Prior to 2007 Peter Retief, founder and Technical Director of VBX Communications (Pty) Ltd was travelling extensively in Africa and was involved in the Sales, Installation and Technical considerations of the Tele Communications Industry in Africa.
With the knowledge gleaned from these experiences and the fact that Open Source Technology was available and beginning to make its presence felt, Peter began to use this open source technology to develop a PABX that would replace these legacy conventional systems. The new system would use the Internet as its base and Computer/Data Network cabling as its source to bring the extensions to the central product. This central product he called a VBX.
VBX Communications was registered as a company.
Continued development and further streamlining of the product has given us a unit that is robust, reliable feature rich and offers cost savings that are unobtainable using conventional systems in today’s current IT environment.
In addition to this, a fail over system was built into the product enabling the user to fall back onto standard Telkom infrastructure. The reason for this is that ADSL in South Africa has at times proven to be unreliable, a fact that not only has caused frustration to users but also to developers of similar systems.
The first VBX was sold in 2007 but as the acceptance of VoIP has become common place and the users understand the benefits, varied applications and array of features, we have seen an increase in sales which is expected to continue. Application where VBX is currently installed includes Schools, Manufacturing, Insurance, Auditing, Hospitality, Healthcare and Mining Companies.
Goals & Roles of VBX Telecom
VBX Telecom, having designed a product to replace the conventional PABX with a VoIP alternative had a number of roles to play. One was the education of a sceptical VoIP user base which had had their fingers burnt previously through companies offering untested VoIP systems and solutions. Another was educating potential users who had no idea what VoIP was and who needed convincing that the VoIP trend was real and that the offering was both cost effective and feature rich. A particular sweet spot is the use of VBX in a multi branch environment where branch calls in a company are made for free as are inter ranch conference calls.
Other roles were to offer a system where there was and is sufficient knowledge and expertise to support the product. It was essential that VBX could deliver on the promise that 90% of faults, queries, configurations or changes can be made remotely by using the Internet.
This in a turnaround time that was not only acceptable but above what conventional support companies could offer. VBX has done this and realises that support will continue to be a focal point of the future success of the company.
It is the intention of VBX to expand its role in the Tele Communication field by making use of partnerships with fellow role players in the industry that have, as a goal, to play an important part in the ever developing Tele Communication space and to be acknowledged in the industry as a leading player.
We will endeavour to replace legacy systems where ever possible by using the cost saving, strong feature set and excellent support that VBX offers to make a clear, attractive and compelling offer to a prospective client.
Industry Developments and Investments
IBIS World Research has recently stated that VoIP is the fastest growing technology of the past decade based on cumulative growth revenue from 2000 through 2009. This easily beats contenders, Search Engines and ecommerce & Online Auctions. This trend is likely to continue and accelerate in the next decade as legacy systems will be replaced and new applications for VoIP found.
In South Africa we expect that the shift to VoIP is expected to be even more profound in the next decade. With the deregulation of the Telecommunication Industry, the inability of Telkom to supply landlines, the reduction in the Inter Connect fees, free 087 numbers and number portability it can be expected that VoIP in South Africa will boom.
VBX believes it is well placed to be part of this expected growth due to its well tested product s and hosted solutions.
The People
A company is only as good as the people that work there, a cliché spoken often used, but sometimes in the frenetic Telecommunications business, forgotten.
At VBX the people really are the corner stone of the business and the company prides itself on the type and skill level of person employed. As over 80% of problems that a client may have can be corrected remotely and it is important that the people answering these calls are correctly skilled and can offer a service that is both courteous and functional thus fully satisfying the clients requirements.
As the company continues to grow, it is obviously important that these skill levels are maintained. The service aspect comes hand in hand with the selling and training functions. These too are given the required emphasis enabling VBX to sell, configure and train for a client’s unique requirements.
Hot Topic
An exciting and interesting sale has recently been to Mpumalanga landmark hospital, Rob Ferreira. Here a new system has been installed that allows integrated use of SIP phones, cell phones and PA speakers. The result is a fully up to date hospital using current technology which uses the features that VoIP offers and attracts the cost saving that are so important in government.
At a recent VoIP installation of a VBX 1000 together with handsets at a leading Mpumalanga State Hospital, even the VBX team were surprised at the savings being made. After evaluating the account and comparing it to what the Telkom bill would have been, it was found that savings were an incredible 37.5%. This was made without any traffic to any other hospitals or clinics over VoIP, in which case these calls would have been free, adding to savings.
The Sales Director, Brian Hyson says “these savings together with the high feature set offered is really showing that VoIP is really making a difference especially when being used with a stable, well tested platform which VBX undoubtedly is.”
With more interest in the product being shown daily, Hyson says that 2010 could be a really exciting year for the company.
Partnerships
VBX is well aware of the fact that to expand and realise its full potential that partnerships and alliances are an important part of its future.
VBX is a channel partner to MWEB and this relationship is beginning to bear fruit. This, together with partnerships in different parts of the country with ISP’s, is beginning to translate into sales - though the technical sale and the time taken to realise a Sale does pose problems. We feel that as the market matures these problems will resolve themselves especially as traditional data companies begin to realise the significance and growth of VoIP.
VBX fully intends to stay at the forefront of the new wave in Telecommunications and would like to invite potential resellers to contact the company to see and discuss our product range.
With the knowledge gleaned from these experiences and the fact that Open Source Technology was available and beginning to make its presence felt, Peter began to use this open source technology to develop a PABX that would replace these legacy conventional systems. The new system would use the Internet as its base and Computer/Data Network cabling as its source to bring the extensions to the central product. This central product he called a VBX.
VBX Communications was registered as a company.
Continued development and further streamlining of the product has given us a unit that is robust, reliable feature rich and offers cost savings that are unobtainable using conventional systems in today’s current IT environment.
In addition to this, a fail over system was built into the product enabling the user to fall back onto standard Telkom infrastructure. The reason for this is that ADSL in South Africa has at times proven to be unreliable, a fact that not only has caused frustration to users but also to developers of similar systems.
The first VBX was sold in 2007 but as the acceptance of VoIP has become common place and the users understand the benefits, varied applications and array of features, we have seen an increase in sales which is expected to continue. Application where VBX is currently installed includes Schools, Manufacturing, Insurance, Auditing, Hospitality, Healthcare and Mining Companies.
Goals & Roles of VBX Telecom
VBX Telecom, having designed a product to replace the conventional PABX with a VoIP alternative had a number of roles to play. One was the education of a sceptical VoIP user base which had had their fingers burnt previously through companies offering untested VoIP systems and solutions. Another was educating potential users who had no idea what VoIP was and who needed convincing that the VoIP trend was real and that the offering was both cost effective and feature rich. A particular sweet spot is the use of VBX in a multi branch environment where branch calls in a company are made for free as are inter ranch conference calls.
Other roles were to offer a system where there was and is sufficient knowledge and expertise to support the product. It was essential that VBX could deliver on the promise that 90% of faults, queries, configurations or changes can be made remotely by using the Internet.
This in a turnaround time that was not only acceptable but above what conventional support companies could offer. VBX has done this and realises that support will continue to be a focal point of the future success of the company.
It is the intention of VBX to expand its role in the Tele Communication field by making use of partnerships with fellow role players in the industry that have, as a goal, to play an important part in the ever developing Tele Communication space and to be acknowledged in the industry as a leading player.
We will endeavour to replace legacy systems where ever possible by using the cost saving, strong feature set and excellent support that VBX offers to make a clear, attractive and compelling offer to a prospective client.
Industry Developments and Investments
IBIS World Research has recently stated that VoIP is the fastest growing technology of the past decade based on cumulative growth revenue from 2000 through 2009. This easily beats contenders, Search Engines and ecommerce & Online Auctions. This trend is likely to continue and accelerate in the next decade as legacy systems will be replaced and new applications for VoIP found.
In South Africa we expect that the shift to VoIP is expected to be even more profound in the next decade. With the deregulation of the Telecommunication Industry, the inability of Telkom to supply landlines, the reduction in the Inter Connect fees, free 087 numbers and number portability it can be expected that VoIP in South Africa will boom.
VBX believes it is well placed to be part of this expected growth due to its well tested product s and hosted solutions.
The People
A company is only as good as the people that work there, a cliché spoken often used, but sometimes in the frenetic Telecommunications business, forgotten.
At VBX the people really are the corner stone of the business and the company prides itself on the type and skill level of person employed. As over 80% of problems that a client may have can be corrected remotely and it is important that the people answering these calls are correctly skilled and can offer a service that is both courteous and functional thus fully satisfying the clients requirements.
As the company continues to grow, it is obviously important that these skill levels are maintained. The service aspect comes hand in hand with the selling and training functions. These too are given the required emphasis enabling VBX to sell, configure and train for a client’s unique requirements.
Hot Topic
An exciting and interesting sale has recently been to Mpumalanga landmark hospital, Rob Ferreira. Here a new system has been installed that allows integrated use of SIP phones, cell phones and PA speakers. The result is a fully up to date hospital using current technology which uses the features that VoIP offers and attracts the cost saving that are so important in government.
At a recent VoIP installation of a VBX 1000 together with handsets at a leading Mpumalanga State Hospital, even the VBX team were surprised at the savings being made. After evaluating the account and comparing it to what the Telkom bill would have been, it was found that savings were an incredible 37.5%. This was made without any traffic to any other hospitals or clinics over VoIP, in which case these calls would have been free, adding to savings.
The Sales Director, Brian Hyson says “these savings together with the high feature set offered is really showing that VoIP is really making a difference especially when being used with a stable, well tested platform which VBX undoubtedly is.”
With more interest in the product being shown daily, Hyson says that 2010 could be a really exciting year for the company.
Partnerships
VBX is well aware of the fact that to expand and realise its full potential that partnerships and alliances are an important part of its future.
VBX is a channel partner to MWEB and this relationship is beginning to bear fruit. This, together with partnerships in different parts of the country with ISP’s, is beginning to translate into sales - though the technical sale and the time taken to realise a Sale does pose problems. We feel that as the market matures these problems will resolve themselves especially as traditional data companies begin to realise the significance and growth of VoIP.
VBX fully intends to stay at the forefront of the new wave in Telecommunications and would like to invite potential resellers to contact the company to see and discuss our product range.
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