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Local technology company SmartPay says its retailer customer base is becoming increasingly comfortable using broadband-based services, prompting it to offer a new phoneline-replacing, voice-over-internet (VoIP) service.
NZX-listed SmartPay has about 4500 retailers using its networked services, which include Eftpos connectivity over the internet, on-selling customer access to the country's largest wi-fi network, mobile phone top-up payment processing and in-store audio visual promotional systems.
Chief executive Linc Burgess said adding a high-quality VoIP service to its bundle of products, which it sells under the Smart-Site brand, made sense because it could save retailers money by cutting the number of phone lines their businesses needed to rent.
"With the services that we're delivering into merchants at the moment, adding voice-over-IP and lower-cost calling is just a logical progression," Burgess said.
He said VoIP was particularly appealing for merchants with multiple stores.
"Where there's more than one branch or location it can reduce the cost of making inter-branch calls significantly."
Burgess said while SmartPay's focus was on growing the number of local retailers using its services, the company was also eyeing up the opportunity to sell its technology into overseas markets. It believed there was an untapped international potential for the type of bundled services it specialised in.
"There are a lot of people doing pieces of it. Being able to pull it all together to provide a comprehensive package for merchants is fairly unique," he said.
