What about the online version of a break-in – how do you protect your business?
Hackers are constantly putting out feelers for companies that don’t have adequate safety and security measures to protect themselves. Some organisations try to take care of their cybersecurity themselves, which can be a bit like a homeowner relying solely on an electric fence: it might offer some protection, but is definitely not infallible all the time.
So why not call in the experts and get a Managed Detection and Response (MDR) service for your business? Think of it as being like a cyber version of a security service for your company – always on guard for you, and ready to act around the clock.
Expert-Led 24/7 Managed Detection and Response Service
Vox has partnered with global cybersecurity experts, Sophos, to offer advanced protection solutions, including managed Detection and Response services.
Powered by its global threat intelligence team, Sophos provides cloud-native, AI-enhanced security to protect organisations of all sizes from modern cyber threats like ransomware, phishing and malware.
Sophos MDR is a comprehensive security-as-a-service solution that provides continuous, expert-led protection against today’s advanced cyberthreats. It’s designed for organisations of all sizes and is an ideal choice for businesses lacking in-house security resources, or those needing to enhance their existing capabilities.
Sophos MDR service gives your business a dedicated, professional team that proactively hunts for and neutralises threats, around the clock. In addition, Sophos MDR seamlessly integrates with over 350 of your existing third-party security tools. This unique approach allows you to realise significant cost savings while maximising the return on your existing technology investments.
By combining human expertise with advanced AI, Sophos MDR from Vox detects and responds to sophisticated attacks that technology alone might miss. Ultimately, Sophos MDR provides comprehensive, round-the-clock protection without the immense complexity or expense of building your own in-house security operations centre.
24 /7 Cybersecurity Monitoring
Sophos MDR from Vox includes the following benefits: round-the-clock threat monitoring, where continuous protection against attacks, even outside business hours, reduces risk; expert-led threat hunting, in which people are involved in proactively uncovering and eliminating evasive threats that tools can miss; and full-scale incident response and root cause analysis, including recommendations to prevent recurrence.
In addition, Sophos MDR from Vox also provides flexible response modes, with which you decide how the MDR team operates, at the level that suits your organisation; and compatibility with third-party tools that integrate with your existing security stack; eliminating the need to ‘rip and replace’.
As a final sweetener and proof of confidence in its solution, Sophos provides a breach protection warranty, offering your business financial protection against the costs associated with a breach.
The message is clear: no one is safe from being a target, and there are times when the best-case scenario to protect your valuable business assets and data is to call in the experts.
Your business deserves the best possible protection.
Enjoy optimised performance and keep your organisation running safely without the threat of cyberattacks with Vox and Sophos – contact us for more information.
FAQs
What is Managed Detection and Response (MDR)?
MDR is a security service that combines continuous monitoring, expert threat hunting and incident response to detect and neutralise advanced cyber threats on behalf of your business.
How does Sophos MDR differ from standard anti-malware?
Sophos MDR pairs AI-enhanced detection with a dedicated human team that actively hunts for evasive threats and provides full incident response, going beyond signature-based tools.
Can Sophos MDR work with our existing security tools?
Yes, Sophos MDR integrates with hundreds of third‑party security tools so you can retain your current stack and improve overall protection without replacing systems.
Is MDR suitable for small businesses?
Yes, MDR is particularly valuable for SMEs that lack in-house security resources but need enterprise-grade monitoring and response.
What is a breach protection warranty?
It’s a financial assurance provided by Sophos for qualifying breaches, designed to help cover certain breach-related costs — giving additional assurance to customers.
At Vox, we value, support and actively engage people with the levels of expertise that we require to keep us moving forward as a company. In this edition of ‘Meet our Experts’, we find out more about Luntu Nqunqa, who is Vox’s Service Delivery Manager for Eastern Cape and the Garden Route. This is the story of a Quiet Hero – someone who doesn’t look for the spotlight, but is nonetheless a leader and an inspiration to many.
Luntu is a modest and humble man, with an inspirational tale to share of perseverance, long-term loyalty and leading through mentorship. He was born in rural Baziya Village in the Eastern Cape, relatively close to Mthatha, and went to school in his home province.
After school, Luntu studied in Johannesburg and later found work in both the Eastern Cape as well as Gauteng, before eventually returning to the Eastern Cape a few years ago.
Today, he is happily based with his family in Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Luntu recently celebrated his 20th anniversary working for Vox, on the first of June this year, a milestone of which he’s immensely – and justifiably – proud of.
Let’s find out more about another of our Vox heroes.
Keeping Vox Processes Running Smoothly
As part of the countrywide Service Delivery team, Luntu is one of the cogs in the engine that efficiently manages the installation and on-site support of Vox products and services to our customers. When we break it down, it’s a lot of diverse work and responsibilities, and a very busy life!
He explains: “In essence, the Service Delivery teams are the people who ensure that a new Vox customer actually gets their product sorted out and operational, including additional support after the installation has been completed.
“The Service Delivery department is divided into three silos, namely the Service Desk, Installations and On-Site Support. In our region, I oversee all three of these operational silos and the employees who work in each division; and I also manage and carry out regular visits to the three regional offices, namely Port Elizabeth, East London and George.”
Luntu’s job involves significant travelling across a widespread area
It’s a busy life with a lot of spinning plates and travel, to ensure that all aspects of the three Service Delivery divisions are covered – and still, that’s not all Luntu does every month!
He adds: “I’m involved in planning and sometimes carrying out site meetings, and I take care of customer relationships. I also have responsibilities around facilities management and the occupational health and safety of our employees, and I ensure that the fleet of vehicles that we use is in good running order – safety is of paramount importance. I’m also directly responsible for the development and certification of all the technicians in my area.”
Luntu today is known as a dependable and hands-on Manager looking after a key region of the company, but his light was already shining brightly early on during his time at Vox.
How His Career Began
After completing high school, Luntu studied Electrical & Electronics at Johannesburg Technical and Vocational College. He later completed an Operations Management Certificate from University of Cape Town and Prince 2 Foundation he was then able to find work in various technical roles.
These included work as a temporary technician assistant maintaining towers at the former Capital Radio 604, based in Mthatha and Durban, followed by a sawmill Electrical apprenticeship in the Eastern Cape, involving three years electrical training in a forestry environment, and finally as a Telkom employee, working as a technician installing and maintaining PBX and telecom systems in Queenstown in the Eastern Cape, and later in Johannesburg. During his final Telkom months, he was referred to Orion (later to become part of Vox) during some site work.
“I had the opportunity to join Orion on 1 June 2005 as a junior technician,” he says, “and I worked as a technician in Joburg from 2005 to 2010, when I was promoted to Team Leader. In this capacity, I managed Johannesburg Central and South and the surrounding regions.
“I then had the opportunity to relocate back to the Eastern Cape in 2014 , when I was tasked with building new teams in East London, Port Elizabeth and later George. From 2015 until today, I’ve been the Service Delivery Manager for Eastern Cape and the Garden Route.”
The Pursuit of Excellence
Since his return to the Eastern Cape in 2014, and his promotion to Service Delivery Manager, Luntu has built up the Eastern Cape and Garden Route teams from very few employees to a healthy number of trained and competent engineers, thereby allowing Vox’s business in the region to grow significantly due to increased employee capacity with the guidance from his Executive Head.
“My preferred strategy when I was building up the team initially was to hire in young and relatively inexperienced new employees, partly to give them a chance at employment and also so that I could mentor and teach them,” he explains.
“My personal philosophy includes valuing a person’s attitude and their approach to discipline over their raw skills. I believe that skills can be taught, but that a poor attitude, left unchanged, can undermine a team.”
Since then, he’s mentored many interns and junior employees, a number of whom have since advanced further within Vox.
“One of my proudest work moments,” he says, “was when, together with my team, I was able to defy the odds and lead a very challenging municipality installation, incorporating six PBXs and 400 extensions, to completion in just three days, instead of the anticipated week and a half. In doing so, we exceeded expectations and were able to make the seemingly impossible something that was in fact achieved!”
And it’s not going to stop there.
“I would like to develop specialist engineers in key Vox products within my team,” he says, “and continue uplifting interns and graduates with the opportunities to grow further within the company. I intend to maintain high operational standards across the Eastern Cape and the Garden Route region, making us a force to be admired across the organisation. I am grateful to enjoy excellent support from senior management, including my Executive Head – Operations, Frans Hoffman, and our CEO, Jacques du Toit.”
Photo of Luntu from a Service Delivery Management Strategy and Team Building conference
Developing a Personal Brand
Luntu clarifies that he had some challenges along the way: “One of the periods that was difficult for me involved my time working at the sawmill. I struggled with the cold, wet nature of my working environment. But my time there was to ultimately form a positive part of my life overall, as it helped me to move forward in my career.
“In addition, my transition from Telkom to Orion/Vox brought some initial moments of self-doubt and cultural adjustment – I really wondered if I would be able to fulfil the mandate sometimes. I found Orion to be a more corporate, polished environment than I was used to, and I worried at first that I might not be able to fit in the way I wanted to.”
To overcome his feelings of self-doubt, Luntu set about maximising his learning opportunities. He explains: “I found mentors at work to model myself on, while embracing Vox’s customer-first and brand-conscious culture.
“I developed my own personal philosophy and decided to ‘Carry myself as a brand’, meaning that I took pains to ensure that I operated with professional humility, accountability and consistency. I want to leave a positive mark wherever I can.”
Today, Luntu’s colleagues and line managers would all agree that he has an amazing personal brand, which is founded on perseverance, kindness, respect and hard work – as well as a ‘Never-say-die!’ attitude.
A Dedicated Family Man
Luntu’s wife Phiwa
Away from work, Luntu is happily married to his wife, Nokuphiwa (‘Phiwa’), and they have three children, namely their eldest son, Lwethu, who is 19 and studying at university; their only daughter Live, in grade 10, and their youngest son Lunako, who is 13 and starting high school in 2026.
Luntu and Phiwa were overjoyed recently when Lunako was awarded a prestigious full scholarship to start studying at St Andrew’s College in Grahamstown / Makhanda.
“By the grace of God,” says Luntu, “my boy had the opportunity to sit for the scholarship exams, and he then came in first place. We are so pleased that he has this opportunity, starting from next year, to complete his high school tuition at St Andrews College, with all expenses paid.”
Luntu takes great pleasure in supporting his kids in their endeavours, both academically and on the sports field, and is always present at school rugby and soccer matches when they are playing.
“I’ve always been a lifelong soccer fan, but I didn’t follow rugby – or even properly understand the game! – before my boys introduced me to it. Now when they are playing, I’m always there at school – I don’t miss a game!” he says enthusiastically.
“My oldest son, in fact, was the school’s first team rugby captain, and so that was another big thing for our family. It gave me great pride to see him learning the required managerial skills as well as being good at actually playing the game.”
Into the Future
Luntu’s journey from his birthplace in the rural Eastern Cape to Service Delivery Manager in his home province embodies abundant learning and personal growth, an ongoing sense of responsibility and pride in his work, and an overarching commitment to Vox’s values of caring for others, together with service and professionalism. It was not an easy journey at all.
“Vox is distinguished by our strong brand and marketing identity, and our emphasis on maintaining professional standards, for example in our service quality, the way we dress and how we maintain our fleet of service vehicles. I’m enormously proud to say that I work for Vox,” he says.
Luntu believes Vox’s success can be attributed to its respect for customers, responsiveness and strong leadership.
“I see customers having exceptional access to assistance within the company,” he notes, “and clients are easily able to escalate issues directly to senior leadership – we really do have an open-door culture this way. I have also noticed that we show a consistent approach to our customers, regardless of their size or location, which I think is very admirable.
“After 20 years at Vox, every day for me is still different and varied, and I still have ambitions to see where and how we can improve. My goal is to turn my area of responsibility into a centre of excellence, where anyone across the company can call on us for any required expertise or problem-solving, at any time,” he concludes.
Right, well with apologies to the Ghost Busters franchise (do you have an ear-worm now?), it’s time for another peek into the life and times of another of our green-blooded Voxies. In this episode, we shine the spotlight on a man who is normally the MC within the training environment, and so he’s actually used to turning the spotlight on everyone else…but he agreed to be interviewed without too much of a fuss.
And a good thing too, because he’s got some really interesting stories to tell!
“I’m Greg and I look after the Training Department,” says Vox’s well-known and well-loved Soft Skills Trainer. “I’ve been at Vox for about 13 years now and together with my team, I do anything and everything that is related to training, including some video production work.
“I’m always available to do anything else that might be asked of me, and wherever I can assist, I’m happy to step in. No day is ever the same, and that’s exactly how I like it!”
Greg leads a team of four Trainers across the country and reports directly to Head of Human Resources, Pam McLeod. Let’s take a look at how he champions the cause of training throughout the company – another great example of how life and a career at Vox never has to be linear.
Starting Out in Film and Entertainment
“When I left school I had only two real passions,” explains Greg. “I wanted to be a pilot – I was one of those kids who built little aeroplanes and hung them off the ceiling – and in my teenage years I got very involved in movies.
“Flight school was unfortunately just too expensive, so when I realised that flying wasn’t a career option, I went into the local film industry. I was involved in making some incredible movies in South Africa and was able to meet some amazing people.
Greg learned his craft from the ground up and thoroughly enjoyed being in the movie world, but it wasn’t to be forever.
He clarifies: “The industry in South Africa went through a phase in which international big budget films were being shot here, but the production houses were bringing over their own crews. I went freelance for a while but realised quite quickly that it was unfortunately time to leave the movie industry in the quest simply to earn a living.
“I also dabbled in radio, and DJ-ing at clubs, both of which were obviously great fun. Eventually I landed up at a large cellular company and became entrenched in the mobile phone arena. After some time with this enterprise, my intuitive knowledge and understanding of gadgets and technology, together with my ability to explain things and talk to people, collided in a fortuitous manner and I ended up in my first training position with them, where I stayed for quite some time – over a decade, in fact.”
The end result was a man who understood the value of entertainment, technology and training, as well as being flexible in his outlook on life – not to mention the importance of having fun! The stage was set for Greg to come to Vox.
‘You’d better call…’
We can thank a retrenchment exercise that took place at his previous employer for Greg’s eventual arrival at Vox. He explains: “In the wake of being unfortunately retrenched, one of my former work colleagues phoned me and told me that that @lantic – one of the businesses that was later to be merged into the group of companies under the Vox umbrella – was planning to set up a training department, and they were interested in talking to me. And so I had an interview and was offered a six-month contract.”
At that stage, Greg and his wife Claire were actually planning to emigrate to New Zealand, but in the light of this new development, they decided to stay for a while longer.
Greg continues: “At the end of the six months, I was then offered a permanent position, because my previous background in the film industry, and how I could use it within the training division to create videos when required, was seen to be advantageous. My technical outlook, combined with my training soft skills plus the film experience, all merged neatly into a new position within Vox. And so the rest, as they say, is history!
“I like to tell people that my love for Vox as a company meant that, even though we’d been accepted into New Zealand, we stayed in South Africa and have never looked back since. Everything came together at the right time and I’ve now been at Vox for about 13 years. My passion is training, but at Vox, as I mentioned, I’m able to look after a number of other things as well.”
A Strong Team of Trainers
As far as the Vox Training is concerned, Greg coordinates with his four Trainers every day. “We all work remotely,” he explains. ”Alex McDonald is the Systems Trainer and looks after all systems-related training, including for our partners, while Victor Kemp is in charge of our Technical Training, including our Mikrotik router training; our e-learning system and ‘Friday Bytes Live’. Our other two team members are Ryan Varga, our Sales Trainer, who also takes care of our leadership and mentoring system; and Craig Jewell, who looks after Soft Skills, presenting courses that include themes around customer service, time management and adaptability.”
“One of the Training Department’s innovative initiatives is the ‘Friday Bytes Live’, when Voxies come together every Friday morning to hear and learn about different areas of the company using a fun, interactive quiz approach. Victor runs with this every week, and we have prizes up for grabs to incentivise everyone further.”
Greg clarifies that the Training department is in charge of the general training needs of around two and a half thousand people, as well as the monthly Induction training for all new Vox employees.
“I’m the main person at the helm of the induction training,” he says, “and here I run training over a few days at the beginning of every month, when every department in the company sends a representative to introduce the different aspects of Vox to all our new employees. Induction training takes place in person at our Johannesburg head office, and we also facilitate online participation.
“One of the primary elements of Induction is simply chatting! I’m like the MC, if you like, and I try to make new people feel comfortable while I also liaise with the presenters. I’ve always been a big fan of comedy, and so we inject humour into these training days as much as possible. Another large element of Induction training – besides putting the programme together in advance and running with the required logistics – is to keep the sessions on track from a time perspective.”
It’s certainly a mixed bag, bringing a significant variety to Greg’s working days and weeks, which he appreciates. Over and above that, he says: “Another thing that I really enjoy about my job is that, while training is my first love, I am also able to get involved in so many other different things.
“For example, I’ve been able to assist with elements of our recruitment system as well as working on study skills. And funny enough, I love doing the mandatory stuff – the admin challenges that most other people dislike. For example, I really enjoy organising and setting up the meetings required to kickstart a training session.”
‘If there’s something weird…’
Greg’s home office reflects his creative approach to life and training
To balance out his day-to-day organisational requirements, Greg’s creative side once again comes to the fore with his off-duty interests. A speed freak, he doesn’t own a car but instead rides a motor bike, and is also a huge Formula 1 fan, as seen in his office space, where the roof is painted with black and white checkered squares to look like an F1 flag – something that any Voxie who’s ever been on a Teams call with him will recognise instantly!
Staying in Greg’s home office, there are shelves filled with Lego versions of Formula 1 cars and drivers, as well as Funko Pop and Skylander collectable figurines, reflecting his taste in music, movies (think James Bond and The Matrix!) and video games. Other interests and hobbies include sports shooting, cooking and coffee – Greg intends to roast significant quantities of his own coffee beans in the future. As a self-confessed coffee snob, he limits himself to just two coffee cups per day, which is just enough to help him keep up with his busy pet Border Collies (just one more daily cup of coffee wouldn’t be fair on the dog…).
Add in his wife of 20 years, Claire, and his two teenage children, and it’s a busy and enjoyable life, he says gratefully.
“For me, there is always something different to do at work. I’ve been exposed to working on new projects because of my line manager, Pam, as well as our CEO, Jacques du Toit – something that I appreciate enormously, and which speaks to the organisation’s culture of being innovative and flexible.
“This, I think, is what sets Vox apart from the other ISPs, together with the passion and heart for the business that our senior executives always display. There is a significant number of people within the company ‘who live and breathe green’, and I am passionately one of them,” he concludes.
And anyone who has a training need of any kind within Vox knows exactly who to call – Greg Gyngell!
Legacy Lifestyle members gain access to an exclusive rewards programme that has won Best Travel and Best Hospitality Rewards programme awards with cashbacks of up to 16%
Vox has partnered with Legacy Lifestyle to provide members with invaluable savings
Legacy Lifestyle has more than 250 brand partners and 1.2 million members and the addition of Vox to the stable enhances the company’s technology offering
Vox customers get an automatic 8% back on their packages every month through the new programme with impressive potential savings.
Vox, a market-leading internet service provider, has partnered with Legacy Lifestyle, one of South Africa’s leading luxury loyalty programmes, to enhance the benefits offered to Vox customers. Legacy Lifestyle has more than 250 brand partners and 1.2 million members and the addition of Vox to the stable enhances the company’s technology offering. Whenever a Legacy Lifestyle customer opens a Vox account, they gain significant benefits that accrue over time and deliver tangible monetary value. Legacy Lifestyle selected Vox as the company was the perfect fit across technology, lifestyle, value, ease of use and cost alongside exceptional service delivery.
“Vox is a superb fit for our technology and lifestyle segment and we are working together to create a product offering and service that will benefit our members,” says
Michael Levinsohn, Managing Director at Legacy Lifestyle. “Currently, our members automatically get 8% back on their Vox packages, every month with no admin on their side. It’s low maintenance and doesn’t require that members game the system or achieve specific goals to get their rewards.”
The partnership has evolved out of a need to deliver new benefits to members and customers that are engaging and make a real difference to their lives. For Legacy Lifestyle, collaborating with Vox builds on their commitment to coming up with innovative and relevant rewards offerings; for Vox it was another way of engaging a loyal customer base.
The Legacy Lifestyle programme has been designed to make the process as simple as possible. Customers sign up, set up their Vox account, and then receive an email confirming their membership. They are then regularly updated via email about the rewards they’ve earned and the savings they’ve made. Customers can use their loyalty points within the Legacy Lifestyle ecosystem to purchase vouchers with other partners and use additional discounted services.
“We are proud to partner with some of the most impressive loyalty programmes in the country,” says Executive Head of Sales, James Smith from Vox. “We also appreciate how easy it is for our customers to get started with these rewards – Legacy Lifestyle was the right choice for us because anyone can join in less than five minutes. They can also opt out easily as well – we’ve made sure the system is designed to make life better, not add to customer admin.”
In just a year and a half since it launched, Vox Weather has grown to 100,000 dedicated followers and a reach of close to two million people on average per month, validating Vox’s belief that there was a glaring gap in South Africa for a dynamic, insights- and technology-driven weather platform.
Poised for more growth and partnerships, Vox Weather has welcomed an intern to learn from renowned meteorologist and weather presenter Annette Botha. Michelle Cordier is sure to play a pivotal role in the expected rapid growth of the platform.
“It is exciting to think that in such a short time we have hit the 100,000 follower mark across the board. These are loyal followers who log in and engage with the content because they trust us and see us as a reliable source. We are averaging more than 4,000 new followers every month and the reach is outstanding,” says Botha.
Vivica CEO Jacques du Toit, who announced the launch of Vox Weather in the second half of 2021, says that now that the country has seen what a holistic platform can deliver, over and above static weather forecasts, he expects Vox Weather to play an increasingly important role in people’s lives.
“As the country grapples with severe flooding, it is evident to many people that weather is about far more than whether it will rain today or not. And so, as we push ahead with Vox Weather, we seek to continue driving credible climate awareness and activism among South Africans generally, and the youth specifically.
“When we started out, it was important to have a qualified meteorologist present forecasts, not only to ensure Vox Weather was credible but also to inspire young people to pursue a career in the STEM subjects. With this in mind, we are excited to witness how the intern Michelle blossoms and grows under the mentorship of Annette, proving that there are meteorology career paths for young people, as well as the chance to drive climate activism. Because the platform is powered through social media, it gives the team the ability to listen to its audience, which has resulted in exciting opportunities and no doubt will lead to many more,” says Du Toit.
“In the agricultural sector, this is very important, because you don’t get something more personal than someone’s livelihood. This is a sensitive sector and you don’t want to tell farmers when it is time to plant and when they should cultivate. Rather, you want to provide a bigger and fuller picture that empowers them with information to support their decision-making, and this is how our partnership with Laeveld Agrochem started – to do a weather forecast specifically for the agricultural sector. This is the first-ever agriculture-specific weather forecast in South Africa, and besides all the positive feedback from all stakeholders, the farmers are happy and that’s what counts the most.”
Botha says that following the successful partnership with Laeveld Agrochem and the rapidly growing reach of the platform, many organisations contact Vox Weather to discuss potential projects and broader climate activism. “This is important to us, as one of our initial goals was to become a credible source of weather information. In 18 months, we have gone from an idea to the voice of weather in South Africa, and we are humbled by the support,” she says.
Botha adds that as part of Vox Weather’s mission to inspire young people to pursue STEM careers, they wanted to show young people that these careers didn’t need to be in researching academic papers, but could instead be fun, vibey and in touch with people, while still, 100% anchored in science.
“This is why we held our open day. Naturally, I could see that we were on a growth trajectory and would need a more hands-on deck. However, in addition to this, we wanted to show young people that platforms such as Vox Weather provide real career opportunities,” she says.
Cordier presented at the open day, and Botha says that the effort, research and passion that went into her presentation immediately resonated with the team. “She put in so much work, her presentation was genuinely insightful and she was honest and positive. I am excited to see her stretch herself, grow and develop her own personal brand of weather forecasting and presenting.”
Cordier says that her passion for the weather was ignited by a Geography teacher at school, and stuck with her all the way through her honours degree at the University of Pretoria. “However, during Covid, we learnt that the SA Weather Service would not be doing a forecasting course the following year. Naturally, I was heartbroken and thought my career wouldn’t happen. It’s at this time that I heard about Vox Weather and the opportunity to present ideas, and as they say, the rest is history.
“I am incredibly honoured to be part of the Vox Weather team and as we grow from strength to strength. I look forward to playing my part in bringing the voice of the weather to the people of South Africa.”
Connectivity plays a vital role in our economy – from businesses keeping their systems live and responsive, to mines working out in remote areas, to households that need to support work-from-home and remote schooling. Beyond affordability, service providers need to double down on efforts to improve uptime and efficiency of their networks. However, during any discussion about connectivity, it is crucial to talk about affordable connectivity for areas that are not affluent. The digital divide prevents many communities from being competitive, whereas digital inclusion quite literally opens up a whole new world of opportunity and education.
Fill in your details below to download our Vox Connectivity Whitepaper, for an in-depth look at how infrastructure needs to be in place to give ISPs the opportunity to innovate with quality and affordable products.
Johannesburg, xx July 2019 – Integrated ICT and infrastructure provider, Vox, together with Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise has been duly awarded the PBX infrastructure tenders for the Marriot Yacht Club and the Hilton Garden Inn Mbabane.
Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise is one of the preferred PBX technology suppliers for The Hilton and the Marriot hotel groups world-wide.
Says Natalie van der Merwe, Senior Product Manager for PBX at Vox, “This enables a global partnership through a network of local, in-country partners, such as Vox, who adheres to the stringent certification and specialisation practices of Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise to provide a constant standard of products, services and support to the hotel groups across the globe.”
A key value proposition in selecting Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise for the Hilton and Marriot hotel groups was ensuring a seamless experience for guests, whether visiting these hotels in Dubai, London or South Africa. For the property managers, confidence in the technology, functionality, reliability and the ability to integrate seamlessly with third party TMS systems was of outmost importance. The Alcatel Application Partner Program has been designed for application enablement which ensures third party applications and products (such as the Tiger TMS provided by Vox) are approved to work in conjunction with Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise platforms, thus ensuring that future versions are always compatible.
“Furthermore, Vox was able to deliver services over and above the PBX platform by providing end-to-end value-added services such as voice, internet, LAN infrastructure and hotel specific TMS solutions (Tiger TMS),” adds Van der Merwe.
The project was administered by IT & Electronics services consultants, Ethnic Technologies Africa , as part of their Joint venture with M.A Dlamini consulting engineers . “Vox were the best bid received from a price and specification point of view and deployed the solution on time and with impressive professionalism”, concludes Tony Leça of Ethnic Technologies Africa.
Avanti Communications Group plc (Avanti) has signed a three-year period Master Distributor Agreement on its HYLAS 4 and HYLAS 2 satellites with Vox Telecom (Vox), a South African end-to-end integrated ICT and infrastructure provider and telecommunications company.
The partnership enables Vox to use Avanti’s satellite fleet, which provides full coverage across sub-Saharan Africa, to deliver a cost-effective and reliable high-speed broadband service to the remotest areas in the region.
Avanti has invested over R 2.1B (143M USD) in local infrastructure and new offices in South Africa. The local team will support Vox as they deploy new services to rural and underserviced areas in sub-Saharan Africa. Vox will also benefit from Avanti’s HYLAS 4 cost-effective backhaul services which integrate seamlessly into mobile networks enabling their Internet of Things (IoT) services.
Avanti Sales Director for Africa, Neil Whitehead, said “We’re delighted to extend our partnership with Vox and support the delivery of affordable broadband across Africa, supporting our mission to help liberate the potential of communities and businesses wherever they are located.”
Jacques Visser, Head of Wireless at Vox, added “ Avanti shares the same vision and goals as Vox in terms of bringing connectivity to areas where it doesn’t exist and through that vision has demonstrated that they are the ideal partners to assist us in deploying our strategy of taking satellite broadband to under-serviced areas. The local landing station for HYLAS 4 in South Africa opens new opportunities for Ka-band satellite in the SME markets and we expect Ka-band to play a more prominent role in the SD-WAN space.”
Braintree, the consulting and integration division of Vox, has been named an LS Retail Diamond Partner for 2019. This award highlights the company’s momentum within the partner network as a result of its performance in sales, service and support for customers using the LS Retail solution.
LS Retail is a world-leading provider of all-in-one business management software solutions for retail and hospitality companies of all sizes. For over two decades, the company has offered scalable solutions to manage the complex operational requirements of organisations. These solutions are used by retailers and restaurateurs across 130 countries, with support from some 260 certified Microsoft and LS Retail partners.
Organisations that receive the Diamond Award must consistently provide outstanding service and support to customers, and satisfy demanding criteria around their performance, and show great commitment to their partnership with LS Retail.
“This momentous achievement from our team, positions us perfectly to extend our leadership position in the mid market and corporate retail arena. Of course none of this would be possible without the valued support and trusted partnerships that we have built with our customers and with whom we continue to build lasting beneficial relationships,” says Heath Huxtable, Executive Head of Braintree at Vox.
Braintree is the largest Microsoft Dynamics company in Africa, with over 26 years of successful implementations experience. The company is a leader in retail solutions, e-commerce, customer relationship management, marketing technology, wholesaling and enterprise resource planning. It further has significant consulting and product capability, including Dynamics 365, Azure, Office 365 and Analytics.
Retailers looking for end-to-end solutions
The retail industry operates in a dynamic market, and organisations must be able to respond instantly to changes in customer demands and tastes. Getting this right requires a deep understanding of prior sales, current stock levels, and gross margins, as well as future trends in demand. Retailers are looking for complete end-to-end solutions, from point of sale (POS) till reporting, with high flexibility and ease of use, that enables management to run their business centrally from the back office.
In addition, the sector is highly competitive, is evolving rapidly with the growth in online commerce and services, and high-tech innovations are becoming the key differentiators in both the traditional and online space. To take advantage of these opportunities, retailers need a partner that is agile, able to adapt to changing landscapes, and offers a range of solutions which can provide them with that crucial competitive edge.
This prestigious award, from a leading software provider such as LS Retail, helps strengthen trust in, and positions Braintree as the complete supplier and partner throughout the retail industry value chain.
“This award highlights the expertise of our consultants, as well as the good outcomes of completed assignments. It demonstrates our unprecedented breadth, and shows that our customers can feel confident when choosing Braintree as their partner,” adds Huxtable.
Braintree received their award at the flagship international LS Retail event, which this year took place in Munich, Germany, in early April.
Vox has announced that it will be providing its customers, running Microsoft Dynamics NAV with automated SMS sending functionality. This feature is as a result of a collaboration between Vox and Braintree, the consulting and integration division of Vox.
“Having to reduce the amount of human intervention when it comes to system generated SMSs such as purchase orders, notifications, tracking, and the like, will save a significant amount of time for businesses of all sizes. Furthermore, because we are an internet service provider, we offer competitive SMS rates to reduce costs even more,” says Craig Freer, Executive Head: Cloud at Vox.
Automated SMS sending gives the peace of mind that the relevant communication will be delivered to the right customer thanks to the integration with Microsoft Dynamics NAV. And because all aspects of the solution can be customised, companies remain in complete control over their communications.
“The personalisation capabilities deliver that personal touch often lost when it comes to automated communication. Using our solution brings the best of both worlds with sophisticated technology linked to that personal brand touch,” adds Freer.
According to Heath Huxtable, executive head for Braintree, this collaboration between Braintree and Vox for Microsoft Dynamics NAV is the first of many.
“Our business is built on creating bespoke solutions for clients. We have combined that with our expertise in Microsoft business applications to develop not only the SMS send functionality, but across the entire Dynamics 365 Suite. We want to give enterprise and midmarket customers access to locally developed, next generation, cloud ready business applications,” concludes Huxtable.
