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
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 →