Category: News

Braintree, the consulting and integration division of Vox, has extended its Microsoft customer footprint, signing up data consulting specialist, M2TD to deliver Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement (formerly Dynamics CRM).

“The addition of M2TD to our client portfolio is a demonstration of our growing services and solutions in the Microsoft business applications market,” says Heath Huxtable, executive head: Braintree at Vox.

“Braintree will be responsible for delivering customer relationship management software for M2TD aimed at improving processes for auditing purposes (ISO), enabling them to monitor and enforce SLAs, collaborate more efficiently internally, and engage with customers more effectively,” he adds.

Microsoft D365 has functionality that addresses the helpdesk and customer care requirements that M2TD were looking for. It offers out of the box customer service functionality that automatically assigns cases to the right department or employee, simplifies collaboration across M2TD and improves customer service efficiency, facilitating the customer care experience.

Adds Huxtable, “We went through a competitive bid process and M2TD’s decision to partner with Braintree was based on a partnership that originated from Vox as a lead.”

After evaluating a number of helpdesk solutions, D365 Customer Engagement with the service desk and sales capability was the ideal choice for M2TD, as it offered full capability around managing the customer experience from incoming calls through to case resolution, tracking and ensuring SLAs are met.

“Braintree demonstrated the necessary skill set, resourcing, reference sites and solution set to meet M2TD’s expectations with regards to the provision and ongoing support of the D365 Customer Engagement solution,” concludes Huxtable.

Vox celebrated an extra special Women’s Month with the graduation of 10 female employees, who have furthered their expertise through the company’s internal skills development programme, and enrolment of the next batch of employees – all women.

“There is a strong culture of skills development and training within the company. We have different learning programmes including internships, learnerships, product and systems training, and much more,” says Caster Seakamela, Skills Development Facilitator at Vox. “While completion of the course means that these ladies have a National Certificate, even more importantly they now have academic credits they can further build on.”

Vox regularly carries out training needs analysis across the company and its subsidiaries to identify areas where new or additional skills are required, and then puts together training programmes to upskill employees and fill those gaps. In addition, there are internal training programmes certified by relevant organisations and industry vendors, such as CompTIA and MikroTik.

The company has been working with external training providers to provide lectures for three consecutive days per month, over the course of the year, with the outcome being an accredited certification ranging between NQF 3 and NQF 5.

“Classes are held onsite at the Vox campus in Waverley, meaning there are no transport costs incurred, while the employees have access to personal computers or laptops, connectivity and learning material,” says Seakamela.

“Four years ago, we started with a NQF level 3 Business Administration qualification for selected employees. Our success with these efforts has seen the learnership programme evolve over the years, to offer an NQF level 5, Project Management qualification opportunities that are in line with the needs of the business,” says Seakamela.

The learnership opportunities are advertised on the company’s intranet, through emails to staff members, and at internal events. Candidates are identified through three ways: interested employees submit their CVs, employees can nominate their colleagues, and department managers can nominate employees that they have identified based on their growth potential and earmarked for development.

According to Seakamela, some of the selected ladies were held back in further education efforts not only due to financial constraints, but also through a fear of having to study while being employed full time. “However, the knowledge that there are people who believe in their ability, and being able to share the experience with other women, gave them the confidence to take on the course.”

The ladies who graduated come from a range of departments and roles – right from receptionists all the way to administrators and project managers – and differing educational qualifications, and the challenging nature of the coursework means that they further have to build relationships and rely on teamwork in order to progress.

“There has been extremely positive feedback on the learnership programmes from both employees and their line managers. Vox stands to benefit from having a better skilled workforce, and improved employee performance and loyalty, which in turns results in better service being provided to our customers,” says Seakamela.

Leading tyre manufacturer, Bridgestone South Africa has selected Vox as its WiFi partner of choice, in an IT solution overhaul driven by its IT manager, Ryan Crawford.

The company, which has recently shifted its operating model from a capex to opex model, with the aim of building a valued service, selected Vox as a like-minded solutions and services oriented partner.

Says Ryan Crawford, IT manager at Bridgestone South Africa, ¨our new headquarters in Waterford, Johannesburg, will be a fully WiFi-enabled environment, with devices from printers, laptops and everything in between being replaced to move away from wired LAN connections.¨

The company’s current head office did have WiFi but the business wasn’t satisfied with the solution in place.  Crawford cited that a lack of ability to monitor and control the WiFi solution, coupled with poor APNs due to positioning were the critical considerations whilst overhauling its connectivity and IT requirements.

Bridgestone was first introduced to Vox via Ruckus, its integrated WiFi solutions partner, which has a WiFi solution implemented at the company’s Brits manufacturing plant.

Concludes Crawford, ¨The clincher for us, was the stability and reliability of the Vox solution.  It is an appealing solution not only because of the superiority of the technology, but also the management control it provides over the WiFi delivered via a dashboard, giving full, nationwide visibility of all access points.¨

Bridgestone intends to roll out the Vox WiFi solution across its network of offices and branches, such that it will offer their staff the opportunity to reap the benefits of true mobility.