Category: Product

Home is where you truly spend the bulk of your lifetime, and the place which ultimately matters most.

There’s no debating it – our homes and families deserve nothing short of the best. In terms of attention and investment, your personal life is where things truly count most – after all, what good is life if those we value most aren’t looked after?

Introducing: Microsoft 365 for Home Use

Solutions for your busy life are now confirmed, as you harness the ability to be powerfully productive. Create, connect, and share wherever you go, whenever you need to – it’s constantly up-to-date Premium Apps, Storage, Security and more within a single convenient subscription.

We now live in an age where everyone at home requires some form of digital resource. Work, college, even school at an entry level all necessitate a degree of technologically based hardware or software solutions. Think about it. At any given time (in a household of four, in no particular order), Dad can be busy with work, Mom maintaining her business, Brother completing his campus assignment, and Sister finishing a school project. The days of one home, one device, and one account have long passed us by – part of the digital revolution we find ourselves in requires that everyone everywhere has some access to the computing tools they require where possible.

M365 Personal and Family are systemically designed to enable your entire home to enjoy the full benefits of Microsoft without compromising on quality. Work, play, interact or stay connected – the possibilities are endless, and fulfill a wide array of needs to suit everyone respectively.

How can you use this? Glad you asked!

• Unleash the beast and maximise your productivity potential.

With a wealth of Microsoft 365 Productivity Apps such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Editor, you and your entire family can enjoy a wide array of benefits. From showing off your best creativity to collaborating with friends and family, sharing documents, editing, and operating off any device in real-time, it redefines the way your entire squad works to open new doors of productivity.

• All the files protected with layers of security.

With a 1TB Microsoft OneDrive, complete with built-in ransomware, you’re able to store and protect important personal files such as videos, family photos and schoolwork. But you ask, what about those extra important, twice as confidential documents? We know what you mean. Whether a Birth or Marriage Certificate, Life Policy, Will or Trust, OneDrive Personal Vault folder adds and extra layer of Security (such as Identity Verification) to help you sleep at night.

• Maximise your time with family and friends.

M365 allows you to plan and strategies a variety of family/friend related activities. From get-togethers to general family time, staying on top of your schoolwork, adding due dates to calendars and more – you can easily manage multiple Email accounts, lists and notes in one single view.

• Stay connected to those who matter.

With Teams, you’re able to bring your family and friends together for calls, video calls and chats – but why should it stop there? You can host virtual events such as birthdays or baby showers (although we’re not quite sure where the gifts go) or collaborate with classmates on group assignments. Create separate chats for family, friends, colleagues, and schoolmates – and redefine the way we work, play and interact.

• Full protection for the entire family.

Ensuring you (and your loved ones) are always protected begins with creating healthy habits. With the Microsoft Family Safety App, you can apply screen time on devices, apps and games. Furthermore, you can block inappropriate apps or games and restrict the content users engage with. Content filtering keeps your viewing kid-friendly, and in turn give you as a digital parent peace of mind. Better yet, you can share locations with family members whilst saving the list of places they visit. Most of all, say goodbye to worrying when your kids take your car out for a spin – you can track speeds, how often drivers use their phone while at the wheel and even how often they brake too hard – it really makes us grateful we learned to drive many, many years ago.

Whilst Microsoft 365 for Home use sounds like one umbrella with many Apps to get you through the day, the reality is for more and infinite possibilities. From sharing your Microsoft 365 family with up to six people (with each using up to five device simultaneously across Windows, Android, Mac and iOS), Microsoft 365 Personal is a single person subscription which allows you to use up to 5 devices at the same time.

We live in a smarter, more digitised world – and modern parenting should be reflective of that. The things which really, truly matter deserve nothing short of the best – and it doesn’t come better than Microsoft 365 for Consumer and Home.

Running a business in 2022 is a lot like having kids – it needs attention, protection, requires lots of hard work and doesn’t come cheap. It’s worth it, of that there’s no doubt, but take your eye off the prize or drop the ball for a split second and it can come back to haunt you later.

Much like you would never compromise the safety or wellbeing of your loved ones and the things that matter most, your business needs deserve a similar treatment. After all, you’ve devoted your love, effort, blood sweat and tears towards creating, maintaining, and growing this wonderful venture – so why should you risk it all in a second or allow it to be abused by people with ill intentions?

Let’s talk Microsoft365 Business Premium – your gateway to raising your business Security Posture.

Simply put, M365 Business Premium is a comprehensive offering for small to mid-sized businesses alike. Primarily, this serves to offer you and your brand a wide array of office productivity tools designed to enhance your business functions. However, it doesn’t end there, as the software takes it one step further to present comprehensive security and management functions within a singular cost-effective package.

Not only do you grant your organisation access to a wealth of international-grade tools conducive for growth and efficiency, but you also ensure that in terms of safety, security and reliability, your brand is never left wanting.

So, what does it really do?

Whilst many of the benefits are so all-encompassing, they can be quite intangible in nature, there are a few key primary functions which M365 Business Premium focuses on so as to guarantee the future safety of your business, namely…

• Regulation + Prevention of Unauthorised Access to Work Data:

The software allows users to apply advanced Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and Conditional Access policies. These serve to ensure that access to work Data is reserved only for authorised users (save the right access for the right people!) without infringing on accessibility for those who do warrant it. Internally, your employees can securely access Data anytime, anywhere – but only if they’re meant to.

• Protection from Phishing Attacks:

M365 Business Premium comes standard with Microsoft Defender installed. The result? Added protection against Phishing attacks. This includes, but isn’t limited to:

1. Time of click protection against malicious links – said links are checked in real-time to warn users if the destination is malicious via Safe Links.
2. URL Detonation – When a user clicks on a URL in an email message or in an Office file, the link is checked by Defender Safe Links and is identified as blocked, malicious, or safe before opening the website
3. Anti-Spoofing Technology – AI-powered Anti-Phishing Intelligence helps protect against impersonation and spoofing with Anti-Phishing
4. Multi-Factor authentication – if the password is lost or stolen, attackers can’t access your Email or Data as a second form of authentication (pin or Microsoft authenticator) is required.

• Data Loss and Breach Protection:

Furthermore, the software offers advanced capabilities, such as Data Loss Prevention and Azure Information Protection. These combine to assist with the classification and protection of sensitive Data (such as customer/employee information, confidential Data, social security, and credit card numbers). Your business info is priceless – and this ensures that even if it is compromised, all is far from lost.

• Security for Work Data on Personal Devices:

With Microsoft 365 Business Premium, you can set up Intune App Protection Policies, so that work apps can be separated from personal apps. This serves to ensure that work documents and attachments are only saved on authorised workshares such as OneDrive for Business – thereby safeguarding sensitive work information.

All in all, this is a resource which should (and will) prove invaluable to your business protection and growth. Statistically, South Africa is the third most targeted country in the world in terms of Cyber Attacks. One attack, one vulnerability or one weak point is often all it takes for those with malicious intent to destroy a lifetime worth of work – don’t let your business be another statistic. We may not be able to wholly solve Cyber Crimes, but you can take the precautions required to combat it.

Explore a world of endless possibilities and guaranteed enhanced security with M365 Business Premium. You, your employees and the future of your organisation will thank us.

You know the saying – Wi-Fi makes the world go round.

Studies show that globally, there are more than 15 billion Wi-Fi connected products today (for context: South Africa has about 61.53 million people in total here. Think of the biggest crowd you can. Multiply that to include the whole of South Africa – then double it – that’s how many Wi-Fi users exist at any given time). Stable Internet Connectivity is the driving force behind  society today – from education to entertainment (we refuse to say “edutainment”), mobile devices, gaming, work, banking, online business and just being a regularly functioning human in 2022 – the average consumer spends more than 8 hours online per day.

Remember when they used to limit our TV time as kids to 1 hour a day? Yeah, those days are gone – sometimes adulthood does have some perks. For many homes, Mobile Data (on cellphones, dongles and LTE packages)  is used as the primary form of internet connectivity.  What consumers aren’t aware of is the limitations of mobile data as it offers unstable internet connectivity and not to mention expensive data prices. , However with enhancements of internet technology in South Africa, uncapped Wi-Fi using Fibre has become the  preferred, cost-effective, and tech-savvy solution of choice for homes and businesses.

Between speed, accessibility, security, and simplified execution, uncapped Wi-Fi has become an essential technological tool as integral to our lives as eating, sleeping, and breathing

We joke, but Wi-Fi and easily accessible Internet has improved our lives in numerous ways. Imagine a world (or a lockdown) without being able to WhatsApp call your family, social media (yes no Facebook or Twitter), Mr Delivery or Uber, online schooling during covid, online shopping, Netflix, emails, working from home or where we still needed Mxit to communicate with our crush (yes, we’re THAT old). Technology, especially access to the internet has served to empower, educate, and enable millions across South Africa. Just look at the workplace of the present – which is a far cry from the offices of yesteryear. Any business that has office space offers their employees a high-speed informational and interactive experience. With access to the internet knowledge is at our fingertips, communication has never been simpler, and whilst in any other era, a hard lockdown would have meant the end of the economy as we know it, our ability to adapt to new means of operating is in large part due to the wonders of connectivity.

In the workspace, there are a many benefits of having high speed internet, including:

• The ability to share files, communicate with colleagues and clients alike, access information both in-person or remotely and facilitate the completion of numerous office-related tasks.
• Increased productivity and better efficiency due to speed and ease-of-access. Add Cloud-based tools to the mix, and you have entire servers being shared – allowing for previously unfathomable levels of collaboration.
• Better customer satisfaction and public relations.
• Ultimately, a boost in profits (because you know that’s what counts), with a proven Return on Investments.

Not enough? Let’s jump to the home, and where Wi-Fi comes in..

• Late hours in the campus library or the long commute to and from school can be tiring and dangerous. Having Wi-Fi at home allows for forms of E-learning and studying in the comfort of your home. Whether work, campus or school assignments or research projects, prepping for your year end exams or just studying hard, you can do so in a safe, controlled space rather than stressing about finding working internet or running out of Data.
• With unlimited internet connectivity, you have the ability to start and run your own business from home
• Unlimited access to social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
• Access to Voice over Internet services using Zoom, Skype and WhatsApp video calls
• Better Gaming, browsing, entertainment and leisure time – as well as offering features such as parental control, communication, collaboration suites (think Microsoft 365) and the like.
• Added comfort, safety, and convenience – which is always a plus.

You can look at social media, which, through Wi-Fi connectivity, has revolutionised the way we interact and ushered in the first era of a global village in human history – in doing so allowing us to communicate with anyone, anywhere in seconds. E-commerce has redefined shopping experiences, be it ordering takeout or getting your weekly groceries and beyond. Education has seen a similar redefinition, allowing the conventional classroom to become an easily accessible, interactive, and open learning environment. Then there’s online banking and payment, access to information or content on-demand, the transformation of health platforms and gaming becoming a regular part of dinnertime conversation.

The key link in all of this? Wi-Fi – which we can safely say, all things considered, has allowed for the successful transition to the new today.

Sadly, and unfortunately, we live in a country where Wi-Fi and affordable stable internet connectivity is not always easily accessible and available to everyone. Or isn’t it? HYPA Fibre aims to rectify this by offering unlimited, fast, and reliable home Wi-Fi at affordable monthly prices – which has just become even more affordable (if you can believe that one). Yup, we’re currently running a promotion wherein your first month of affordable Fibre cost’s just R19.00 (also known as less than a liter of Coke). Simply sign-up, get connected and get browsing for R19 for your first month. After that? We revert to normal billing, but it’s still on a pre-paid basis, meaning you decide when you need it and when you can afford to pay for it.

Insert Mic Drop.

It’s been a tough few years for business owners worldwide. In fact, successfully navigating the economic and financial challenges of a post Covid-19 landscape has been a difficult, seemingly insurmountable task for brands across the board. Not only have individuals, households and business owners alike felt the pinch induced by reduced trade and a greatly impacted economic landscape, but maintaining (and working within) a budget has proven incredibly challenging when said budgets are significantly compromised.

Setting aside the global pandemic, South African businesses have been dealt even further harsh blows as a result of a volatile, unpredictable and damaging MACRO landscape. From KZN riots to flooding, rolling blackouts and an increasingly fluctuating transition between office-based and hybrid work (together with the transition this entails), organisations have found themselves in a Catch 22 situation. On one hand, recent events have served only to further emphasise and motivate for the need to transition to a flexible, Cloud-based remote environment. On the other, the cost implications of said endeavour can negatively impact many a brands decision to do so.

The numbers don’t lie, as studies indicate that on average, at least 30% of companies migrating to a Cloud-based environment are faced with moderate to severe cost overruns. The unfortunate, harsh, and damning reality is that if not managed effectively, business costs can rapidly spiral out of control – which in turn can result in businesses either failing to maximise their Cloud potential or abandoning the process entirely.

With this in mind, Cloud Cost-Management has become a fundamental driver behind organisational decisions to successfully complete a Cloud transition. In light of this, a company with an eye on its budget would do well to ensure that the vendor consulting on or handling their move to Azure is not also left in charge of the Cloud Cost Control portion of the migration project. The reasoning behind this is simple: these costs can become substantial if left unmitigated, and a vendor focused purely on facilitating the transition is likely to forsake expenditure implications in favour of a wholly successful migration. Add to this the financial benefits to be gained from utilisation of the platform, and it’s difficult to motivate for complete neutrality on behalf of the vendor.

As such, an independent partner for Cost Management should, in theory, be completely void of income generation from Azure, whilst not being beholden to the revenue of any particular Azure supplier. This partner should in fact be a completely neutral entity within the marketplace – at least as far as Azure is concerned.

Enter Managed Services at Vox, which has emphatically limited their involvement within Azure migration processes, to instead focus exclusively on the cost-containment methodology. Our Managed Services division provides resources aimed at setting up triggers around organisational budgets, which in turn alert a help desk in the event of any unexpected or unwanted budget variance.

We  deploy a team specifically designated to reduce costs wherever possible.

This may involve (amongst other things) a wide array of interrogations and activities aimed at right-sizing environments whilst eliminating unnecessary billed features. In doing so, we eradicate the need for unwanted expenditure, ensuring the integrity of your business security fabric remains wholly intact.

Further benefits to our Cost Management Platform include:

• Identifying of actions that will cause budget overrun
• Continuous cost optimisation by rightsizing
• Implementation of excellence areas, namely Visibility, Cost Governance and Optimisation
• The elimination of Bill Shock

To ensure that your Cost Management investment is maximised, we begin each engagement with a full assessment in order to benchmark potential savings before giving the go-ahead. Only then is the actual exercise conducted, whilst full focus is directed towards ensuring that your actual project is not jeopardised by overspending. By operating on a fixed-cost basis, and not transactional finance models, Vox as your Cloud Cost Control Partner can ensure Cloud budgets are maintained.

It’s safe to say that an unregulated budget is as dangerous to your company’s future as any of the external business challenges we face today. Azure Cost Management allows for painless, seamless, and minimally expensive transition to the Cloud – and one which your brand should be wary to do without.