Best VoIP providers for businesses in South Africa
Many South African businesses are doing away with their traditional landlines in favour of a more modern solution — voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP).
Several companies in the country offer VoIP business services, with some of the best being Euphoria Telecom, iConnect, Ignite, Electronic Communication Networks, and Switch Telecom.
VoIP services are significantly cheaper than traditional landlines, offer real-time call activity statistics, and make technologies like voice transcription possible.
New cloud-based VoIP products like PBX Switchboard solutions also offer useful collaboration tools and integration with other software platforms.
However, it is important to note that these products are flexible, scalable, and vary based on business needs.
Questions businesses should ask themselves before deciding on a VoIP service include the following:
- What volume of calls are you likely to receive?
- Do you need to send specific types of calls (for example, sales or support calls) to different queues?
- Do you make a lot of international calls?
- Do you make many outbound calls?
- Does your team work in one central location or remotely, or is it a mixture of the two?
- Would you need a virtual conferencing solution?
Once a business can answer these questions, it can find the exact VoIP solution they require to meet its communication needs.
The list below provides an overview of the prominent business VoIP providers in South Africa.
Euphoria Telecom
Euphoria’s cloud business phone system offers companies innovative and reliable technology, flexible solution, and an intuitive telephone management system.
It also offers an entirely mobile solution where clients can have an extension on up to three devices, requiring only an Internet connection.
Prices per extension start at R45 a month for Euphoria’s Base product and run up to R185 per month for its Call Buster package.
It is important to note that the Call Buster package is all-inclusive, while certain aspects of Euphoria’s lower-tier products carry additional charges depending on the package chosen.
Other features offered by Euphoria Telecom include a digital interactive voice response (IVR) receptionist, browser phone solutions, multi-branch functionality, and call recording.
iConnect
iConnect has been in operation since 2004, and today it offers a variety of business-orientated solutions such as Connectivity, Voice Solutions, Cloud Computing, and Cyber Security.
Its cloud-based voice solutions promise enterprise-grade voice quality, flexibility and mobility, and control over costs.
iConnect says its PBX Switchboard solution eliminates the need for hefty investment in switchboard hardware, maintenance, and upgrades.
Businesses don’t have to worry about hardware, software, training, and maintenance, as iConnect takes care of all these aspects.
It also offers voice recording, telephone management system reporting, mobile extensions through its softphone app, session initiation protocol trunks, and minute bundles.
Ignite
In 2016 MWEB Business, IS Ignite and IS Direct merged to form a new brand, Ignite. It offers a variety of solutions — including voice, email, and cloud — targeted at businesses in South Africa.
All businesses need to leverage Ignite’s PBX solution is an Internet connection, and being cloud-based, it doesn’t require any significant investment in hardware. However, Ignite does make specific hardware available to buy or rent.
Its Cloud PBX solution is ideal for small and medium businesses requiring up to 15 extensions, and Ignite offers a choice of month-to-month or 12-month contracts costing R110 and R90 per month, respectively.
Ignite describes its Cloud PBX solution as “easy to set up and use”, letting clients use their desktop softphone apps, switchboard, mobile or conference devices over the cloud.
While only an Internet connection is required, Ignite recommends a dedicated Internet line for its Cloud PBX solution to avoid quality dips when there is a high demand on the business’s main line.
ECN
Electronic Communication Networks (ECN) has been in operation in South Africa since 2005, and it offers a range of voice products for businesses in the country.
These include Virtual (Cloud) PBX, hosted call recordings, and its BusinessCall service.
ECN’s BusinessCall service is adaptable to various business sizes and allows businesses to replace their legacy infrastructure with a modern, cost-effective IP infrastructure.
The BusinessCall service takes advantage of an un-contended IP network to ensure that all calls between a client’s PBX and the ECN network are of high quality.
ECN says its Virtual PBX product provides a reliable, stable, flexible, and scalable solution.
Switch Telecom
Switch Telecom‘s range of enterprise VoIP solutions promises to reduce costs and offer customisable features which improve productivity and ensure reliability.
Switch Telecom says its Business VoIP solutions — designed for small, medium, and large businesses — are cost-effective and will scale as your business grows.
It offers products for various business sizes, including a VoIP Line for growing businesses that don’t require a switchboard solution yet, SIP Trunking for companies looking for an alternative provider, and its Hosted Switchboard solution.
The Hosted Switchboard product offers businesses a state-of-the-art VoIP switchboard solution with a low barrier to entry.
Switch Telecom specifies that its Hosted Switchboard solution has no up-front costs or installation fees.
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