"But this is changing," says Angela Gahagan-Thomson, managing executive of MTN Business. "We believe that the local industry is fast approaching the stage where any size business can enjoy the benefits of true convergence, thanks to service providers who are adamant to achieve true FMC for their customers - through a transparent process, fighting industry standards and removing common uncertainty, no matter how unpopular - to provide increased efficiencies and value."
MTN Business has, over the last two years, showcased its custodian approach to delivering true FMC to the marketplace and is excited and well positioned to offer this technology in its phased approach - a technology that promises to make bold changes to the face of commerce locally. "We are determined to offer customers a new unified communication experience via hosted services and enterprise apps from the cloud while understanding that reducing overall communication expenditure is a critical component to uptake. As a result, we will be significantly reducing our fixed line costs by almost 20%, from 1 March 2012, in yet another step to realising this goal," Gahagan-Thomson says.
This price reduction, coupled with MTN Business's full set of fixed converged service offerings allows enterprises to really take advantage of a truly converged product offering. In essence, with true FMC, the mobile phone officially becomes a true extension of the enterprise's PBX. Organisations will have the ability to dramatically reduce their voice bill, while increasing productivity, and fixed and mobile users can share the same interfaces to the network on a single core network.
So in essence no matter the size of the business, it needs just one number, which provides substantial potential for businesses on the move, as not only does it allow business to be conducted effectively anywhere, but users can switch from a mobile to a IP network seamlessly and securely, as well as between devices interchangeably as necessary.
"The dream of merging the desk and mobile phone will soon become a reality and as we near our third and final phase of true Fixed Mobile Convergence, it's my opinion that it will signify a fundamental shift in the way South African businesses conduct operations, manage cost centres and deliver services," concludes Gahagan-Thomson.
