8ta offers web-to-cellphone Google Chat

CPA will present contact centre challenges

Now that the act is in effect, companies must have a strong grip on their customer interactions, information flow and document management. When disputes arise with customers, it is up to the company to provide full records of the interaction, whether that be in the form of a contact centre call recordings, email interactions or a contract signed in-store. Yes, the act has many legal and technical implications, but at the heart of the legislation is a drive to formalise [...]

Yookos takes on social media market

After a year of flying under the radar, African social networking site, Yookos, says it’s ready to grab market share by offering a values-based platform that talks directly to African issues. The site, www.yookos.com, already has some 6 million users, and is growing by the day. Yookos chief executive, Tomisin Fashina, believes the market is ripe for the new entrant, and is aiming for 20 million active users within this year. “Our early experience suggests there’s a huge need for [...]

8ta offers web-to-cellphone Google Chat

8∙ta  and Google today announced the availability of Gmail SMS Chat service, a PC chat to cell phone text service which allows Gmail users in SA to send and receive chat messages - as text messages. With SMS in Chat, a Gmail user can send a text message from the desktop interface directly to phones via SMS. In return, these contacts may respond to these text messages and the response will appear in the original sender’s Gmail interface. Amith Maharaj, [...]

Cloud computing is a tech evolution

When it comes to business, cloud computing is a technological evolution, rather than a purported revolution, says Adapt IT director, Gavin Halse. He says the underlying principles relating to the need for infrastructure, systems and processes to deliver business benefit have not fundamentally changed. “IT Managers and CIO’s need to remember that there is no ‘magic’ in the cloud as such,  the cloud in reality is the evolution of infrastructure, platforms and software which can now be reliably delivered in [...]

Vodacom uses Facebook to fight SMS scams

Vodacom has gone live with a new tool to tackle the longstanding issue of scam SMSs. By adding a specialised new tab on its Facebook page, Vodacom aims to harness the popularity of this social networking site to quickly and easily spread the word when new scams surface. Located on the Vodacom Facebook page, the tab is designed so that Facebook users can submit any SMS scams they have received or simply “plus one” an existing scam. The plus one [...]

Absa’s online banking transactions hit a trillion rand

Absa says it has reached a record trillion rand mark in transaction values for its online banking service in 2011. “For the first time in any calendar year, 2011 has seen us break through the trillion rand mark in transaction values, with an average of 70 million transactions being processed every month,” says Arrie Rautenbach, Absa’s head of Retail Markets. Of the 70 million online transactions that Absa processes every month, the most popular have proven to be payments, statements, [...]

Paving the way for future public-private partnerships

There is no doubt that public-private partnerships have an increasingly important role to play in South Africa, potentially bringing major benefits and efficiencies to all walks of South African society.  In essence, it boils down to the old idiom “two heads are better than one”, implying that some problems may be solved more easily by two or more people working together than each person working alone. On the surface, this may appear to be a simplistic notion, but after more [...]

Social media and the contact centre

In 2012, it would be shocking indeed to see a communications plan that doesn’t feature social media. In the contact centre environment, most brands are rushing to expand their contact channel mix to include social media, such is the pace of adoption across the global economy.    The irony, however, is that for many brands there could be more benefits in strategically throttling back social ambitions, rather than accelerating. Opening up new social media channels without the support of a very [...]

The power of 1 - in the cloud

The number “1”. The first in an infinite line of digits that make up the world that we know today. If you break down the fundamentals of life, maths, technology and more, the number 1 and 0 are what it’s about.  But let us focus on the number 1 for a bit (to use a word). Who today concerns themselves with the circle that is zero? I prefer not to get paid 0 at the end of the month, prefer [...]

R15m for Gauteng smart city

The Gauteng government will spend R15 million on its smart city initiative over the financial year.

Speaking during his budget speech this morning, Finance MEC, Mandla Nkomfe, noted the ICT project would help boost growth in the province and drive entrepreneurship.

“The knowledge based economy is vital for driving the competitiveness and growth in the province. In support of these developments, R15 million will be invested in infrastructure which supports Smart City innovations during the 2012/13 financial year,” Nkomfe said.