Short answer
Yes. Voice as a service means buying business calling as a managed subscription instead of owning phone system hardware. FirstNet offers it as cloud PBX, SIP trunks and Teams or Zoom calling.
In detail: What is Voice as a Service (VaaS)
The provider runs the platform, the numbers and the connection to the phone network, and you pay a predictable operating cost rather than buying equipment. FirstNet runs every option on its own ICASA-licensed (ECNS/ECS) voice network, with interconnects to all major South African operators.
The FirstNet options:
- FirstNet Managed Cloud PBX: a fully managed phone system on Yeastar P-Series, hosted in South Africa, with IVR, queues, recording and Linkus softphones.
- FirstNet SIP Trunks: channels, numbers and a per-second voice plan for a PBX you already own.
- Microsoft Teams calling through Operator Connect or Direct Routing, so Teams becomes the phone.
- Zoom Phone and Zoom Contact Centre, with FirstNet supplying South African numbers and call termination.
- A cloud contact centre with omnichannel engagement, workforce management and analytics.
What changes: on-site PBX hardware falls away, pricing is per user, and adding users or branches becomes a configuration change rather than a hardware project. FirstNet designs, ports and runs the service under one contract, one bill and one escalation path.
What you still provide: an internet link with about 100 Kbps per concurrent call plus 20% headroom, voice prioritised with QoS, UPS cover for network equipment during load-shedding, and a signed Letter of Authority to port your existing numbers. FirstNet's voice engineers check these before go-live.
Source: FirstNet Voice service page →