The Customer
Megafreight is a global freight management company based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Megafreight provides import and export services for air and ocean freight, customs clearance, bonded and free warehousing, marine insurance, project cargo, as well as other land-based logistics services.
Megafreight is a global freight management company based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Megafreight provides import and export services for air and ocean freight, customs clearance, bonded and free warehousing, marine insurance, project cargo, as well as other land-based logistics services.
Business Challenges
Megafreight knew that its old analog telecommunications system was not optimal, but it seemed sufficient. With about 250 employees and 4 additional offices at O.R. Tambo International Airport, Cape Town, Durban, and Port Elizabeth, each site used its own independent telephone system. They were accustomed to the simplicity of business communications offered by the old system—until they received notification that support for this obsolete system would be discontinued. This meant Megafreight would be left without telephone service in the event of a hardware failure. And a telephony outage was a risk the company could not accept. During the transition from analog to VoIP, the global freight company examined various alternatives. It became clear that these systems exceeded the company’s budget, according to Dyllan Pascoe, Megafreight’s former IT manager.
Given the exchange rate, Pascoe noted that implementing some of these proprietary technologies in South Africa becomes very expensive, so adopting open-source solutions was an obvious choice if they could do the job. “I knew Switchvox could do the job,” Pascoe said. “We also felt that Switchvox was much easier to configure as an administrator, and it does not require special telecommunications or IP qualifications to operate the system.”
Sangoma Solutions
Megafreight purchased a Switchvox appliance with 200 Sangoma D‑Series IP phones. Since each Megafreight branch used its own independent telephone system, the upgrade began with the executive offices in Johannesburg. The deployment of Switchvox at the other branches followed shortly after installation at the executive offices. Now, the four branches operate as a single unit thanks to the Switchvox appliance, which centralizes communications at the Johannesburg headquarters. Customers can call a single number, and Switchvox’s versatile call trees are configured to transfer relevant calls to the appropriate staff member or department, wherever they are in the country. In principle, the transition from analog to VoIP would have been a major undertaking, but with Megafreight operating on an open-source platform, they did not need a major overhaul.
Megafreight purchased a Switchvox appliance with 200 Sangoma D‑Series IP phones. Since each Megafreight branch used its own independent telephone system, the upgrade began with the executive offices in Johannesburg. The deployment of Switchvox at the other branches followed shortly after installation at the executive offices. Now, the four branches operate as a single unit thanks to the Switchvox appliance, which centralizes communications at the Johannesburg headquarters. Customers can call a single number, and Switchvox’s versatile call trees are configured to transfer relevant calls to the appropriate staff member or department, wherever they are in the country. In principle, the transition from analog to VoIP would have been a major undertaking, but with Megafreight operating on an open-source platform, they did not need a major overhaul.
“Megafreight has a custom solution backed by an in-house developed freight management software system,” Pascoe explained. “We had to make sure the network infrastructure could accommodate the new Switchvox system, which required a 100/1000 (BaseT) network, so even though we already had switches, cabling, etc., an upgrade of these network switches and cabling was required.” In part, Megafreight’s infrastructure met all the requirements needed to set up and implement the Switchvox system.
The Results
The legacy analog PBX, with its enormous server, occupied 20 square meters of floor space and required its own room. It had been updated and patched with add-ons over the years to give it more features, but this fragmented approach made it difficult to manage. The new Switchvox telephone system resolved all these inconveniences and management problems. Long-distance call charges between Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, and Port Elizabeth were another expense eliminated by the Switchvox system. Now, when a user in Cape Town calls a customer in Johannesburg, the Switchvox system is configured to route the call through the Johannesburg office, saving money on long-distance calls. As for additional savings, support contracts were in place at some branch sites, while others were billed on demand. These were eliminated entirely.
The legacy analog PBX, with its enormous server, occupied 20 square meters of floor space and required its own room. It had been updated and patched with add-ons over the years to give it more features, but this fragmented approach made it difficult to manage. The new Switchvox telephone system resolved all these inconveniences and management problems. Long-distance call charges between Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, and Port Elizabeth were another expense eliminated by the Switchvox system. Now, when a user in Cape Town calls a customer in Johannesburg, the Switchvox system is configured to route the call through the Johannesburg office, saving money on long-distance calls. As for additional savings, support contracts were in place at some branch sites, while others were billed on demand. These were eliminated entirely.
“Over time, as employees became more familiar with the system, we added additional features to take advantage of all the possibilities offered by Switchvox,” Pascoe said. Call reporting capabilities, for example, previously required a third-party installation, and IT administrators had to spend time compiling reports with the old system. Now, reports are requested through the system on a scheduled basis, and the system provides them whenever needed. “The voicemail-to-email feature came as a shock to many employees because none of the branches had voicemail,” Pascoe said. “This feature required some policy changes because it affects how employees work with their customers, but ultimately, it is an invaluable feature.”
Even the mobility feature has gained popularity because it allows technicians who travel from one site to another or work remotely to stay connected. “Once the system was fully implemented across the five sites, the true power of the Switchvox equipment with UC was recognized, and it’s a great experience for everyone in the company,” said Pascoe.