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The Fusion range was developed to re-route both GSM and fixed line calls optimally. It ensures users’ telephone calls stay within a single network for as long as possible, thus substantially reducing costs associated with routing of traffic from one network to another ie. reducing costs associated with interconnect traffic. The new Fusion range will reduce these costs even further.

The new range comprises the Fusion 230 Least Cost Router, the Fusion 210 Wireless Local Loop (WLL), both of which have just been released, and the Fusion 220 GSM Interface to be launched in November this year. The range boasts affordability, robustness, quality and 100% appropriateness.

The new Fusion 230 Least Cost Router will have both a GSM and public switched telephone network (PSTN) interface enabling the device to perform full Least Cost Router functions between lines. It will realise substantial cost savings on both fixed line PSTN and cellular GSM voice calls.

It is primarily a dual network least cost routing device for use in the Small Office and Home Office (SOHO) market, as well as PBX environments and residential environments where no PBX systems are available. It can also be used with limited PBX installations.

The new Fusion 210 WLL is for consumer use in the fast growing WLL market. It focuses on providing connectivity (as opposed to least cost routing), and is ideal for WLL where there are no fixed line or PBX installations.

Custom-designed for the SOHO environment or residential home, the Fusion 210 provides immediate voice and data access via a GSM interface, eliminating the need for a fixed line.

It not only significantly reduces the cost of outgoing calls, but incoming call costs can also be reduced, by means of its call-back feature, an impressive hallmark of the Fusion 210. A range of numbers can be pre-defined in a call-back list. When any of these numbers call into the device, it recognises the number and immediately terminates the call. It then returns the call to the number that dialled in.

November will see the arrival of the Fusion 220 GSM Interface, the development of which is currently in the pipeline. Also targeted at the WLL market, it will replace the Fusion 100 and offer even lower costs than its predecessor. While the Fusion 100 had between 65% and 70% market share in South Africa, it is expected that the Fusion 220 will further increase this percentage.

The Fusion 220 will primarily be associated with PBX installations and used for cost saving by appropriately routing all cellular calls through these devices. It will be suitable for a variety of environments including the corporate and SOHO markets.

All Fusion products come with a comprehensive one year warranty, and are backed by Psitek’s thorough after-sales support, which applies no matter where the user is based. Users can also rely on the assistance of knowledgeable support centre agents to help them with any queries they may have.

This much anticipated new prepaid service follows the successful launch and roll-out of prepaid airtime vouchers at the end of 2007, and will soon be followed by further prepaid services, such as insurance top-ups, bill payments and money transfers. Psitek aims to regularly roll out new services for Kazang, making it the leading one-stop shop for prepaid solutions in the market.

Providing quick and easy access to content and data services in South Africa, Kazang is conveniently located at outlets such as township spaza or tuck shops, phone shops or retail centres - giving people access to a variety of services wherever they may be.

Kazang, which relies on wireless communication for the electronic delivery of services to the consumer, was built on the back of Psitek’s existing supervised payphone solutions that operate using cellular technology.

Selling Kazang prepaid electricity is convenient and easy-to-use. It is the ideal way to expand a business and increase income, as it is an effective draw-card that will considerably increase walk-in traffic volumes.

Psitek has an ever expanding network of Kazang Super Dealers, who are the Kazang distributors and who act as the point of contact between Psitek and Kazang vendors. A commission-based structure ensures that Kazang Super Dealers and vendors are financially rewarded each time prepaid electricity is sold.

Commenting on the diverse range of prepaid services that are in the pipeline, Ian Harrison, Managing Director of Psitek (Pty) Ltd, points out that convenient access to a practical range of prepaid services will add huge value to the lives of a lot of South Africans. “In South Africa, prepaid services are ideal for people who have an irregular income and no bank account, and who make cash purchases and want immediate access to services the moment they need them. We believe Kazang is the practical and street smart answer to the requirements of this market.”

Harrison continues: “The roll-out of Kazang services also presents an exciting prospect for entrepreneurs to establish and build sustainable and independent businesses. It offers numerous entrepreneurial business opportunities to people with the necessary technical and management skills operating in under-serviced communities”.

In order to extend the range of Kazang services, Psitek is continuously identifying content and service providers who want to use Kazang’s unique distribution channel for their products and solutions. This will ensure it is a highly desirable delivery channel for content and service providers that could not previously reach this market.

“The Awards have highlighted the meaningful role that these student designers have in contributing to the development of the South African design industry, and in so doing contributing in a practical manner to environmental sustainability,” Badenhorst contends.

The Design Achievers Awards have been run annually by the Pretoria-based SABS Design Institute, since 1987. The objective of the Awards is to identify student designers with talent and potential, and embrace their leadership excellence and entrepreneurial spirit.

“The exceptional standard of work of the contestants clearly shows that the power and responsibility to make a positive difference to the environment is in the hands of our young designers,” continues Badenhorst.

Badenhorst has himself been a recipient of two SABS Design Institute Awards, the most recent being for his Jembi portable, standalone GSM payphone. It uses cellphone technology to create a sustainable call reselling business in areas where traditional telecoms infrastructure is under developed.

Badenhorst has been with ‘problem solving’ company, Psitek, for more than 10 years. Psitek develops and manufactures solutions using cellular and wireless technologies to provide access to voice and data services to people in under-serviced areas around the world.

“We are proud that one of our employees has been selected as a judge of a contest as established and prestigious as that of the Design Achievers Awards,” comments Ian Harrison, Managing Director of Psitek.

Adrienne Viljoen, Manager of the SABS Design Institute, says: “The Design Achievers Awards is one of the design initiatives run by the Institute to enable it to achieve its goal to promote and stimulate the South African design and manufacturing industries.”

“More specifically, the actual Design Achievers Awards scheme provides an avenue for young designers to help define the shape of the future and to develop and build design leadership for South Africa. The talented designers taking part in the Design Achievers Awards certainly have the capacity to shape the future of South Africa’s design industry. It can in fact be seen as their responsibility to use their gifts for the betterment of the country.”

Vital to assessing the work and ability of the contestants is the panel of judges, Viljoen points out. The judges that the Institute selects each year comprise a chairman, a ‘past achiever’ ie. a person who has been a recipient of SABS Design Institute Awards, an industry specialist, student mentors, businesspeople and psychologists.

“The majority of the judges are themselves former design achievers and recipients of Design Institute awards, who today are well established with good positions in the South African design industry,” explains Viljoen. “The judges are selected for their experience, expertise and industry knowledge.”

In turn the judges look for quality of design and entrepreneurial thinking. “We assess the way in which each designer has thought through the challenge he or she faces, as well as their passion for design, the solution’s environmental sustainability, and their leadership abilities,” says Badenhorst, who not only is an industry specialist but also a past achiever. “We also look for innovative and original thinking, the quality of the underlying business concept, as well as their portfolio work.”

Each contestant has to identify a problem or challenge, design a solution or product to address this, and present a business plan outlining the viability of the product.

Twenty four contestants took part in this year’s awards. Each design school in South Africa, no matter what its size or demographics, nominates a suitable student in each of the following design disciplines: graphic, interior, industrial, clothing, ceramic, textile or jewellery design, or commercially focused photography.

The winner of this year’s Design Achievers Awards is Sidhika Sookal, an information design student from the University of Pretoria, who presented her thorough and well researched awareness campaign for cervical cancer. The runner up is Tinyico Baloyi, a fashion designer from the University of Johannesburg. The Award recipients will attend a prestigious international design workshop for young designers. The winner will be flown to Nagoya Design Centre in Japan, and the runner-up to a design event in Hungary. In so doing they will represent young South African design at these international forums.

The impressive and glittering Awards ceremony, the culmination of months of dedicated design work, took place yesterday on Youth Day at the Theatre on the Track in Midrand, Gauteng.

The course, which is run at no cost to the teachers, is held on Saturdays from 8 March to 19 April at Garlandale High School in Athlone, Western Cape.
An integral part of Psitek’s Social Economic Development (SED) programme, the ‘Teach a Teacher’ initiative, which commenced in 2006, gives teachers practical guidance with regards to teaching the Department of Education’s curriculum for Information Technology (IT) and Maths Literacy (which deals with the practical side of Maths, targeted at potential entrepreneurs). “The main objectives of this initiative are for teachers to share knowledge and experiences regarding any problems, to pass on advice, and to learn and gain support from one another,” explains Ian Harrison, Managing Director of Psitek.

Psitek develops solutions using cellular and wireless technologies to provide access to voice and data services to people in under-serviced areas. It therefore makes sense for the company to focus on education in the IT and Maths Literacy arenas, and the SED initiative helps rectify the lack of Previously Disadvantaged Individuals (PDI) skills pool within the engineering field.

The course material is developed by Learnthings Africa in conjunction with Mindset, a specialist in distance learning programmes.

It is from Psitek’s firm commitment to the greater community that the SED programme was developed. The SED initiative focuses on projects that assist in education, and lead to growth and empowerment in South Africa.

“While the Department of Education provides educators with the year’s teaching curriculum, more needs to be done in ensuring the educators are aware of and have at their fingertips all the latest practical and hands-on teaching methods currently available, in order to disseminate this information in the best possible teaching manner to pupils,” explains Belinda Cornelisson and David Pretorius, two of the Psitek/SADTU IT facilitators. “This is where the Psitek/SADTU initiative comes in.”

“The Psitek/SADTU training explains exactly what is expected in teaching every part of the curriculum,” says Pretorius. “We have carefully worked out lesson plans and several different ways in which to approach each section of the curriculum.”

One of the educators who is set to be a student in the Psitek/SADTU course, Pamela Muller of Roosendal Delft High School, says: “When sharing knowledge, skills and awareness with students, it is vital that we can enable learners to grasp the principles and gain a better understanding of what it is we teach. Different ways of disseminating knowledge and new ways of inspiring students are so important and this is where Psitek’s training is of help.”

Mongameli Noludwe, Head of Department, Maths Literacy, Voorbrug High School, Western Cape, adds: “It is vital for teachers to be kept up to date on every issue, whether this be new content or specific skills. It is this we are seeking from the Psitek’s ‘Teach a Teacher’ project.”

Integral to Psitek’s ethos is to be caring and supportive of the communities in which it operates. It strives to make a difference to them in a manner that is meaningful and long-lasting, and to build mutually-beneficial relationships based on the principles of trust and understanding. “We are passionate about the ‘Teach a Teacher” initiative and want to ultimately see this project sky rocket and go national, which may include other corporate companies becoming involved,” concludes Ian Harrison.

The ‘handing-over’ ceremony at Lynedoch Primêr was attended by Melinda Zass, SADTU’s Deputy Provincial Secretary, and Medwin Jacobs, SADTU’s Provincial Negotiator.

The majority of the school bags were given to the Grade 7 and 8 learners, with the balance being distributed amongst impoverished learners in the lower grades.

Lynedoch Primêr is a small school which forms an important part of the Lynedoch EcoVillage, near Stellenbosch. Described as South Africa’s first ecologically-designed socially mixed community, the EcoVillage promotes energy-efficient and ecologically sound use of resources (evident in the building of Adobe housing) while achieving social justice with regards to equitable access across diverse affordability levels. The primary school has about 600 pupils, ranging from Grade 1 to Grade 8. Lessons are taught in Afrikaans.

The school caters mostly to kids whose parents are seasonal workers from the surrounding farms, and economic problems are certainly a concern. Yet it was heart-warming to see the passion and optimism that the kids displayed. This is likely due in large to the educators and headmaster of Lynedoch Primêr, who constantly support and encourage their learners to explore their full potential.

For further information please go to the Kazang website.