This partnership, formalised last month, is aimed at driving IP-based enterprise contact centre solutions, based on the Asterisk platform, into the local industry. "With over 60% of our current client base in the call centre market, we identified the need to deliver a cost-effective enterprise solution that could deliver full voice and IP requirements," says Clayton Hayward, chief technology officer at openVOICE.

"Locally the mid-market has a need for call centre development and implementation, however the cost of traditional enterprise solutions is prohibitive. Conversely AHEEVA's Contact Centre Solutions (CCS) provides this sector with a flexible IP based solution that allows for the creation of a virtual call centre and therefore our expected growth figures in this market is substantial."

According to Claude Klimos, IT director of AHEEVA; openVOICE is a good business fit for AHEEVA, due to its understanding of Asterisk and its knowledge of local market conditions and challenges. "We are currently taking openVOICE through our training requirements, as the company has already secured three pilot sites for our solution in SA, which are being tested this month," he says.

Hayward adds: "One of our key business drivers this year is to deliver hosted IP solutions that will support the creation of virtual call centres. Our partnership with AHEEVA certainly aids in driving this process as their solutions have been utilised in virtual environments globally, in countries such as South America, USA and Europe. This international availability is largely due to AHEEVA's solution flexibility, scalability and support of open platform standards and protocols in telephony."