Pansmart, a leading exclusive Panasonic Telecommunications and Security distributor in South Africa is proud to announce their new partnership with converged technology provider, Multisource Africa (MSA). The partnership sees MSA onboarded as Pansmart’s African Distribution Partner, providing MSA access to the full suite of Panasonic PBX and Unified Communications, CCTV, and video conferencing platforms and solutions exclusively into the local channel and across Africa. The collaboration is very strategic for both Pansmart and MSA and demonstrates their trust and confidence in each other. Pansmart is an exclusive distributor of Panasonic voice, video and CCTV products, leveraging the brand success of Panasonic which has been delivering leading innovation and technology to the market for 100 years. Customers who invest in Panasonic, are assured of quality, stability and quick access to service and support. However, Pansmart is not your average value-added distributor. They transcend typical distribution by working closely with their partners to develop effective go-to-market strategies and offer support to increase revenue and profitability. On the other side of the coin, MSA is a well-established South African technology provider, with offices around the country and a reseller network consisting of more than 320 members. Their push into the rest of Africa is going strong, with a presence in 32 African countries already, making MSA a truly pan-African brand. And this decision to choose Pansmart and Panasonic exclusively is big news for their loyal clients. Pansmart has long specialised in Panasonic’s voice, video, and CCTV-focused products and services, and this partnership with MSA is a natural next step for them. Pansmart’s vision to create and empower an exclusive national network of resellers and drive strategic initiatives that make it easier for their partners to do business is well-served by this move. The decision to partner with MSA came . . .
Smart Device Advice For Parents
Smart devices are a massive part of our children’s lives. They spend much of their time devoted to communicating with their friends and peers through cell phones and social networking sites like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter. Sadly, the lack of boundaries combined with too much freedom and a dash of ignorance has resulted in children becoming more vulnerable to cyber bullying and cybercrime than ever before. In fact, a study by the World Economic Forum puts South Africa in the list of top 10 countries that are at risk when it comes to children and cybercrime. It comes as no surprise then that some schools and parents have taken to ban these devices altogether. On the other hand, there is no denying that smart devices provide a powerful learning platform with a wealth of information available at your fingertips. And then of course there is the comfort that comes with knowing that you can contact (and keep track) of your child, where ever, whenever. “Because it’s not only the cyber criminals that you need to be protecting your child from, it’s the real-life ones too!” says Erika Truscott, Owner and Founder of PingMe. “Just last month, two incidents of intended abduction of children by strangers from shopping centres in Pretoria East went viral,” she adds. So, what do parents do? Is there a way to protect our children from the dangers that lurk in cyber space whist still reaping the advantages that come with these devices in the real world? Erika believes there is. She offers the following smart device advice to parents: 1. Add social media accounts to your phone: As a rule of thumb, children younger than 13 shouldn’t have social media profiles – they simply don’t possess the skills to discern potential threats. If your older child is on social media, insist that you have their account on your phone so that you have instant access to chats and posts. 2. Check privacy settings: Automatically set all your child’s social media profiles to private, . . .
Opinion and Analysis: Sagarmatha Technologies’ Gary Hadfield addresses the Silo Nation thinking
Silo Nation - To fear the unknown is to disregard the potential of the future says Gary Hadfield, joint CEO of Sagarmatha Technologies and the CEO of Loot.co.za, on the planned listing of Africa’s first MSP Unicorn. Some ‘interesting’ comments have been levelled at Sagarmatha Technologies, post our announcement that we plan to list the company on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Before I unpack what Sagarmatha is and will do, so everyone can be on the same page, let me address the less salubrious remarks that have percolated certain quarters last week. This is not about a company that is in financial trouble needing to settle a loan. Let’s make that very clear. It’s about a future where eCommerce is driving the digital economy across Africa, supported by the broad reach of a media organisation that has deep penetration through traditional print, has a steadily growing digital audience, a logistics base and the shared vision of a management team to build, and deliver, a fully-fledged Multi-Sided-Platform (MSP). It’s about raising investment to scale businesses. So, stop silo thinking. Yes, there is debt in Independent Media. We’ve disclosed that in the pre-listing statement - not that it was a secret in any event. So, accusing us of just raising money to clear debt is in my opinion, narrow minded and underscores just why Sagarmatha needed to go offshore to get a valuation of this complex business model in the first place – the expertise for valuing Multi-Sided-Platforms resides in markets that are already receptive to and understand the model...from practice (54% of MSPs originate in the USA). MSPs are novel in Africa, so we understand analyst hesitation in this regard, but not necessarily the blinkered approach – for elucidation, perhaps refer to the likes of https://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/23/cash-burn-companies-not-always-bad-investments-professor-says.html, or even Duncan McCleod’s article in the Sunday Times this weekend, regarding the high value of . . .
Knowing your viral potential is key to marketing success
It’s been over 90 years since Fred Barnard of Printers Ink said, “A picture is worth a thousand words”. Barnard would probably be blown away by the power of video and its ability to deliver a message. Several research projects report that video has a 135% greater reach than a static image. And, according to Unruly, videos increase purchase intent by 97% and brand association by 139%. Priscilla Kennedy, founder of Piehole.tv, a video production company, says that now is the time to experiment and embrace video within a business environment. A native African strategist and creative director, Kennedy says they started Piehole.tv and then made a strategic decision to locate it in the Karoo, South Africa: “We decided to open our creative office in South Africa to expand the business. Our location, diverse talent, cost structure and approach makes us one of the burgeoning video-makers globally.” She says that Piehole.tv is like no other video production company, not only is their location and heritage unique as a creative agency, video is its lifeblood and they work in animation, live action and everything in-between. Going ‘viral’ is video nirvana. Everyone is looking to stand out, be noticed, seen and heard. “Video content has tripled over the past three years. In a rapidly growing digital environment, video has the potential to cut through the noise and initiate conversations. 2018 is the time take your audience on a viral test run. But be aware that although true virability can be hard to achieve for a business, you can still aim to go viral within your audience even if not across the whole internet.” She says that your content should tap into the audiences’ hopes, fears and even their sense of fun to successfully deliver the message: “A video that gets shared and seen a lot within your target audience is worth gold,” says Kennedy. “What we’ve noticed are really engaging videos that get shared through a target company. They can spread like a proverbial ‘wild . . .
RubiBlue transforms core values to redefine business growth
The culture of an organisation defines how it engages with its customers Johannesburg, South Africa 05 April 2018: RubiBlue, intelligent business solutions provider, has redesigned its core values to redefine business growth and enhance its business culture. The organisation underwent a lengthy process to refine these values that are now embedded within the company and fundamentally influence its mindset. “Our goal is to provide our customers with intelligent business solutions that drive business efficiencies and save them time, money and stress,” says Chris Ogden, Managing Director, RubiBlue. “When you consider how our business is built around helping our customers achieve their goals and ambitions, we felt it was important that we had a clearly mandated philosophy that ensured we could support our clients and our employees to the best of our abilities.” This commitment saw the 13-year-old company invest in creating the RubiBlue values which would ensure consistent client engagement through measurable actions and targeted service delivery. The four pillars that uphold these values are: Commitment, Lead, Efficiency and Wellbeing. These enhance the company’s core competencies of strong developmental skills and superior support services. “When we first started out, we were purely a network support and sales provider, but since then we have evolved as a company and as a service provider,” says Ogden. “We have a range of satisfied clients who have benefitted from our consultancy, solutions development and Microsoft Network skills and we have always had a strong company culture to support these skills and this vision. Now, however, we have further refined this culture and the values that define it to take our business even further.” The four core values of Commitment, Lead, Efficiency and Wellbeing form the acronym CLEW, which happens to be an integral part of any sailboat – holding the sail in place and ensuring that wind flow is accurately directed. . . .
Go Rugged with South Africa’s Leading Supplier of Heavy-Duty Devices
There are several disadvantages of using regular smartphones. Although regular phones are good for mundane operations, they are not suitable for heavy-duty applications. Most smartphones tend to break if they fall from great a height. Ordinary devices are prone to damages, as they are brittle and cannot operate in rough external conditions. Rugged Mobile understands the necessity of heavy-duty handhelds. Its extensive range of rugged devices is designed with durable materials to extend unprecedented strength and support. All its rugged computers come with ultra-tough exteriors which can withstand severe shock and tough industrial circumstances. This is why rugged devices are apt for a number of industrial applications, from mining, construction to field research. Some Benefits of Rugged Handhelds Apart from high durability, rugged devices are recognised for a host of advantages. To begin with, rugged devices can function in all types of exposed working conditions, as all the products are rigorously tested according to military standards. Some of the parameters on which rugged handhelds are tested include temperature range, MIL-STD and IP rating. Due to the rugged quality of the devices, rugged handhelds are immune to ballistic shocks and extreme temperatures. Rugged devices come in various forms, as tablets, notebooks, mobile phones and handhelds, serving myriads of functions, from scanning, collecting data, crunching numbers, browsing graphics to mobile ticketing. Some devices have barcode scanning facilities and are suitable for logistical operations. Most of the rugged devices come with one or more 2500mAH batteries, allowing users to use the device for a long period of time. Products on Offer Jagged in appearance and available with easy-to-use interfaces, Rugged Mobile’s impressive range of heavy-duty products have a number of pronounced advantages over regular smart devices, which are incompetent for rough operations. Some of its key . . .
Former DiData CEO Tips R10 Million into Emerging Social Networking Platform
Rapidly growing social discovery and messaging platform, Gather Online, today announced former Dimension Data chief executive, Brett Dawson, will be joining its board of Directors as Chairman, accompanying his investment of R10 million to support the company’s planned international expansion. With South African-born founders, Gather Online has developed a unique online communication service that allows users to achieve real engagement with communities of like-minded people. Dubbed ‘Snapchat for groups’ the service offers time-limited access to discussions on a wide variety of topics from careers and business to travel and health. “Gather Online enables people to shift from passively consuming content, as is often the case with existing social networks, to connecting with like-minded individuals and having meaningful conversations,” said Founder and Chief Executive, David Price. “It fills a real gap for engagement in the current social media landscape, in that you only connect to content that you are interested in.” International expansion Mr Price said the investment made by Mr Dawson would support the company’s ambitious expansion plans. Gather Online already has more than 40,000 daily active users with the most avid users having daily sessions exceeding 20 minutes. While operations are based out of Australia and South Africa, the company plans to achieve consistent growth through targeting the large number of social media users in Europe, the United States and Asia, where it has already got a foothold. The company has unexpectedly gone viral in locations it has not specifically targeted, but says it will focus a significant amount of its intentions on dominating markets that are neglected by other players in the market. “We believe there is a significant opportunity for a platform that encourages people to become more engaged with each other. On the other major platforms, a post only gets engagement from about 1% of people so 99% are passively . . .
Shell chooses Ricoh as its exclusive managed print services provider
Ricoh South Africa, 4 April 2018 – Ricoh is now the single source managed print services provider for the Shell Group. As part of the agreement, Ricoh will support Shell’s managed print operations in 98 global locations including deployment of many thousand Ricoh multi-function printers and Ricoh’s Streamline NX; Device Manager NX; and Mobile Printing software. Ricoh will administrate and manage the software from within the Shell private cloud infrastructure and will have 20 Ricoh engineers onsite at Shell offices to provide on the ground support. Ricoh is now a key sourcing partner to help Shell IT meet its objective of delivering business value enabled by technology. David Mills, CEO, Ricoh Europe, says: “Our ability to provide dependable, secure and agile print services on such a large scale helps ensure that our clients’ overall business operations remain smooth and effective. Given the print technology available to Shell, it is clear they are primed to flourish throughout the digital age. We look forward to supporting them on this exciting journey.” CLICK HERE to submit your press release to MyPR.co.za. . . .
Plantronics Manager Pro v3.11 Expands Headset Insight and Management to IOS and Android Devices
Plantronics (NYSE: PLT) an audio pioneer and communications technology leader, today announced it has extended the management and reporting aspects of its cloud software solution, Plantronics Manager Pro v3.11, to include Plantronics unified communications (UC) headsets connected to mobile devices running iOS and Android. This extended reach is enabled through the Plantronics Hub mobile application. By deploying Plantronics Manager Pro v3.11 and Plantronics Hub, IT managers can now see, manage and gather valuable insights from the entire line of Plantronics enterprise communications devices that are on the desktop and attach to tablets and mobile phones. “More than 53% of organizations have interest in ear-to-ear diagnostics that would enable IT leaders to manage voice performance from the user perspective, and more than 35% of companies are increasing deployment of mobile UC clients,” said Irwin Lazar, vice president and research director at Nemertes Research. “These realities make it more important than ever to ensure IT and line-of-business managers are equipped with solutions that can help them obtain analytics and actionable insights from across their company’s entire communications ecosystem." Plantronics Manager Pro is Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) designed to manage Plantronics communications devices. With its easy-to-use tools, IT professionals and their managed-services partners are able to proactively manage the performance of every supported Plantronics headset across the enterprise, ensuring best user experience by accessing actionable insights. Plantronics Manager Pro is available through authorized resellers in most countries around the world. New offerings in Plantronics Manager Pro v3.11 include: -The ability to see, manage and gain actionable insights from the complete line of supported Plantronics business communications devices, including all Plantronics UC headsets attached to Mac OS and Windows desktops as well Android and iOS mobile . . .
Introducing YI The Smart Camera For Your Car in South Africa
The brand that is pioneering the way forward for smart cameras in South Africa…Drive Smarter…Drive Safer Syntech HQ, Cape Town, April 4th, 2018. The Yi Smart Camera range has arrived in South Africa. The brand is pioneering the way forward for smart cameras in the country, and leading the pack is the Yi Smart Dash Camera. This camera has features that will take your driving experience to new heights. The Smart Dash Camera fits easily to your dash of your car and will enhance your drive on South Africa’s roads, giving you amazing performance at an affordable price. Features include ADAS (Advanced Driver Assist System) – a visual recognition algorithm, which sends real-time audio alerts in the event that you stray from your lane or get too close to the vehicle in front of you. The camera features full HD quality, with amazing images even at high speeds. The Yi Smart Dash Camera uses a 165-degree ultra-wide-angle lens, which can monitor three lanes comfortably, and reduces your blind spots. The camera is ultra-sensitive, and has night vision, for added safety, which sets this smart camera apart from its rivals in South Africa. This smart camera performs at optimum levels, even in low light conditions when accidents are more prone to happen. The Yi Smart Dash Camera features a world-class processor and is able to record at 60fps. Designed to capture exhilarating moments, fast-paced scenes, and instantly provide accurate collision recordings. The camera provides awesome quality HD pictures, and optimised storage space to capture more footage. G-Sensor technology allows the camera to automatically save footage in the events leading up to a collision and immediately afterwards. The Yi Smart Dash Camera records at 1296p – super high definition, making it the safest in smartest choice for your car in South Africa. CLICK HERE to submit your press release to MyPR.co.za. . . .
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