Grey. Telecom shaping landscape of telecoms in SA

Grey.Telecom, the brain child of Juri Nysschen, is a forward-thinking, innovative company changing the landscape of the telecommunications and data transfer industry in South Africa.

Traditionally when talking about telecommunications, the immediate reference is a large cumbersome parastatal institution with reams of paperwork, long delays and a million excuses to justify the delays when requiring an installation of a simple telephone line for home or business.

Grey.Telecom's vast array of products and solutions from voice, real-time fax over data, and plug and play telephony operating systems is able to circumvent the laborious process involved in installing telephone lines. With products just as Grey.PayPhone, Grey.Q, Grey.Number, Grey.Collaborate and Grey.Air, the company is targeting the little traded arena of SMEs, where the need for this type of affordable research is high.

Most notably, Grey.PayPhone allows users to pay a heavily discounted rate for voice calls and fax over data services both in South Africa and abroad. This service only requires the user to have access to an Internet connection on a flash-enabled device with a microphone and speakers.

The second option is a hardware-based solution

The second option is a hardware-based solution; the product consists of an Analogue Telephone Adaptor that can be used on both existing land lines and 3G. The small unit, which is no bigger than a cellphone, on the spur of the moment allows users to plug the device into a data network and there and then be able to make telephone calls and send faxes, through the use of inexpensive analogue phones and fax machines. This system is not dependant on landline infrastructure, and is permanently hugely beneficial to users who want to keep costs to an absolute minimum or their premises fall outside an area where there are no existing lines.

The common misconception that the company has faced recently is the comparison to existing VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) service providers. “VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is only one of the many services that our company offers; we are currently the only company that has developed real-time fax over data services, low cost teleconferencing, free Web page development and IVR systems. Over and above the positive impact on the bottom line in terms of savings, we have developed a system whereby using our products will impact positively on a company's bottom line as an income.

“Our pricing is radically different in that we charge 10c/minute on top of our wholesale costs; wholesale being the charges agreed between networks. Our customers in a word get a very attractive deal.”