SPOC Managed Services Company Profile.

SPOC is a company operating in the information and communications technology and information systems arena. The company was founded in 2003 through identifying a grey area in the market of service provision, and by successfully implementing suggested workable solutions. SPOC has established strong working relations with other technology suppliers such as Siemens, Mitel, Telkom, Isogo (ISP) and Centratel, who have had years of experience in their different fields of product supply and service. These relations in turn open corridors to other sources for the supply and implementation of valued products and services. The three founder members of SPOC are all from a telecommunications service background. Each member has a service record in communication ranging from an average of more than fifteen years each, cumulating into a combined track record of more than 40 years. We have listened to clients and surveyed the market. SPOC has ascertained that there is a need to invest in clients so as to bond a partnership and finally, through mutual agreement, showing these clients how to invest in SPOC so as to enhance their business. To date SPOC Managed Services has a compliment of over 500 clients and growing daily. Our services are recognized throughout the industry. We have attained Siemens dealer of the year 2006 and 2007 out of 18 other similar dealers in South Africa. (SPOC was runner-up in the previous year – 2005) SPOC has a staff compliment of 20 people consisting of sales, service and admin staff. Fixed contractors or agents are used in parts of the country to represent SPOC for services and sales. Through solid consulting with the aid of brand-name products and expertise SPOC has since maintained stable and strong organic growth. SPOC Managed Services has been founded on a solid knowledge base where theoretical and practical experience has been blended in a cost-effective methodology to ensure a value adding result for the client.

Mission Statement:

SPOC focuses on providing communication services to a wide range of customers and is not only service and sales driven but also provides resources in consulting and project management so as to provide the client with the best possible solution. With a true and concise understanding of an individual clients needs, SPOC can assist in making sure that a client understands what they need in successfully managing a sector of their business, which may currently be a financial burden instead of a gaining asset.

Successes

Pretoria University

Indwe (Prestasi) Brokers

African Explosives

Department Foreign Affairs

South African Qualifications Authority

Africon Engineering

Department of Art and Culture

Lazarus Auto (motor dealership)

Saffer

Lewis Stores

Others>>

Product and Services Profile:

Telephone systems and Instruments (PBX’s)

Telecommunication Services

DECT cordless communication systems

Voice over IP integration

Voice Loggers

Voice mail servers

Fax servers

Call centers (integrated or free standing)

Least Cost Routing equipment

International “call-back” systems

Telephone Management Systems (Call cost TMS)

Telecommunication Project Management

Telecommunication Consultancy Services

Telkom Value-Added Services

Product and service description

Telephone Systems and Instruments

The various types of systems referred to here are all locally supported. These telephone systems are intended for office use for the small to medium business and are supplied as per the port size requirement of the client. As with all the brands, they are all digital switching systems which can be integrated with other office systems, (voice mail, fax services, etc). Each manufacturer supplies a range of systems that vary in price and functionality. After all the various options have been explained to him, the decision of which model to purchase is up to the client.

Telecommunication Services

SPOC Managed Services has representation in the major regions of South Africa whereby the products we supply are maintained by us. Should a telecommunications problem occur at any client, our Helpdesk is contacted whereby a call is logged and the appropriate technician is dispatched and allocated the task to repair the problem. Our Helpdesk number is 0861 112802.

DECT cordless communication systems

Unlike the analog cordless phones you may have in your home, DECT (Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications) is a digital wireless telephone technology that is expected to make cordless phones much more common in both businesses and homes in the future. Formerly called the Digital European Cordless Telecommunications standard because it was developed by European companies, DECT's present name reflects its global acceptance. Like another important wireless standard, Global System for Mobile communication (GSM), DECT uses time division multiple access (TDMA) to transmit radio signals to phones. Whereas GSM is optimized for mobile travel over large areas, DECT is designed especially for a smaller area with a large number of users, such as in cities and corporate complexes. A user can have a telephone equipped for both GSM and DECT (this is known as a dual-mode phone) and they can operate seamlessly.

DECT has five major applications:

1) The "cordless private branch exchange." A company can connect to a wired telephone company and redistribute signals by radio antenna to a large number of telephone users within the company, each with their own number. A cordless PBX would be especially useful and save costs in a company with a number of mobile employees such as those in a large warehouse.

2) Wireless Local Loop (WLL). Users in a neighborhood typically served by a telephone company wired local loop can be connected instead by a cordless phone that exchanges signals with a neighborhood antenna. A standard telephone (or any device containing a telephone such as a computer modem or fax machine) is simply plugged into a fixed access unit (FAU), which contains a transceiver. The Wireless Local Loop can be installed in an urban area where many users share the same antenna. 3) Cordless Terminal Mobility. The arrangement used by businesses for a cordless PBX can also be used by a service that provided cordless phone numbers for individual subscribers. In general, the mobility would be less than that available for GSM users.

4) Home cordless phones. A homeowner could install a single-cell antenna within the home and use it for a number of cordless phones throughout the home and garden.

5) GSM/DECT internetworking. Part of the DECT standard describes how it can interact with the GSM standard so that users can be free to move with a telephone from the outdoors (and GSM signals) into an indoor environment (and a DECT system). It's expected that many GSM service providers may want to extend their service to support DECT signals inside buildings. A dual-mode phone would automatically search first for a DECT connection, then for a GSM connection if DECT

Voice over IP integration

Explanation – this is where voice communication does not require unique infrastructure to a user’s desk, but makes use of new or existing IP computer network to enable communication in offices. This is a relatively new term and concept regarding telephony communication. It has been tested and implemented world wide with positive results and continuous development in this field. Only one cable network is necessary, which is beneficial when it comes to cost. The integration of the communication server and the computer network promotes simplicity where usually only one service team is necessary. Hence another cost saving.

Voice Loggers

Telephone Voice Recorder are ideal for businesses that want a cost effective telephone voice-recording device or call logging system. Any company handling value transactions (phone conversations in which critical information is transferred) needs to record all telephone calls for liability protection purposes. Telephone Servicing, Telephone Banking, Telephone Marketing, Telephone Insurance and financial trading by telephone are just a few examples that require telephone call logging for verification and dispute resolution. Implement an affordable voice logging solution by using either analogue or digital voice logging systems customized to suit you.

Voice mail servers

There are various makes and models of voice mail servers on the market. These types of servers can be connected to a PABX in two ways via digital or analogue connection. Voice mail servers give one the functionality of taking messages while out of the office, or when unable to take calls. When back in the office one is able to retrieve one’s messages and return calls if necessary. In any business it is very important not to miss any calls as they may be from potential customers.

Fax servers

The fax server is a standalone unit connected to the telephone system to achieve fax communication. The fax server enables an incoming fax to be sent to any users’ PC. This is achieved by making use of the client’s internal network and e-mail features. Outgoing faxes can be sent from any employee’s PC to any external company.

All fax and line usage is controlled and managed by this server. Various levels of software enhance the features as per the clients’ requirement.

Call Centers.

A call center is an umbrella term that refers to reservations centers, help desks, information lines or customer service centers, regardless of how they are organized or what types of transactions they handle. Usually refers to a sophisticated voice operations environment that provides a full range of high-volume, inbound or outbound call-handling services, including customer support, operator services, directory assistance, multilingual customer support, credit services, card services, inbound and outbound telemarketing, interactive voice response and web-based services. The term call center can be misleading, as the transactions may be more involved than simple 'calls,' and a 'center' may not accurately represent the potentially complex, multi-site environment. Call centers are mainly used where a company has a need for marketing or telesales personnel. Call centers are becoming more popular due to the fact that more companies are doing direct marketing of their products and services via telesales. Clients who are in the market for call centers are those clients who are customer focused, whereby their clients can contact them via a single telephone number and their call can quickly be transferred to the correct agent group for assistance. The PABX and the call centre software work together to achieve this. The call centre has the functionality of allowing an agent to be available or unavailable at certain times and still evenly distribute calls to only the available agents. The call centre manager can receive accurate daily stats on the performance of his agents on the following call centre reports: (Note – these are basic reports only, additional reports can be drawn)

Availability of agents

Time spent on all calls

Response times to answer calls

Total calls answered per agent

System line usage

Least cost routing.

Due to customers paying more for cell phone calls via a normal landline, the cell dialer unit was developed to assist companies on saving costs on calls to cell phones. These units are connected onto the telephone system and any call to a cell phone is automatically re-directed to an available cell router, thus making use of the cheaper route. This enables companies to have huge savings on their monthly cell phone call costs. All telephone systems are programmed to enable least-cost routing. An added advantage to this is that communication is still possible even though the Telkom lines go faulty.

International “call-back” systems.

This is a unique facility that has been designed to save costs on international calls.

The apparatus is a pre-programmed device that is connected to the telephone system through which calls are routed to an international server either in Europe or USA. The telephone system is also programmed to route all international calls via the cheaper route. International calls from these servers to South Africa are cheaper than calls made from South Africa (hence the saving). The call is then set-up on one of these servers and the server then calls you back. The person initiating the call experiences no inconvenience and if not informed, will not even know that they are using a cheaper route.

Telephone Management Systems (TMS)

The telephone system is able to output information around calls made to and from your offices. This information is usually based on incoming, outgoing and internal call traffic that is released via a port on the telephone system. A PC that manipulates the information and converts it into a readable form then captures this information. Common fields of information are:

Date and Time

User ext. number

Number dialed

Duration of the call

Cost of the call according to Telkom rates

Larger corporations usually prefer the call information out-putted by the telephone system to be buffered and later sent to a central server to be administered. This is usually done when a corporation has multiple sites and it becomes more cost effective to have only one administrator for all sites. SPOC can also assist any client in auditing the monthly amount invoice by Telkom for the services they provide. Due to the immense logistical aspect should Telkom provide this service, it is much simpler to allow SPOC to assist. The auditing of all Telkom provided services is done professionally and correctly. A TMS is a vital tool within any organization to measure the expense of telephone calls. Monitoring of all users and screen calls so as keep costs down to ensure that telephone calls are not abused.

Services

Project Management

Almost any human activity that involves carrying out a non-repetitive task can be a project. So we are all project managers! We all practice project management (PM). SPOC Managed Services can offer project management in the information and communication arena. But there is a big difference between carrying out a very simple project involving one or two people and one involving a complex mix of people, organizations and tasks. The art of planning for the future has always been a human trait. In essence a project can be captured on paper with a few simple elements: a start date, an end date, the tasks that have to be carried out and when they should be finished, and some idea of the resources (people, machines etc) that will be needed during the course of the project. When the plan starts to involve different things happening at different times, some of which are dependent on each other, plus resources required at different times and in different quantities and perhaps working at different rates, the paper plan could start to cover a vast area and be unreadable. Project management is not only about planning but also about human attributes like leadership and motivation. Nevertheless, the idea that complex plans could be analyzed by a computer to allow someone to control a project is the basis of much of the development in technology that now allow projects of any size and complexity not only to be planned but also modeled to answer 'what if?' questions. The original programs and computers tended to produce answers long after an event had taken place. Now, there are many project planning and scheduling programs that can provide real time information, as well as linking to risk analysis, time recording, costing, estimating and other aspects of project control. But computer programs are not project management: they are tools for project managers to use. Project management is all that mix of components of control, leadership, teamwork, resource management etc that goes into a successful project. Project managers can be found in all industries. Their numbers have grown rapidly as industry and commerce has realized that much of what it does is project work. And as project-based organizations have started to emerge, project management is becoming established as both a professional career path and a way of controlling business. So opportunities in project management now exist not only in being a project manager, but also as part of the support team in a project or program office or as a team leader for part of a project. There are also qualifications that can be attained through the professional associations. Most people still want their projects to be on time, meet quality objectives, and not cost more than the budget. These form the classic time, quality, cost triangle. In fact if you have an unlimited budget and unlimited time, project management becomes rather easy. For most people, however, time and money are critical and that is what makes project management.

Consultancy services

Implementing enterprise solutions requires a great deal of understanding of domain, work processes, inter- and intra-enterprise relationship management. For any enterprise-wide solution is likely to affect all of these areas at various points.

At SPOC Managed Services, we attach most importance to understanding our client's unique needs before designing solutions. Right from organizational and process mapping, we work closely with our clients for assessing the needs. Once this is done, we work out the functionality requirements, required technology platform, legacy database strategies, and design the solution. Domain specialists along with technology associates develop the solution and implement it at the clients' location(s).

The Telecommunication and IT competence in SME sector is relatively low as compared to large companies due to the lack of full-fledged IT departments. Often, there are standalone applications that are almost impossible to integrate into common telecommunications architecture. Faced with these challenges and the budgetary constraints, SMEs need telecommunication and IT consulting support to ensure best value for money. We at SPOC Managed Services have specially geared our services to assist SMEs in driving out inefficiencies.

Telkom Value-Added Services

SPOC Managed Services is a reseller of Telkom SA services. What this means is that we have a direct in-road to Telkom when it comes to sales and value added services that Telkom supplies. This gives us the edge when it comes to supplying services and support to our clients such as ADSL, Diginet, Smart Access, ISDN, etc. (Our vendor number with Telkom SA is 7004051- SMS B11)