Company now offers the industry’s widest range of stereo Bluetooth devices with active noise cancellation 

Johannesburg, South Africa — 23 January 2018 – Plantronics (NYSE: PLT), an audio pioneer and communications technology leader, introduced today the Voyager 6200 UC, the company’s latest addition to its flagship Voyager family of enterprise headsets. The new neckband wearing style features Bluetooth wireless connectivity, a boomless design with comfort-fit earbuds, active noise cancellation (ANC), and integration with major UC applications.  With the addition of Voyager 6200 UC to its line-up, Plantronics is now offering professionals the widest range of stereo Bluetooth devices with ANC of any vendor in market.

“Accommodating individual employee work styles is becoming increasingly important, especially when it comes to retaining millennial and Gen Y talent,” said Alaa Saayed, ICT Principal Analyst, Frost & Sullivan. “By offering a wide choice of headsets and letting people choose their preference, IT and line of business managers can create a solid win-win scenario; optimizing the UC and collaboration experience overall for the company, and engendering goodwill with highly valuable personnel.” 

“We continue to hear that noise and distraction are the number one pain-points for office professionals,” said Gavin Sear, Global Product Marketing at Plantronics. “The best way to get people to embrace technology that can help them communicate and collaborate better is by offering choices that speak to their individual work style as well as their lifestyle, whether they’re in or out of the office. The Voyager 6200 UC delivers this versatility with business-grade audio to a new group of users that find existing headset and headphone offerings too limiting.”  The Voyager 6200 UC offers a unique combination of features and benefits unlike any other neckband headset with earbuds in market, including:

• Four omni-directional microphones that listen to sound from all directions and deliver a professional-grade audio experience on both sides of the call, without a microphone boom, via Plantronics “clear talk technology”
• Active and passive noise cancellation, ensuring focus when surrounded by noise and distractions both in and out of the office
• Wide band audio delivering clear PC calls and premium hi-fi stereo, which is especially important when listening to music
• Versatile design, allowing users to listen to calls or media in stereo or simply drop either earbud for single ear use and to be more aware of their surroundings; the neckband discreetly vibrates to indicate an incoming call or alert
• Certification for Microsoft Skype for Business; compatibility with Cisco Jabber, Microsoft Teams and numerous software apps
• The ability to pair up to eight devices and connect to two simultaneously for easy audio management
• Class 1 Bluetooth, providing a wireless range up to 30 meters/98 feet Dynamic mute alert, ensuring optimal productivity by sensing and alerting users via an in-ear whisper if they talk while muted
• Up to 9 hours of talk time, and up to 16 hours of listening time, to communicate and collaborate all day
• Compatibility with Plantronics Manager Pro™, an additional purchase, that enables IT teams to gain insight into every compatible Plantronics headset being used company-wide

Voyager 6200 UC and Plantronics Manager Pro

Voyager 6200 UC is fully supported by Plantronics Manager Pro, which allows IT managers to monitor, manage and maintain devices company-wide, including usage and acoustic analysis. This includes the ability to configure the user experience, manage firmware deployments, and harvest predictive analytics to detect compatibility issues before they become critical. Plantronics Manager Pro is available as a subscription service, sold separately from the Voyager family. 

Voyager 6200 UC will be coming to South Africa soon and will be available in black and sand colours through Plantronics authorized South African partners. More information about features offered within the Voyager Family, and Plantronics Manager Pro are available at www.plantronics.com/za/en   

About Plantronics

Plantronics is an audio pioneer and a global leader in the communications industry. We create intelligent and adaptive solutions that support our customers’ most important needs: experiencing and facilitating simple and clear communications while enjoying distraction-free environments. Our solutions are used worldwide by consumers and businesses alike, and are an optimal choice for open office environments. From Unified Communications and customer service ecosystems, to data analytics and Bluetooth headsets, Plantronics delivers high-quality communications solutions that our customers count on today, while relentlessly innovating on behalf of their future. For more information visit plantronics.com. The Bluetooth trademark is owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and any use of the mark by Plantronics, Inc. is under license. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. More information is available at www.plantronics.com/za/en 

I am Werner Coetzee author of the book, The Complete Tender Guide. I have worked with tenders as a bidder, an evaluator and an adjudicator of tenders for 25 years. For the last decade I have assisted corporate companies, NGO`s, the UN and public sector on best practice in competitive bidding.This book would be helpful to a bidder or potential bidder on Tenders, Requests for Proposal, Requests for Information and Requests for quotes.

This book summarises decades of experience in this space for both the public and private sector. Understanding the principles in this book will improve the chances of being successful with tenders. This will be of great value to small to medium enterprise that are reliant on tenders for work or wish to bid on tenders for growth

So you have decided to sell your Business for 1 or more reasons - it could be because you have decided to relocate or emigrate; you may want to cash in after many years of hard work and retire; or you may have decided to move into a new venture.

Once you have made your decision to sell, you need to decide on the method you will employ to ensure a successful sale. You only have 2 options to decide on - 1) Employ the services of a Business Broker or 2) Sell your Business yourself.

Having sold my own Businesses privately in the past, and having owned my own Business Brokerage and sold Businesses on behalf of clients, I am qualified to give an overview of the pros and cons of both methods.

Selling through a Business Broker: - A qualified Broker can assist you with establishing the correct price for your Business in order to ensure a successful sale. - Allows you the time to concentrate on running your business and preventing the possible decline of turnover and profits. - A qualified Broker knows the most effective process to use from marketing your business, screening and qualifying leads, and negotiating the sale with an interested buyer. - The Broker has the necessary documents to qualify potential buyers, and conclude a sale. - Brokers usually charge a commission of 10% on the sales price of the Business. This could amount to a huge amount of money coming out of your pocket! You need to decide whether you are prepared to give away 10% of the selling price of your business! - If a Broker in a Brokerage needs to meet his target, or is short of personal funds, he or she may push you to accept a lower offer for your Business to satisfy his/her needs.

Selling your Business privately: - You know your Business better than anyone. You are the best person to answer questions on your business. You also know the industry and can suggest ways of improving turnover and profits. You may also be able to point out future opportunities in the industry. - You can save on the 10% commission charged by Brokers. The extra 10% could amount to a substantial amount of money, and will come in very handy with your future plans! Conclusion: - The reason why most sellers do not sell privately is because they actually don't know how! - They don't know how best to market their Business for sale, how to qualify the potential buyers, what steps to follow, and what documents are needed. They also know that they will need to spend an unknown amount of money to have the agreement drawn up by an Attorney.

What if there was another option? - You get a step by step guide to selling your Business; - Your Business is advertised on a premium targeted site; - You receive all leads yourself; - You get all documentation to conclude the sale; - You get access to telephonic support and advice from a qualified Business Broker; - You pay 0% commission!   Biz2Sell have a choice of advertising packages for sellers of Businesses. Biz2sell have also developed a unique option for business owners who want to sell their Business privately and not pay a huge commission. ( Platinum Package.) Biz2 Sell does not charge any commission on Businesses sold through our Premium advertising platform.

To learn more about us and to see our affordable packages please visit http://www.biz2sell.co.za

Neotel, South Africa’s renowned converged communications and network operator have just confirmed that they will be sponsoring a panel discussion at the 6th IT Leaders Africa Summit, produced and hosted by Kinetic.

MD and CEO, Sunil Joshi will be taking part in this panel discussion on enterprise technology in Africa during an agenda track focussing on business connectivity alongside CIOs David Visser from Coca-Cola Southern Africa and Mike Davies from Royal Bafokeng Platinum. 

In this session, they will discuss 4G supporting the real time transmission of voice, data and video and whether the technology is sufficient to improve connectivity for unified communications in organisations. Other featured speakers on this track includes Hollard Group Services CTO, Anthony Hlungwane who will focus on the new social and mobile collaboration tools that connect people inside and outside the enterprise, in a way that provides real time communications and access to supporting systems.

Also hear case studies of the alternative strategies taking shape within organisations located in areas with limited bandwidth during a panel discussion with Chandima Miyanadeniya, CIO for Aon; Johan Pistorius, CIO for African Rainbow Minerals; Potlaki Maine, Executive Head IT for Sentech ; Nkosana Mbokane, General Manager of ICT for Perishable Products Export Control Board  and Rocky Gwewera, Group Head of Infrastructure Architecture for Sasol.

The IT Leaders Africa Summit is now in its 6th year, and has for the first time been produced in conjunction with an official advisory panel of industry experts.  This advisory panel includes Rob Sussman, Co-founder and joint CEO of Integr8; Hugo Timmerman, Head of IT Southern Africa for British American Tobacco and Tunde Coker, Managing Director for Rack Centre (A Jagal Group Company)

Dimension Data, established as a world leader in ICT solutions, who serves 73% of the Fortune 100 and 59% of the Fortune 500 companies will also be powering a panel discussion.  Grant Morgan, General Manager: Cloud for Dimension data will be joined by Fundile Ntuli, CIO for ubank; Peter Oeschger, ‎Group CIO for Finbond Mutual Bank and Heinrich Kukkuk, Group Information Technology Manager for Aveng Group in a discussion on the role of the CIO in the age of the cloud. 

This session will answer questions about where the CIO features in an age when decisions to use the cloud are being made by marketing and other functions both within and outside the organisation  

Join us to hear the experts at the 6th edition of IT Leaders Africa Summit on the 18-19 March 2015 at the Maslow hotel in Sandton, Johannesburg.   For the latest ITLA Summit news on speakers, industry providers and content, visit  www.itleaders.co.za  or contact Marcia van Jaarsveld on +27 21 180 7105 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.     

In the first quarter of this year, Tilda Technologies (Tildatech), an IT software development company based in Johannesburg, South Africa, successfully deployed a CaneMill Pro 7 software upgrade for the Royal Swaziland Sugar Corporation Limited (RSSC). This enhancement was implemented to improve the automation effectiveness of the procedure for capturing laboratory test results during the cane crushing and sugar refining process.  

Rob Coombe, group IT manager for RSSC said, ‘Our CaneMill system has served us well over the past 8 years, however it was due for an upgrade in order to leverage new technologies.’ 

Software development of CaneMill Pro 7 began in 2012 and was concluded the following year. ‘It is a complete rewrite utilizing Microsoft Windows 7 and 8 technologies, featuring a new front-end that was developed with Microsoft Presentation Foundation,’ explained Brett Robertson, CEO of Tildatech. 

The RSSC CaneMill upgrade project was deployed in November 2013 and went live in April of this year. ‘To date it is running smoothly and the new functionality has greatly enhanced the capability and flexibility of our laboratory, improving our IT efficiency and increasing our productivity gains,’ confirmed Rob.

Voys Telecom, a VoIP and Hosted PBX provider, launches the Voys app. An application that enables one to dial out with a business telephone number while using ones smartphone to make the call. The Voys app enables businessmen and women to maintain a professional image when making business calls outside the parameters of the office. The app is available for free download for iOS and Android phones.

The new app is suitable for businessmen and women on the go, or who work remotely. When you use the app to make a call on your smartphone, the person being called gets to see your company number and not your mobile (private) number. It even works when a broadband internet connection is not available as the app uses the cell phone provider’s voice network to make the call.

Because the app is integrated with the business number of the user, all calls handled via the app are visible in the app’s call log. Calls made on the desk phone are also visible on the app. In addition, the user’s personal contact list - found on the smartphone - can be imported and used. Reimbursements of cell phone calls are a thing of the past as all call costs are billed directly to the business.

Voys considers calling over a 4G connection in conjunction with a Cloud-based PBX to be the future of business telephony. Therefor the next update of the app will enable users to call via a 4G connection. The app’s source code is available under an open source license which can be accessed on Github (http://www.github.com/voipgrid). Thus making it possible for anyone to contribute towards the further development of the app.

Clients of the service provider can download the app for free in the App Store and Play Store for their iOS and Android smartphones. Those interested in either using the Voys app or Voys Telecom in general, can get in touch with the service provider by sending a request via their website www.voys.co.za.

Anviz Global, an American-based, security company is looking to make a strong statement at IFSEC South Africa this month. Many at the company feel that IFSEC South Africa is an opportunity to promote the Anviz brand beyond the traditional market of South Africa. Company representatives see IFSECSA as the perfect opportunity to expand its consumer-base in the entire southern Africa region. Anviz, which specializes in biometric access control, RFID products, and surveillance devices, views this region as an unexploited opportunity. While the company is relatively new on the African continent, Anviz’s presence has been steadily increasing. Since striking its first deal with partners on the continent in 2012, Anviz has created a network of partners in a dozen countries. The company is preparing to expand that network into countries such Angola, Namibia, Mozambique, Botswana and several other states in the region.  

Anviz’s regional sales director for sub-Saharan Africa, Brian Fazio, believes, “there has been tremendous growth in several markets in southern Africa. Countries like Mozambique and Angola have been averaging significant economic growth for over a decade. There is huge potential in these countries. Anviz has already seen some success in South Africa. Now it’s time to expand into the other countries within the region. Rapid economic growth usually entails private and public sector construction within all three major economic fields. Anviz is looking to be a prominent provider of security devices to many of these types of installations”.  

Rita Zhang, the regional channel manager for Africa recognizes Anviz’s potential in this market. “Anviz has built the logistical capabilities to work in a market as large and diverse as South Africa. However, markets in countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zimbabwe present a different set of challenges that need to be addressed. We are looking forward to this opportunity. While we are pretty new to the region, our track-record of success in other developing regions such as South America and the Indian sub-continent, suggests that we are well-situated to handle these challenges.” Rita Zhang confidently adds.

Anviz offers a broad range of access control and time attendance products, ranging from biometrics, to surveillance, and RFID devices. For further information about Anviz, or its products, please visit www.anviz.com. Anviz employees will be representing the company at IFSEC South Africa between May 13-15, 2014 at booth J15, Hall 2

{pp}A healthy company is one that keeps its staff and has its customers coming back for more. The healthier a company is, the lower its staff and client turnover. It stands to reason that happy staff and satisfied customers have no reason to go elsewhere. Turnover is not only expensive; it’s also counter-productive and unhealthy. The key to reducing it? Communication. That’s neither an epiphany nor a practical solution.