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Testimonials
BluESP
BluESP is in many ways the telecoms providers’ easiest customer – they have extensive technical experience in-house, and a definite idea of what they want their communications solution to do. For Glen Hermon, an MES consultant and IT manager at BluESP, the telecoms problem was clear. The long-in-the-tooth fixed-line 256kbps ISDN line was not reliable enough, not fast enough, and because the office was in a predominantly residential area, were not getting the uptime and problem resolution he needed. Hermon wanted something higher capacity, and that was definitely not fixed line, as the area had been plagued by cable thefts that left BluESP without lines for lengthy periods of time.
“We looked for something that didn’t have a hard wire,” he says, explaining that after phoning around for a few recommendations, he decided to try ARC Telecoms, as it had an extensive track record in point-to-point wireless links. “We didn’t consider anyone else – it was the technology we wanted, at the right price, and they had it up and running fast – from the initial confirmation, to site surveys and resolving details to be signed off my management and then up and running within 20 days,” says Hermon.
BluESP runs its own technology systems, including email and VPN servers, and was keen to work with a provider that would give it only the technology it needed, no more, no less. The link is extremely reliable, so Hermon only keeps an iBurst Wireless modem on hand in case of emergency. |
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BUSINESS PROFILE:
BluESP is a highly respected provider of specialised software systems to industrial manufacturers that produce petrochemicals, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, mining and other process products (‘process’ factories create materials in a continuous stream, rather than individual items or batches fabricated, assembled or machined). BluESP’s primary area of business is designing and implementing solutions based on AspenTech’s Manufacturing Executions Systems (MES) and process control technology, project management systems from Primavera, and it’s own in-house developed software technology.
NUMBER OF OFFICES:
one office in Johannesburg supporting an engineering team servicing clients in sub-Saharan Africa
NUMBER OF CONNECTED STAFF:
20 people, everyone connected, including housekeeping and admin staff
CONNECTIVITY REQUIREMENT:
Reliable, fast pipe for data connectivity to support onsite staff’s Web browsing and email, as well as provide connections for staff working remotely to connect via VPN.
CONNECTIVITY PROBLEM:
BluESP’s office is in a predominantly residential area, and it was not getting the service levels or link uptime it needed from its fixed-line ISDN connection
CONNECTIVITY SOLUTION:
10Mbps Wireless DSL |
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WHY ARC TELECOMS |
Availability of the desired technology, third-party recommendations and speed of response to implement solution
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BUSINESS LEADERSHIP SA
Business Leadership SA has pleasant offices at the top of the Parktown ridge in Johannesburg – but a very high local water table and repeated cable thefts was causing constant downtime of its Internet connection and telephones. The organisation wanted a better alternative that did not involve the Telkom fixed line infrastructure at all.
“During the rainy summer season our voice connectivity goes down all the time,” explains Allison Botha, the executive assistant to Business Leadership’s CEO, who manages office infrastructure, “We wanted to become independent of the Telkom lines, and looked for alternative telecoms suppliers.”
After asking around for recommendations, Botha invited a few service providers in to propose their solution, and found Nick Mogale, the ARC Telecoms salesperson responsive, friendly and accommodating. It was a straightforward choice for Business Leadership – the Wireless DSL technology could be installed within a few days, and offered dependable performance in throughput and uptime, with a low 10:1 contention ratio for consistently fast browsing. It’s also a symmetric connection, with equal upload and download speeds, and allows a static IP address, allowing Business Leadership to host their own Website and other useful functions, including being highly suitable for carrying voice calls. The Wireless DSL product has link-level service level agreements that guarantee response within the next business day in the case of a link failure, along with ARC Telecoms support service level agreement for non-link issues or configuration changes. Business Leadership took a 30GB cap option as it exchanges a lot of information, but not a lot of large files, making this a cost-effective choice. Now that Internet connectivity is solved, Business Leadership is looking to move to IP Voice (voice over Internet protocol for the enterprise) for its telephony – both for normal landlines and for cellphone calls. “We have a Premicell which is problematic,” says Botha, citing slow connect times and repeated dropped calls. The ARC Telecoms team is working with Business Leadership to establish the capabilities of its Siemens PABX to cut its fixed lines over to IP Voice, leaving only a few necessary for incoming calls to continue having the 011 (Johannesburg) area code until foll geographic number portability comes in. This move to IP Voice will reduce call charges to both landlines and mobile phones, without needing the ‘Sellotape and chewing gum’ that Premicell technology entails. |
BUSINESS PROFILE:
Business Leadership SA is an independent association comprising the chief executives and chairmen of large corporations in SA, as well as multinational companies with substantial invested in the local market. The association keeps a permanent office with directors, and administration and research staff to support its activities.
NUMBER OF OFFICES:
1 (Johannesburg)
NUMBER OF CONNECTED STAFF:
7
CONNECTIVITY REQUIREMENT:
General Internet connectivity (email, browsing, etc)
CONNECTIVITY PROBLEM:
Constant failure of fixed line ADSL and telephone due to geographic peculiarities and cable theft
CONNECTIVITY SOLUTION:
5 Mbps Wireless DSL connection with 30GB cap to get around the “last mile” problem |
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WHY ARC TELECOMS |
Great word of mouth reputation, fast and responsive sales representative that proposed a workable solution that would have them up and running fast, ability to move landline telephone connections to IP Voice.
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F&R
F&R Phakisa operates a large call centre in Gauteng that addresses customer support requirements, both urgent (roadside assistance) and scheduled (maintenance services). Constant Kanneberg, the IT Manager at F&R Phakisa, was looking for ways to reduce cost while preparing for a great deal of business growth.
“Our call centre continues to grow, so any technology we brought in had to be scalable while proving itself more cost effective – but as reliable – as the Telkom phones we were using,” says Kanneberg. ARC recommended the all-in-one PBX, IP Phone and Unified Communications (UC) platform from ShoreTel. It integrates voice features with PC applications, which makes it easier for F&R Phakisa to keep track of activity in the call centre. What first impressed F&R Phakisa was that ARC was the only company to physically demonstrate the voice over IP (VoIP) solution during the sales meeting.
Kanneberg explains: “The decision on this technology solution needed to be made by the whole board, many of whom are not very technically literate. To be able to see the solution in action immediately built a lot of trust in both the workability of the technology and in ARC.” “What impressed us more was that when there was a problem with the installation the sales guys and the technical team jumped in and immediately took control. They were in our offices at nine o’clock at night sorting out the problem. This level of commitment to supporting us is exactly what we are looking for in a communications partner,” concludes Kanneberg. |
BUSINESS PROFILE:
F&R Phakisa is a major supplier of specialized and modified trucks to a variety of customers in Africa. It manufactures trailers and cargo bodies for general transport, armoured vehicles for security companies and military and custom-design bodies for bakkies and trucks for field services. The company has been in business for over twenty years, with a head office in Johannesburg and multiple support and manufacturing facilities around the country. It has a large support and technical services arm that is reached through a centralised call centre.
NUMBER OF OFFICES:
One national call centre, company has over 20 sites in SA (sometimes with multiple operations per site)
NUMBER OF CONNECTED STAFF:
30
CONNECTIVITY REQUIREMENT:
IP-based voice connectivity for call centre staff
CONNECTIVITY PROBLEM:
Rapid growth was demanding a more cost effective and scaleable voice telephony connectivity for call center
CONNECTIVITY SOLUTION:
All-in-one PBX, IP Phone and Unified Communications (UC) platform from ShoreTel |
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WHY ARC TELECOMS |
Clear business case combined with comprehensive live demonstration of IP Voice solution to board
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THE BURGISS GROUP
The local Burgiss Group operation needed to ensure all staff could be connected to a reliable, fast Internet connection as and when needed. Communication in the form of email and video conferencing are common daily business activities as all staff training is conducted over the Internet and all business transactions are processed online.
Community Connect creates a community fibre access point, with a 2km point-to-point microwave link to connect the last mile. The Burgiss Group falls within this 2km radius and could benefit from a high speed, low latency Internet connection at a fraction of the cost of similar enterprise-class products.
ARC Telecoms guarantees a reliable Internet connection that allows for a stable link to the Internet at a competitive price. By leveraging off the shared infrastructure in a specific region, ARC is able to offer a high quality, end-to-end managed connectivity solution that is suitable for a host of business applications. The service has a substantially lower contention than the comparable consumer-class offerings such as ADSL and bonded ADSL that midsize business are often forced to choose between.
Stefan Elbrecht, MD of the Burgiss Group South Africa, explains, “We are part of a global organisation where all internal applications and processes, staff training and internal and external communication are conducted online. If we have no Internet connection I might as well send everyone home,” says Elbrecht.
“What we needed was a decent, reliable Internet connection and ARC Telecoms offered this at an excellent price for a fibre based access solution that was otherwise not available to an organisation of our size,” concludes Elbrecht. |
BUSINESS PROFILE:
The Burgiss Group is a provider of portfolio management software and hosted services for private equity investors with head offices in Hoboken, New Jersey (USA). Its 300 clients are some of the world's largest investors in alternative assets and include pension funds, endowments, foundations, funds of funds, gatekeepers, consultants and family offices. Burgiss has clients in sixteen countries. For more information, please visit http://www.burgiss.com
NUMBER OF OFFICES:
One local South African office based in Stellenbosch, head office in Hoboken, New Jersey (USA)
NUMBER OF CONNECTED STAFF:
Sixteen staff based at the Stellenbosch office who require consistent Internet access
CONNECTIVITY REQUIREMENT:
robust, reliable, affordable Internet access
CONNECTIVITY SOLUTION:
Community Connect from ARC Telecoms |
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WHY ARC TELECOMS |
Service guarantees, affordability and quality solution
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