Here in the states, we have a tendency to take any new technology for granted. Whether it’s wearable gear to track our fitness levels, or drones delivering our pizza, we get excited for a day and then move on. But in other parts of the world, technology still holds a certain allure, and that might help explain why South Africans are excited about the expansion of Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP.

According to a recent story on technology Web portal ITWeb, Louis Jardim, commercial director of South Africa’s Turrito Networks, says that VoIP solutions are set for a resurgence in the country, and he couldn’t be happier.

“Jardim believes 2015 is the year VoIP will get to mature in the South African market,” said ITWeb, “adding [that] the cost of last-mile media, such as dedicated fiber and microwave, has reduced significantly over the last three to four years.”

Jardim attributes the coming boom to a new pricing structure, the result of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) decision to lower interconnect rates in 2014, which makes VoIP more compelling to corporate entities.

"Customers migrating to a corporate VoIP solution can route calls over a dedicated medium to ensure they get Telkom-quality voice services," he said. (Telkom SA SOC Ltd. is a wireline and wireless telecommunications provider in South Africa.)

According to ITWeb, Jardim said that three to four years ago, when VoIP was initially introduced to clients as an alternative to traditional telephony services, it was a fairly new technology, with low levels of expertise. He said these became the driving factors for VoIP not taking off at the time. "As engineers became more skilled and developed a greater understanding of how VOIP configurations and routing should be done to achieve a proper solution, so it became a more mainstream technology for corporate clients."

Companies with large phone bills can easily shave 30 to 40 percent off their monthly costs, Jardim noted, and thanks to geographic number portability, there's no need to change any number.

"No business wants to change its phone numbers, if that can be avoided," he said. "With an enterprise-grade VoIP solution, nobody except the IT department should even know anything has changed."