centres, high-transaction businesses, or organisations running latency-sensitive applications and large-scale cloud services.

How does Failover Internet work with Fibre?
Failover provides a secondary connection over a different route or technology to automatically keep your network online during primary-link outages. It’s recommended for businesses that cannot tolerate downtime.

Can Fibre reduce our phone costs?
Yes. Using VoIP over Fibre can significantly cut local and international call costs, and improves call quality compared with older PSTN or contended mobile links.

Will Fibre help our cloud backup and collaboration?
Absolutely. Fibre’s high throughput and low latency enable faster backups, seamless access to cloud-based tools and better real-time collaboration for distributed teams.

Is Your Business Wi-Fi Due for an Upgrade?

Posted on 21 May 202521 May 2025 by Craig Blignaut

A better Wi-Fi environment brings increased productivity to your employees and your organisation

Business Wi-Fi provides your employees with their gateway to the Internet, including operations in the Cloud. This requires stability and reliability – and as your business grows, your Wi-Fi needs may change. What worked for your organisation yesterday may not be sufficient in the future as your company’s Wi-Fi requirements increase.

Perhaps your organisation’s infrastructure was installed a few years ago, but as cost-effectively as possible – it may have been that the Wi-Fi requirement then wasn’t as much of a focus point as it has since become. Now, your organisation is growing and the need for improved Wi-Fi services is apparent.

Let’s have a look at why your business Wi-Fi may be due for an upgrade – and the steps you can take to implement this.

A Better Wi-Fi Environment Brings Increased Productivity

Wi-Fi has been around for the past 25 to 30 years and has evolved significantly during that time. With vastly more applications and computer programs available today, a much higher throughput is required to maximise the experience of the users in your organisations.

The days of having a single room with Wi-Fi access in it within the entire premises, or a dedicated area across the particular floor in the building, are long gone. People today expect Wi-Fi access in every environment that they move into. Your corporate solution therefore needs to work properly and enable productivity – you don’t want your employees being forced to spend five to 10 minutes trying to connect. Conversely, a better Wi-Fi environment brings increased productivity.

With a clear requirement for functionally excellent Wi-Fi access throughout the organisation, it may be time to invest in better, enterprise-level equipment, and an organisation that can assist you in managing and planning the Wi-Fi design as efficiently as possible.

Advantages of Upgrading Your Business Wi-Fi Network

Vox provides managed Wi-Fi services for businesses. This enables remote software and firmware updates, and reduced technician call-outs, through remote troubleshooting and fault remediation.

One of our services is offering audits on existing Wi-Fi, because with legacy old equipment, security becomes a risk. We also know that not every business is looking for brand-new Wi-Fi in a new building from scratch. Very often, we find that we’re taking over the legacy Wi-Fi previously used by the company, and we may be able to upgrade the existing assets or infrastructure.

The advantages of upgrading your business Wi-Fi network include the following:

Increased speed and bandwidth;
Improved connection reliability;
Improved security and privacy; and
Easier setup and management.

Security alone is a particularly serious issue, as network threats are becoming increasingly sophisticated. At Vox, we are keenly aware of the need to carry out regular software updates on our network equipment, such as access points and switches, as is necessary with all technology.

An access point can become a security risk if no one is managing it: for example, the manufacturer could find security vulnerabilities with certain equipment, and if it doesn’t get a security patch or update, the access point becomes vulnerable.

Overcoming Wi-Fi Challenges Presented by Infrastructure

The construction materials used in buildings, such as concrete, glass, brick and metal, can interfere with Wi-Fi signals and obstruct them in different ways, especially in larger or older buildings with thick walls. To counteract this challenge, Vox uses specialised software to create virtual models of your office space.

This software considers the different structural properties of the various building materials, allowing you to predict how Wi-Fi signals will travel and where obstacles might cause issues.

This virtual planning considers such factors as signal strength as well as how to determine the best access point and placement for access points and switches, to optimise network performance and capacity in areas where it’s needed most.

Vox Managed Wi-Fi Solutions

Our business Wi-Fi offerings are designed to optimise your Wi-Fi coverage, extend range and expand networking possibilities, enhancing the user experience and providing seamless, reliable connectivity for all devices, as follows:

Solve network issues and limit service centre interaction, reducing technical call outs. Network analytics provides information such as alarms, incidents and client experience information, including time to connect to the access points.
Radio Frequency (RF) design and planning: Our RF heatmap design software enables correct planning, scoping and implementation to improve overall Wi-Fi experience for both users and organisations.
Enterprise Equipment: Vox partners with enterprise grade equipment vendors, such as Ruckus Networks, to provide robust equipment from access points to managed switches and management cloud platforms, offering enhanced Wi-Fi connections and capacity for concurrent user devices.

Bespoke Managed Wi-Fi Solutions with Vox

The benefits of managed Wi-Fi solutions ensure, for example, that your organisation carries out regular, planned security updates in the same way as for our phones and computers. Vox offers any organisation a bespoke Wi-Fi solution according to their particular requirements.

We also understand the requirements of speed versus capacity. For example, your organisation might have a boardroom that is required to facilitate a meeting with 100 people in it once a week, and otherwise is seldom used. At Vox, we understand how to cater to the capacity that may be only required from time to time.

A managed Wi-Fi solution also offers convenience, as our Service Centre is able to remotely troubleshoot and improve network performance using cloud-based administrative tools. This ensures that more connected devices can enjoy uninterrupted Wi-Fi in your business.

It all speaks to ongoing connectivity, which in turn speaks to improved productivity.

Is your business Wi-Fi due for an upgrade? Feel free to reach out to us on 087 805 5050 or via email on corporatesales@voxtelecom.co.za and begin a discussion.

WhatsApp and Your Customers

Posted on 10 April 202510 April 2025 by Natalie van der Merwe

A Powerful Channel for Contact Centres

We all know that mobile phones were originally invented to enable Voice calls that could be made and received on the go, and not just through a fixed land line. And so it’s ironic that we’re seeing an increasing trend in recent years for consumers to use their smart phones for text-based communication more than for Voice calls. This pattern brings ramifications for businesses as well as individuals.

The ‘texting versus calling’ trend is highly visible in private conversations as well as in the communication preferences that people have with businesses, including contact centres.

WhatsApp has become one of the world’s most popular and widely used text-based apps, and its features and popularity bring significant benefits to contact centres also – so much so that WhatsApp has, in fact, become one of the most powerful channels for contact centre usage today. Let’s unpack this further, starting with insights on why texting itself can be so useful.

Don’t Call Me (Send Me a Text)

Texting provides a quick and efficient way to communicate. There’s no need for pleasantries or small talk (especially if you’re not in the mood!) – you can simply get straight to the point. In a world where time is a precious commodity, many people see this as an advantage, especially when they’re busy or under stress.

Some of the advantages of texting include the following:

Great for multi-tasking: Texting allows people to communicate during brief free moments, including in the ‘asynchronous’ timing of messages (where both the sender and the recipient of the message don’t have to be in ‘chat mode’ at exactly the same time). For example, you can send a text message just before setting off on a trip to work and then read the response when you’ve arrived at the office, or you could send a text while waiting for your computer to finish a series of planned updates. The important thing is that you can text at a time that works for you.
Texting is easy: Even members of an older generation understand how to text on their smartphones, and it’s easier than a Voice call for anyone who is hearing impaired. For those who are introverts, or living in a country where the primary business language isn’t their first language, texting can be easier than trying to speak on the phone.
Efficiency of use: Texting allows us to get straight to the point – we ask a direct question, get a straightforward answer, and carry on with our schedule.
Written record: In addition, text messages remain with you and can be referred back to for further information or confirmation, if required.
Unintrusive communications: You don’t need to interrupt whatever you’re doing to immediately read or answer a message – you can do it at your convenience (at least most of the time). A phone call, on the other hand, requires real-time (‘synchronous’) communication at a time when it may not suit both parties to make or receive a call.
Synched to your computer: As an additional advantage, WhatsApp’s useful functionality also allows you to synch your smartphone to your laptop or desktop computer, so you can have the additional convenience of sending text messages via a device with a bigger keyboard, which for some people is more convenient.

So much for the advantages of being able to text your messages. Among the many communication channels available, WhatsApp has emerged as a gamechanger.

WhatsApp: Powering Ahead in Popularity and Availability

With over 2 billion active users globally, WhatsApp has become an incredibly popular and important platform within the digital communications landscape. Originally designed as a simple messaging app, it’s now a critical tool for contact centres, providing superb accessibility and efficiency, and enhancing customer engagement.

WhatsApp’s usage in contact centres has been a logical business extension because it’s versatile, widely available as well as extensively used, and able to deliver seamless, personalised experiences at scale.

Here are some thought-provoking statistics:

96% of South Africans use WhatsApp.
Globally, 68% of users check WhatsApp daily, indicating high engagement.
Over 175 million people message a WhatsApp Business account every day.

For contact centres, this means a ready-made audience that prefers the platform for its convenience and immediacy.

Benefits for Contact Centres

Using WhatsApp can benefit contact centres in several different ways, including accessibility, real-time conversations, a variety of media formats and cost-efficiency.

Accessibility: WhatsApp’s widespread usage ensures that businesses can reach customers almost anywhere. Unlike voice or email, which require specific setups, WhatsApp operates on a platform most customers already use on a daily basis.
Real-time conversations: The platform supports fast and efficient interactions for resolving customer queries, sending notifications and collecting feedback.
Rich media capabilities: WhatsApp supports a variety of media formats, including text, images, videos, documents and voice notes. This versatility allows businesses to share detailed information, demonstrate solutions visually, and provide instructions.
Cost efficiency: Compared to Voice or SMS channels, WhatsApp offers a more affordable solution for high-volume interactions. Businesses can save costs while maintaining high levels of service.
Track chat history: WhatsApp keeps track of all customer interactions, providing a complete view of the user journey. This ensures continuity and context, allowing for multiple agents to seamlessly assist customers.
Single place of interaction: Integrating WhatsApp into the contact centre software allows agents to manage all customer communications from one platform, streamlining workflows and improving response times.
Automation: WhatsApp can be integrated with chatbots to handle common queries, freeing up human agents to handle more complex issues.

Smartz Solutions: Integrating WhatsApp into Your Customer Journey

The Ultimate Guide to understanding WhatsApp Business | Vox | WhatsApp and Your Customers — Image courtesy of Smarz Solutions

Vox has proudly partnered with Smartz Solutions, which has been at the forefront of enabling businesses to embrace WhatsApp as part of its omnichannel communication strategy.

By seamlessly integrating WhatsApp with other channels like Voice, email and web chat, SmartzSolutions empowers contact centres to offer customers increased flexibility, helping businesses in the following ways:

Rapid Deployment: The company has a proven track record of being able to deploy a WhatsApp bot in under 24 hours, handling unprecedented interaction volumes effortlessly.
Seamless Integration: SmartzSolutions ensures that WhatsApp is part of a cohesive omnichannel strategy so that every interaction, regardless of channel, contributes to a unified customer experience.
Sentiment Analysis and Personalisation: By integrating sentiment analysis, the company helps businesses to tailor their WhatsApp interactions, ensuring they resonate with a customer’s unique needs and emotions.

Voice and WhatsApp: Coexisting for the Ultimate Solution

It’s important to remember that, while WhatsApp is revolutionising customer communication, Voice will always have a critical place in the contact centre. In particular, we find that urgent, complex or emotionally charged issues often require a human touch, and Voice channels remain the most effective way to provide that – there’s nothing like speaking voice to voice to a sympathetic person over the phone when someone has an issue or challenge.

The future for contact centres lies in balancing these channels, allowing customers to choose the method that best suits their needs at a particular time. WhatsApp can handle routine queries and initial touchpoints, while Voice agents step in for more complex interactions. Together, they form a complementary strategy that maximises efficiency and satisfaction.

Treat your Customers Like Royalty with Vox and Smartz Solutions

Posted on 12 March 202512 March 2025 by Natalie van der Merwe

A partnership designed to revolutionise customer engagement in SA

Poor customer service can have a serious impact on the overall health of your business. In the short term, it can affect sales, and over the longer term, it can lose your business some of its existing clients, as well as harming your reputation and your brand overall. When your employees don’t universally treat your customers like royalty, cracks in your brand loyalty will quickly begin to show.

There’s a little mantra right there: ‘Treat like royalty to ensure brand loyalty.’

For larger organisations, your contact centre is a critical part of offering excellent customer service, being a central point from which your company can manage all customer interactions across various channels. Its primary purpose is to offer customers efficient and effective technical support, customer service and sales assistance.

In this article, we look at how Vox has partnered with Smartz Solutions to offer advanced, cloud-based contact centre solutions that cater to the dynamic needs of the modern market.

From Call Centre to Contact Centre

You could think of a contact centre as being an upgrade of the original call centre, which traditionally relied on phone lines for both inbound and outbound calls. Today, contact centre technology – which encompasses the software and hardware used in contact centres for digital customer service and support – extends beyond phone systems, although the use of phone systems still has an important role to play.

The customer contact digital channels that are used by contact centre technology include email communications, text messages, web-based live chats, and social media interactions including WhatsApp and video chats.

Integration of the contact centre software with applications such as customer relationship management (CRM) software and workforce optimisation software (WFO) adds deeper understanding and analytics to the contact centre’s operations.

These integrated tools enhance efficiency, improve customer service and allow for better data analysis. With the increasing demand from customers for organisations to be consistently available on various channels, and not only over the phone, contact centres are embracing multichannel (or omnichannel) approaches to enable them to refine their customer service, increase efficiency and improve insights into customers’ behaviours and needs, in a holistic virtuous circle to create better customer experiences overall.

Adding to this virtuous circle is the importance of retaining top talent in your contact centre. High attrition rates cost businesses, both in recruitment and training expenses, as well as the quality and consistency of their customer service. By empowering the agent with the right tools, organisations can build contact centres where agents thrive and want to work, which is essential for building long-term customer relationships and trust.

Vox and Smartz Solutions: Ensuring that the Customer is King

Contact centre technology shapes a customer’s journey by supporting interactions across channels. It ensures that interactions reach agents, and facilitates seamless communication between customers and the brand, regardless of the channel used.

The partnership between Vox and Smartz Solutions – an omnichannel communications solutions specialist – is designed to offer advanced, cloud-based contact centre solutions in a collaboration aimed at enhancing customer engagement solutions across South Africa.

Terminology note: Omni-channel means an integrated customer service experience across all possible channels that a customer uses to engage with a business. These channels could include Voice, video, SMS, WhatsApp, e-mail, web chat and social media.

Smartz Solutions’s feature-rich, cloud-based contact centre technology is designed to reduce your total cost of ownership (TCO) and increase your return on investment (ROI), while improving both client and employee experience at the same time. Vox is able to tailor-make a Smartz Solutions offering for your business.

Smartz Solutions features and benefits include the following:

Completely local and Rand-based: Buying in Rands helps customers avoid unfavourable, fluctuating exchange rates, which can double or triple the costs of these platforms, wreaking havoc with budgets.
Omni-channel integration: Unified customer experience across all channels with seamless transitions.
AI-Powered analytics: Real-time insights into customer behaviour for data-driven decision-making.
Intelligent routing: Efficient call handling and prioritised issue resolution based on customer needs.
Predictive customer support: Anticipates customer needs for proactive problem resolution.
Scalability and flexibility: Easily adaptable to growing business demands, reducing total cost of ownership.

Redefining Customer Experience

Nobody likes having an issue with a company that’s providing a service, but then being unable to get hold of anyone to assist them. The days of being on hold indefinitely belong to the dark ages of customer service.

By maximising Smartz Solutions’ innovative platform, Vox is set to redefine customer experience for businesses of all sizes. The partnership aims to deliver exceptional experiences and support businesses in their growth and customer engagement strategies.

By choosing Vox as your Smartz Solutions provider, customers can benefit from Vox’s market-leading expertise and commitment to service excellence, combined with Smartz Solutions’ innovative and customer-centric communication platform.

Driving His Future within the IT Arena and Beyond

Posted on 11 March 202520 February 2026 by Vivienne Fouche

People of Vox: Spotlight on Lunga Hoho

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 Lunga Hoho, who works in the IT Department as a Desktop Support Technician. When you meet Lunga, you realise very quickly that he’s a ‘People’s Person’, through and through!

Lunga, who works at Vox Head Office in Joburg, but helps people remotely around the country, is one of the Vox IT support team members who’s there to help people at the drop of a hat when their computers are misbehaving. At the same time, he’s also highly skilled at putting the smiles back onto faces that were (at best) wearing a frown, and (at worst) spewing choice words into the surrounding atmosphere.

As you get to know Lunga, it also becomes apparent that he has an admirable self-driving philosophy (you’ll see why that’s a great pun a bit later in the article), which spurs him on to new challenges all the time. Lunga has been at Vox for around eight years now and has had an interesting career with us so far!

This, together with his People-Person outlook on life, meant he was top of mind when we were looking for the first person to interview for our new ‘People of Vox’ series of blog articles, in which we bring you the stories behind some of our less-well-known heroes.

Valuing His Culture

Lunga values his Xhosa heritage

Lunga (short for Lungako) was born and raised in a small town in the Eastern Cape, where his Xhosa background became an integral part of shaping his personality and outlook on life. “What I truly appreciate about my culture,” he notes, “is its rich heritage with strong traditions, and its emphasis on love and respect for people.”

Both of his parents, as well as his sister, are schoolteachers. While he stands apart from his family members in pursuing a career outside the education arena, he shares their philosophy of being a life-long learner.

“Like the rest of my family”, he says, “I’ve always been around books and education, and I understand and appreciate its value. My mother says that ‘Inside every teacher is a school’ and her outlook has always inspired me to try to extend myself as much as I can.”

Crafting A Career Path

Lunga joined Vox in mid-March 2017 on a 12-month contract basis, as part of an internship programme, where he worked as a Stores Assistant. Later that same year, on 1 August 2017, he became a driver for the company.

Lunga Vox car 1 | Vox | Driving His Future within the IT Arena and Beyond — Driving into his future with Vox!

He outlines: “I was so happy because this was now a permanent position! I was a driver for about two years and then became a service engineer for Qwerti (then known as MIT Services) in August 2019, where I remained until 2023, when I finally joined the IT Support Team as a Desktop Technician, which is my current role.”

Learning and studying formed an integral part of Lunga’s journey from becoming a driver for the company to being part of the IT team. This studying took place through both internal and external courses. He first became interested in becoming part of an IT support team when he was a driver visiting Vox clients.

“I started studying by registering myself on Vox Academy – because Vox Partners with Microsoft – and began my initial learning that way. Through these early courses, I became aware of more possibilities, both internally and externally, and I got to a point where I was knowledgeable enough to apply to become a service engineer for Qwerti (MIT Services), and then, as I mentioned, into my present position.

“I would like to add that throughout my career at Vox, I’ve been so fortunate in working for great line managers, who always supported and encouraged me, including taking the next steps into the next position or opportunity. I want to be an inspiration for any new interns going forward, because I’ve had so many people within the organisation who have made time to help me on my own journey.”

A Natural Fit in the IT Department

Lunga says he feels blessed by the opportunity to become part of the IT Support Team, which plays such an important role within Vox.

Lunga working 1 | Vox | Driving His Future within the IT Arena and Beyond — The serious business of work

He notes: “We protect the company’s data, secure its network, and seek ways to develop and improve our systems and IT infrastructure. I report to Sipho Sibanyoni, for whom I have great respect and admiration as an excellent manager, and my job is to ensure that Vox employees have all their technical needs met, thus allowing them to perform their duties. This includes being able to access the necessary shared folders on the server, getting onto the VPN, accessing printers and other office devices, encrypting confidential information and managing network traffic.

“Everyone who contacts me seeking help – from across various Vox branches around the country – is a vital cog in the company, and so I cultivate a positive attitude towards my clients and performing my duties. I’m always happy when I can solve someone’s tech problem and leave them happier than when I first went on the call to help them – it’s always wonderful when you are part of a solution, and this is one of the reasons why I love my job so much.”

Lunga reiterates that, partly because of his cultural background, he feels a deep love for humanity. He adds: “The best moments for me at Vox have been my encounters with people – those moments when I assist someone are really what makes my heart tick. I don’t think about the computer as much as I think about the person behind the screen.”

Exploring New Horizons

But it’s not just IT and people that makes Lunga tick – he also enjoys travel, studies and sports. He clarifies: “I enjoy seeking knowledge and studying in general, and just finding out how to better myself. This year, I’ve enrolled at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) to study Communications, which has always interested me. I’m so excited about investing in myself further – there’s always room to learn more!”

As for the travel, Lunga adds: “At the end of the day, we are here to collect as many good memories as we possibly can, and I have some great travel aspirations. For example, in the future I would like to climb Mount Kilimanjaro and visit the Great Pyramid of Egypt, to add to my previous travels to Botswana, Mauritius, Mozambique and the Mozambican Islands, as well as within South Africa itself. Further afield, I’d also like to visit Dagestan, in Russia, because one of my sports heroes, in Mixed Martial Arts, comes from there.”

Lunga cruise | Vox | Driving His Future within the IT Arena and Beyond — Just cruising!

Staying with sports, Lunga is usually one of the first to raise his hand when Vox, as a sponsor of the Golden Lions, is able to make free tickets available to staff members. More seriously, he clarifies: “My ultimate goal is to leave the world a little better than I found it. Working for Vox, because of its people-friendly and transparent, accessible culture, reminds me that behind all the professionalism I experience, I’m always dealing with human beings.

“I really enjoy working for a company that, besides being so innovative, also encourages such a great open-door policy, for employees as well as customers,” he concludes.

How to Make the Most of Your Vox Connectivity Line

Posted on 14 February 202514 November 2025 by Vivienne Fouche

Tips to make sure you’re getting what you signed up for

Picture the scene. It’s early afternoon and your small one is streaming HD videos in one room, your teenager is on a video call in their bedroom, and mom and dad are both working from home, simultaneously accessing the Internet via different laptops, in two other corners of the house. Best of all, thanks to your Fibre to the Home (FTTH) Internet connection, there’s no buffering or lagging in sight.

How to Make the Most of Your Vox Connectivity Line — How to make the most of your Vox connectivity line

Looking back, it’s quite surprising to think that even 15 years ago, this wasn’t a common scenario – for starters, YouTube was only started in 2005, and Netflix Streaming in January 2007. As for widespread Fibre connectivity in South Africa, it was still just a twinkle in somebody’s eye, because the first subsea Fibre cable to reach South Africa went live only in 2009. Today, Internet access has become one of the most important areas of our lives.

Internet connectivity opens us up to an incredible world of information, entertainment and opportunity, and nobody wants a slow or buffering connection, while price and value-conscious consumers are justifiably concerned about getting true value from their purchases. But what happens when you’ve paid for a decent Internet package, but it doesn’t seem to be working quite as well as you expected? When the Modern Family-inspired Internet scenario sketched out above starts stuttering and freezing?

Because even with a Fibre Internet connection – generally regarded as the crème de la crème of Internet connectivity – several factors can still reduce the performance of your Fibre to the Home (FTTH) Internet speed and reliability.

This article looks at how you can make the most of your Vox FTTH Connectivity line when certain challenges rear their heads.

Wi-Fi: Enabling Wireless Connectivity from Your Fibre Optic Line

Good Internet connectivity depends on many factors, including your Internet Service Provider (ISP) first and foremost, as well as the speed of your chosen Internet package; whether your devices are modern or no longer that new; and Wi-Fi options and challenges.

The job of a Wi-Fi router is to ‘convert’ the data packets carried within light pulses through Fibre Optic cables laid in your neighbourhood, into the Wi-Fi radio wave signal inside your home.
This then enables your family’s digital devices – laptops, tablets, smartphones and smart TVs – to link into the Internet, creating a wireless Internet connection for your home (cable-free Internet, in other words).

Wi-Fi functionality is integral to the performance of your Fibre-based Internet line.

Improving Your Wireless Signal

If your internet connectivity line doesn’t seem to be giving you the results you were expecting, or if you’re experiencing Wi-Fi dead zones in your home (caused by the distance of your device from the wireless router, thick walls or electrical interference), there are a few things you can do to improve your Wi-Fi network, as follows:

Router position: Choose a central location in your home, and raise the router off the floor. Also, don’t place the Wi-Fi router inside a cupboard or desk. Sometimes just raising the router a little higher up from the floor for better signal distribution will increase its range and speed. Make sure your router is away from other electronic and electrical equipment, metal objects and solid brick or concrete walls.
Router speed: Your router should handle a speed rated the same or higher than your chosen Internet package. And so, if your Fibre Internet is 500Mbps, your router should be able to offer speeds at least this fast.
Number of devices: All Wi-Fi equipment supplied by Vox is strong enough to cover an estimated 100 square metres, depending on what material your walls are made of. Vox recommends adding an additional device for every 50 to 100 square metres extra.
Mesh System to enhance signal: If the Wi-Fi range in your house is poor, a Vox mesh router system can help to push the signal further, so the whole family can stay connected throughout the house, providing an uninterrupted lag-free high-speed Wi-Fi connection for multiple devices in every corner of your home.
How many mesh units can I have in my home? The Vox two-pack can connect up to 100 devices and you can include up to eight units in your home if more coverage is needed. A Vox Wi-Fi Home Mesh network can handle a mix of IoT products, smart TVs, smartphones, tablets and other electronic devices, such as wireless printers.
Other devices can interfere with your Wi-Fi connection, including microwave ovens, cordless phones, Bluetooth products, baby monitors, alarms, cameras and other wireless LANs. To prevent this, position the Wi-Fi router or mesh extender as far away as possible from microwave ovens, Bluetooth devices, and 2.4 GHz cordless phones.
App-Enabled: If you want to check your Wi-Fi range, there are apps available for Apple and Android smartphones, for example ‘Sweetspot’ for Apple and ‘WiFi analyzer’ for Android.

Not Just the Wi-Fi to Consider

A Wi-Fi router is not the only critical component that enhances your user experience.

Wired after all: As outlined above, a Wi-Fi Home Mesh network can provide incredibly strong Internet connectivity, but there are still times when an Ethernet cable might be the best solution – for example, if you have very thick walls, or for plugging into an HD television or gaming setup, where the speed needs to stay high and the connectivity lag-free. Look at buying an Ethernet cable that is rated for ‘Cat 5e’ or ‘Cat 6’.
Great Internet, old device = problem: You won’t get the maximum range and performance from a newer wireless router unless your devices also use the same Wi-Fi standard. An old laptop is unlikely to have ‘ac’ or ‘n’ Wi-Fi access, so check the specifications to see which wireless standard it is using. If you don’t want to buy a new laptop straight away, you can buy a wireless adapter that plugs into a USB port on your laptop.

The Magic of Blazing Fast Internet

When you signed up for your FTTH Internet connection, you chose an option for yourself and your family that is fast, reliable and future-proof, and ready to deliver you the best possible Internet experience. Considering its scope and importance, maximising your internet connectivity line is critically important.

The good news is that you can optimise your home Wi-Fi experience with the right choice of routers, extenders and mesh options.

Your Vox Home Fibre line is future‑proof and capable of delivering outstanding home Internet, but a few simple tweaks to router placement, device choices and using mesh or Ethernet where needed will ensure the whole family gets the experience you expected.

If you need help optimising your home Wi‑Fi or want to add Vox Wi‑Fi Home Mesh, simply visit vox.co.za, sign up with Vox, or contact Vox Support on 087 805 0530.

With Vox Fibre to the Home, you are enabled by great Internet access. Welcome to a world of online opportunities.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I tell if the issue is my Vox Fibre line or my home Wi‑Fi?

Run a speed test directly from a device connected by Ethernet to your router. If wired speeds match your plan, the issue is likely Wi‑Fi or device related.

How many Vox mesh units do I need?

A Vox two‑pack covers many typical homes and supports up to 100 devices. You can add up to eight units for larger homes or difficult layouts.

Where should I place my router for best coverage?

Position the router centrally, elevated and away from thick walls, metal objects and kitchen appliances. Avoid cupboards or behind large furniture.

Will a mesh system reduce my Internet speed?

A well-configured mesh keeps speeds high across the home. For best performance, place mesh units strategically and use wired backhaul where possible.

Do I need a new router if I upgrade my Vox Fibre package?

Your router should support the speed of your new package. If it’s rated lower than your plan, consider upgrading to a higher‑spec router or Vox Wi‑Fi Home Mesh.

Can old devices cause slow Wi‑Fi for the whole house?

Older devices can occupy airtime and reduce performance for others. Where possible, update device Wi‑Fi adapters or move bandwidth‑heavy tasks to wired connections.

Is Ethernet worth the hassle for a smart TV or console?

Yes. Ethernet (Cat 5e/Cat 6) offers the most reliable, low‑latency connection and is ideal for HD streaming and competitive gaming.

How do I contact Vox Support for help?

Visit vox.co.za for product info and self-service tools, or call Consumer Support on 087 805 0530 for assistance.

Too Big, Too Small or Just Right? Choosing the Right Internet Plan for Your Household

Posted on 10 February 202520 November 2025 by Vivienne Fouche

Getting the right fit for your household’s size, usage habits and budget

There’s an age-old fairytale for children called ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’. If you think about it from a South African perspective, it’s really a tale of a home invasion – a minor and harmless one at least. One takeaway from the folk tale (besides ‘Don’t enter people’s homes when they aren’t there!’) is apparently that Goldilocks is looking for her fit in life.

Vox guide to choosing the right speed, data and connection type for your household that’s just right for everyone. — Image courtesy www.kids-pages.com

Here at Vox, we obviously don’t condone home invasions of any sort, but we do endorse finding the right fit. As one of South Africa’s leading Internet Service Providers (ISPs), we understand that your online experience should allow everyone in your home to enjoy seamless connectivity for all their devices and activities. We also know that choosing the right Internet plan for your household doesn’t have to be an impossible fairytale either.

At Vox, we’ve got multiple Connectivity plans for you to choose from, but it’s important to understand some key points to make an informed decision.

So here’s a guide on selecting the best Vox Internet plan based on the size of your household, the usage habits of everyone who lives there, and your budget – because just like Goldilocks (but not in a creepy way) we understand the importance of getting it ‘just right’.

Assess Your Household’s Internet Usage

Start by assessing your household’s Internet usage patterns. How many Internet users do you have at home and what do they do online? For example, do your family members regularly spend time streaming entertainment, gaming or in online video meetings? How many devices could potentially be connected simultaneously at any given moment? Thinking about these factors will help you to determine the required speed and data allowances of your Internet plan.

Internet speed is typically measured in megabits per second (Mbps) for downloads and uploads. So: how many teenagers – or almost teenagers – are living in your house, and are any of them currently planning a career in gaming or becoming a YouTuber? You’ll want to choose higher speeds if anyone in your home is regularly involved in bandwidth-intensive activities like online gaming or HD streaming.

The table below offers some useful guidelines.

V104.1.7 How to Choose Table V1 030225 FINAL | Vox | Too Big, Too Small or Just Right? Choosing the Right Internet Plan for Your Household — choose internet plan South Africa

Select Your Internet Plan for Seamless Connectivity

When you’re choosing a household Internet plan, you want one that offers sufficient speed to support your family’s online activities without experiencing slowdowns or buffering.

Compare pricing structures among our different Internet offerings to find a plan that fits your budget and your speed requirements, as well as whether your Internet data usage will be capped or uncapped. At any given moment, you’ll find a promotional offer available and a variety of options across all our different Connectivity options (which are outlined in the next section).

Evaluate your household’s typical data consumption and choose a plan with sufficient data allowances to avoid throttling of your Internet speeds. Throttling occurs if you use more than a certain, pre-determined (as outlined within your contract) ‘fair’ amount of data in a given timeframe.

If your Internet usage is ‘throttled’, your line speed is slowed down during peak times to give other users fair access to the network. In simple terms, being throttled means that your upload and download speeds will be significantly reduced at certain times, until the new month begins and the ‘reset button’ takes you back to your contractual speeds. If you find that your home’s Internet connection is being regularly throttled, perhaps you need to upgrade to a package with higher speeds.

Types of Internet Connections

You can find out what types of Vox Internet connections are availably simply by going to the Vox home page and typing in your address. All the options available to you in your area will then be shown.

These could include the following: Fibre to the Home, which provides blazing-fast Connectivity by using light pulses to transmit data packets through Fibre Optic cables; LTE and 5G, which work via the same wireless cellular technology that powers your mobile phone network; and Satellite, presenting your eye in the sky when other options aren’t available.

Each type of Internet connectivity for home usage has unique characteristics:

Fibre to the Home: Enjoy super-fast, reliable Internet with Vox’s Fibre to the Home packages, with speeds that range from 4Mbps to a whopping 1Gbps.
LTE and 5G: Get connected to the Fibre-like speeds of Vox’s LTE and 5G offerings without having to wait for a fixed-line Fibre option to be installed in your neighbourhood.
Satellite: When your area’s access to FTTH, LTE and 5G connectivity is limited, Vox offers Satellite Internet, independent of cabling, across the country. It isn’t as fast as the other options, but it’s reliable and available across South Africa.

Choose the Right Internet Plan Today

Selecting the right Internet plan makes sure that everyone in your home can stay connected and productive, for communication, remote work and online learning, banking, shopping and entertainment.

At Vox, we know that, just like the Three Bears in the age-old fairytale, everyone’s needs are different. Why not contact us today for expert advice on how to choose the right Internet plan for your home and your family? We’ll help you make the right choice: not too big, not too small, but just right.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is fibre always better than 5G or satellite?
Fibre typically offers the most reliable speeds and lowest latency. 5G/LTE can deliver fibre-like speeds and fast installation in many areas. Satellite is best where terrestrial services aren’t available.

What does ‘uncapped’ mean and is it worth it?
Uncapped means you don’t have a fixed data limit for normal use; check for any fair-usage policy. Uncapped plans are valuable for heavy households whose members frequently stream, game or work from home.

Why does my internet speed slow down at certain times?
That’s usually due to throttling under a fair-use arrangement or network contention during peak hours. Upgrading to a higher-tier or uncapped plan can help.

Can I mix connections (fibre with LTE backup)?
Yes. Vox and many ISPs offer redundant setups (fibre primary with LTE failover), which is useful for critical remote work or businesses operating from home.

How many Mbps do I need for remote work and video conferencing?
For reliable video calls, aim for at least 10–25Mbps per active remote worker, with good upload speeds to avoid degraded video quality.

How do I check which Vox options are available at my address?
Use the Vox availability checker on vox.co.za and enter your address to view Fibre, LTE/5G and Satellite options and the recommended plans for your area.

Fibre or Wireless for Business: When Your Real Estate Makes a Difference

Posted on 24 January 202527 November 2025 by Vivienne Fouche

Vox has a business solution no matter where you’re based, because location matters. Whether your premises sit in a newly cabled business park or in an area where fibre isn’t yet available will determine the most practical, cost‑effective and resilient connectivity option. Vox offers both Business Fibre and licensed Wireless for Business so your organisation can stay connected, wherever you are.

‘Location, location, location.’

It’s the mantra that estate agents everywhere live by, and it also works in the world of Business Connectivity – where your business is located can have significant implications for your Internet options.

Is your organisation situated in an area where Fibre Optic Cables are already laid – or at least in the planning stage? If so, sorting out excellent Internet Connectivity for your organisation is guaranteed, and you’ll be able to make use of the fantastic speed of Fibre to the Business (FTTB), with its clear benefits for all users.

But what if the neighbourhood doesn’t yet have FTTB on its radar?

That’s when you look to another phrase that starts with the letter ‘L’ – and find out how ‘Line-of-sight’ can also help with excellent Internet access, through Wireless for Business Connectivity, delivered by Microwave radio technology.

We take a look at the different features and benefits provided by both FTTB and Wireless Connectivity for organisations.

Business Fibre: A Premium Cabled Service

Internet Connectivity that’s provided by Fibre to the Business, or FTTB (as well as Fibre to the Home, FTTH) uses Fibre Optic cables, composed of strands of glass, to transmit Data at incredibly high speeds using light pulses sent through the glass Fibre. This means that Fibre Optic networks are capable of much greater speeds and bandwidth than the traditional copper-based ADSL lines.

Fibre Optic solutions bring you the best available speed within the current Internet landscape – users can achieve incredible speeds of up to 1,000Mbps. They’re also highly reliable due to the smooth, constant flow of Data during transmission, while the steady signal, with increased bandwidth, means that even with multiple users, Fibre Optics can handle the load.

Overall, Fibre Optic Internet is generally regarded as being the pinnacle of Connectivity. However, it’s not the only option for businesses to consider today.

Not Just for the Office Kitchen

Microwave Internet – also known as Wireless – is a worthy alternative to FTTB, especially in areas where the Fibre Network Operators (FNOs) haven’t yet laid the required cabling infrastructure. It’s just as fast as Fibre, and more widely available.

Microwave signals provide a fixed wireless broadband connection through a high-capacity Microwave radio link, requiring arguably less infrastructure than Fibre Optics. A fixed Microwave signal delivers both voice and data traffic over long distances and to more remote locations and rural areas.

Wireless Microwave Connectivity requires power and a clear line of sight, with its access towers connected to Fibre lines. A device is pointed at a tower which services the area in which your business operates. While the last-mile connection may be wireless, the backhaul is provided by Fibre Optics.

Wireless for business — Image courtesy of: https://protowermaintenance.com/what-is-microwave-communication/

Vox Business Wireless, using licensed Microwave spectrum, is an excellent replacement for traditional fixed-line last-mile connections. With Vox, you can ensure that your business is always connected where Fibre connectivity is limited or not available, and the deployment is significantly quicker than with Fibre.

You can also choose to connect a Temporary Vox Wireless connection while you wait for your Fibre – our rapid Installation saves you time and gets your Internet operating at world-class standards. Vox Wireless can also be used as a redundancy option to Fibre, to ensure that your business is always connected.

Which Option is Right for Your Business?

Fibre to the Business is generally regarded as being the ‘standard bearer’ of Internet connectivity today. Often referred to as the ‘gold in the ground’, it opens a fantastic doorway to the business requirements of the digital age.

However, Vox’s Wireless for Business is an excellent alternative to Fibre to the Business, particularly when the Fibre Optic cabling infrastructure hasn’t yet been laid in your neighbourhood. One potential drawback is that, because the connection is delivered over the air, line-of-sight is needed between both points. This can make installation more difficult in certain locations – for example if your business premises is in a valley surrounded by hills.

A Microwave Internet link can also be used as an excellent backup solution to Fibre, because when a company isn’t reliant on only one technology, this allows for business continuity and resilience planning. If a fault should occur with a Fibre connection, the Microwave Internet solution isn’t likely to be experiencing the same type of failure: one solution runs through cabling while the other is air-based.

An Added Bonus: The Best of Both Worlds

The choice between FTTB and Wireless to the Business is essentially a win-win for our customers. But what if there was a reason NOT to make a choice? What about an option that provides the best of both worlds?

If downtime would be a catastrophe for your business, then check out our Active-Active offering and enjoy the best of both worlds – Vox is the first local ISP to offer this exciting new product!

Vox has always been able to incorporate both FTTB and Wireless to the Business into our business failover solutions, which are designed to keep your organisation’s Connectivity up and running even during challenging periods. And now, we’ve proudly gone one step further.

Our new Active-Active failover offering is a groundbreaking new option that no other local ISP is presenting. This option maximises the use of both a Business Fibre connection as well as a Wireless to the Business solution, to make sure that your organisation never loses connectivity.

Our National Footprint

The great news is that Vox is able to offer viable solutions for your business, no matter where your organisation is located. Our innovative Connectivity solutions can be customised to the specific challenges of your business location and buildings, as well as your Internet speed requirements.

Our Wireless offerings range from 5Mbps up to 100Mbps, with alternatives in between. As for our Business Fibre solutions, our range can go up to 1Gbps, and we offer scalable options with tailored value-adds to suit your business needs – for example, state-of-the-art Wi-Fi connectivity and DDoS attack defences.

Our offerings criss-cross South Africa no matter where your business is situated. Contact us today for more information, because we’ve got the ‘Location, location, location’ philosophy sorted.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Wireless as reliable as Fibre?
Wireless (licensed microwave) is highly reliable and carrier‑grade, especially when mounted on properly surveyed sites, but it usually requires line‑of‑sight. Dedicated Fibre offers uncontended bandwidth and typically the highest resilience for heavy, continuous workloads.

What speeds can I get with Vox Wireless?
Vox Wireless licensed microwave services are available from 5 Mbps up to 100 Mbps (symmetrical), offered as either broadband (shared) or dedicated (1:1) links.

Can Wireless be used as a failover to Fibre?
Yes. Wireless is commonly used as a temporary connection while waiting for Fibre or as a redundant/failover link to keep your business online during cable faults.

What is Active‑Active and do I need it?
Active‑Active uses both fibre and wireless concurrently to maximise availability. It’s recommended where downtime would be costly, for example within retail, call centres, data replication and payment processing environments.

How long does installation take?
Wireless installations are typically faster because they don’t require trenching; Fibre timelines depend on local build status and site readiness. Contact Vox for a site assessment and estimated lead time.

Are speeds symmetrical?
Yes. Vox offers symmetrical lines for both Fibre and Wireless where specified (important for uploads, cloud backups and VoIP).

Do Vox services include SLAs and business support?
Vox provides 24/7 business support. Premium and Dedicated services offer stronger SLAs and priority support; details are provided during quoting.

What if my site is in a valley or has obstructions?
If line‑of‑sight is an issue, Vox will recommend alternative options based on a site survey, for example a nearby rooftop relay, temporary wireless, fibre where available, or hybrid redundancy.

Vox Hosting with the Mosting

Posted on 21 January 2025 by Vivienne Fouche

Providing a solution to meet your business requirements

Customer loyalty today demands digital options. If your business doesn’t have an attractive and well-functioning website, your potential customers will shop elsewhere.

South Africa’s online retail sector showed a significant increase in the past few years, growing by almost 30 percent (29 percent) between 2022 and 2023. Having reached the R71 billion mark in 2023, online sales are now anticipated to break the R100 billion barrier by 2026 – which is just around the corner.

And so, with South Africa’s online sales soaring, there’s never been a better time to make sure your business has a functioning website. Even with a bricks-and-mortar operation, it’s essential to back it up with an online option as well.

If you’re keen to upgrade your company’s online presence quickly and effectively – or even kickstart one if you haven’t got a website already – Vox offers several different hosting experiences with solutions to meet your business’s unique requirements, no matter your budget.

Domain and Web Hosting: The Right Address and Functioning Operations

In the physical world, you need an address so your customers can find you, and you need premises from which to operate. These two terms represent different things in terms of getting your website infrastructure up and running.

Start with an address: Domain hosting is a service that allows you to choose and register a unique online name for your website and brand, in other words your web address.
Make sure your premises are fit for purpose: Behind the address lies the property from which your business operates. Web hosting is essentially what stores all your site’s information and files. It’s usually a server, or space on a server.
Let your customers come inside: When someone uses your domain to access your website, signals are sent to the server, which then opens up your live site for the customer – the online version of ‘going into your shop’.

With Vox Web Hosting, you rent space on our server and host your website contents through us. We offer multiple platforms to choose from, including WordPress, Linux and Windows. Vox Web Hosting includes a free .co.za domain.

Backed by Vox Expertise

As well as being able to choose from multiple platforms and have a free domain, Vox Web Hosting also offers the following benefits:

Extensive network coverage: Vox Web Hosting has an established national and international backbone with over 13 local PoPs (Point of Purchase outlets) and footprints in all the Teraco Data Centre environments.
Security Team: All servers sit behind Vox’s state-of-the-art firewall infrastructure, with virus management and security updates.
24/7 Expert Support: Our servers are locally hosted and managed around the clock by our engineering team for peace of mind.
Includes a Free SSL Certificate: If you’re going to run a prosperous website that is secure for your users and browsers, SSL certificates are an essential. Vox SSL Certificates keep your customers’ confidence by ensuring the safety of their data while they visit your website.

WordPress, Linux and Windows are some of the world’s most popular website hosting platforms today, and Vox Web Hosting is proud to bring you different options across each brand.

Shared Web Hosting: Linux and Windows

Shared hosting makes getting started online simpler and easier, saving you money, as well as taking the headache out of hosting.

With Vox shared Web Hosting, our customers experience a form of web hosting in which more than one website shares the resources of a single virtual or physical server, which means a stable but also low-cost solution.

Choose from Linux options as follows:

Linux Basic: 1GB of storage, 25 email addresses;
Linux Standard: 4GB of storage, 75 email addresses;
Linux Advanced: 20 GB of storage, 200 email addresses; and
Linux Ultimate: 30 GB of storage, 250 email addresses.

Alternatively, Vox Web Hosting also offers Windows options, as follows:

Windows Standard: 2GB of storage, 100 email addresses;
Windows Advanced: 4GB of storage, 200 email addresses; and
Windows Ultimate: 20GB of storage, 250 email addresses.

Premium WordPress Hosting

If you want to kick your website functionality up a notch, consider WordPress. Over the last two decades, WordPress has grown from being a simple blogging website to one of the world’s most used hosting platforms today.

Our premium WordPress offering delivers performance and scalability to your fingertips. It’s an excellent solution for customers who require better performance, uptime and scalability – although please note: it doesn’t come with email addresses built into the offering.

WordPress Starter is ideal for startups that require a professional WordPress website, offering 50GB storage and able to cater to up to 30,000 visitors monthly.
WordPress Innovator is perfect for growing businesses that need to scale and require speed and reliability, with 100 GB storage and ideal for up to 120,000 monthly visitors.
WordPress Fanatic is excellent for running an e-commerce website, with 150GB storage. It’s capable of catering to an unlimited number of visitors monthly.

Which Option to Choose?

Whether your business is already established or a startup about to take off, you need a strong online presence. From your website address to the online ‘premises’ behind it, Vox has the right option to help you with your online sales.

Shared hosting shares a single physical server with hundreds (if not thousands) of other websites, giving you a low-cost service. WordPress hosting is tweaked for high traffic websites, providing excellent performance and faster loading websites.

Contact us for more information and we can assist you with working out the option that’s best for your business. We can help you establish a business identity, give your organisation a professional look and feel, and build credibility on the web.

Join the sales revolution and be part of the drive to reach the one billion Rand online sales mark next year!

Available in your area