South Africa

Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.getsmartalex.com/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

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Regulatory framework

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POPIA (Protection of Personal Information Act)

SmartAlex’s voice platform handles personal information as defined under POPIA: caller phone numbers, voice recordings, transcripts, and any business-specific data captured during the conversation (names, ID numbers if volunteered, account numbers). Lawful basis for processing during a business call is typically:

• Performance of a contract (the caller has requested a service)
• Legitimate interest (responding to an enquiry)
• Consent where explicitly required by sectoral rules (e.g., medical)

Responsibilities fall to the customer as the responsible party. SmartAlex is the operator.

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Recording consent

Under POPIA, you generally have the right to record calls for business purposes, subject to:

• Informing the caller that the call is being recorded (typically in the opening greeting)
• Lawful purpose (training, quality assurance, compliance, dispute resolution)
• Proportionate retention (don’t keep recordings longer than necessary)

Most SmartAlex customers configure the agent’s first message to include a brief disclosure:

“Calls may be recorded for quality and training purposes.”

Recording can be disabled per agent for sensitive call types (medical, legal privileged).

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Data subject rights

Callers can request:

• Access to the personal information you hold (including recordings and transcripts)
• Correction of inaccurate information
• Deletion (subject to your lawful retention grounds)
• Objection to processing in specific circumstances

SmartAlex supports these requests through the workspace admin interface: you can export or delete call records, recordings, and transcripts on demand.

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Cross-border data transfer

POPIA requires lawful grounds for transferring personal information outside South Africa. SmartAlex infrastructure is currently located primarily in Europe (with European GDPR-equivalent protections). This satisfies POPIA’s transfer requirements in most configurations. Dedicated South African data residency is on the roadmap.

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Icasa (Independent Communications Authority of South Africa)

SmartAlex is a voice AI platform, not a licensed telecommunications service provider. We integrate with your licensed carrier; we don’t terminate or originate PSTN calls on our own. Your PSTN service provider (Telkom, MTN Business, Vodacom Business, Liquid, Openserve-connected ISPs) holds the Icasa licences for the carriage layer. SmartAlex sits above that. If you’re deploying SmartAlex for a business that has compliance obligations specific to its sector (FSCA for financial services, HPCSA for medical), your sector regulator’s rules apply in addition to POPIA.

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South African telecoms context

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Common SA PBX deployments

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Common SA carriers

For BYO-carrier setups:

• Telkom: Dominant voice carrier. ISDN-era contracts common; SIP available.
• MTN Business: SIP trunking available, Elite.
• Vodacom Business: SIP trunking available, Bespoke voice.
• Liquid Intelligent Technologies: Pan-African, strong SIP offerings.
• Openserve-connected ISPs: Various (Cipherwave, Vox, Internet Solutions).
• Euphoria Telecom: Their own hosted voice service.
• Switch Telecom: Their own hosted voice service.

For SmartAlex-provisioned numbers (no BYO), we provide South African DIDs directly.

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Number portability

Existing DIDs can usually be ported to carriers that SmartAlex integrates with. Porting timelines are carrier-dependent (typically 7 to 21 business days). Plan migrations with buffer time.

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Dialling plan

South African dialling:

• E.164: +27 then the significant number (e.g., +27821234567)
• National format: 0 then the significant number (e.g., 0821234567)

SmartAlex uses E.164 internally. Most SA PBXes send DIDs in national format on inbound; you may need a prefix-strip rule to match E.164 in the trunk DIDs list. Most PBX templates handle this automatically.

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Emergency services

SmartAlex does not handle emergency calls (10111, 10177). These must remain on your PBX’s direct-dial routing to the PSTN. Do not configure an agent to answer calls to or from emergency numbers.

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Common SA deployment patterns

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Pattern 1: medical practice

Typical setup: 5 to 15-practitioner practice, 150 to 300 calls per day.

• PBX: 3CX or Yeastar on-premise, or Euphoria Telecom hosted
• Carrier: Telkom or MTN Business SIP trunk
• AI handles: appointment bookings, prescription refill requests, general enquiries
• AI transfers: clinical questions to on-duty nurse, billing questions to accounts
• Compliance: POPIA-aligned, HPCSA guidance where relevant

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Pattern 2: real estate agency

Typical setup: 20 to 200-agent office, 50 to 400 calls per day.

• PBX: 3CX cloud or Euphoria Telecom
• AI handles: lead qualification, property information lookup, viewing scheduling
• AI transfers: qualified leads to the assigned agent (not round-robin)
• Tools: property search, calendar, CRM lead capture, SMS confirmation

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Pattern 3: dealership (automotive)

Typical setup: single-brand dealership, 10 to 30 sales/service staff.

• PBX: Avaya IP Office or 3CX
• AI handles: service appointment status, parts enquiries, trade-in interest capture
• AI transfers: customers to their assigned Sales Executive or Service Advisor (named routing)
• Recognition: caller phone number matched against DMS (dealer management system)

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Pattern 4: professional services (law, accounting, consulting)

Typical setup: 5 to 50-person firm.

• PBX: 3CX, Grandstream UCM, or Switch Telecom hosted
• AI handles: new matter intake, existing matter routing, appointment scheduling
• AI transfers: routed by partner, associate, or matter owner
• Tools: conflict check, matter lookup, CRM lead capture
• Compliance: sector-specific (LPC for attorneys, IRBA for auditors)

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Pattern 5: hospitality / restaurant

Typical setup: single venue or small chain.

• PBX: 3CX hosted or Yeastar
• AI handles: reservations, hours, menu enquiries, directions
• AI transfers: special requests to manager
• Tools: reservation system integration, knowledge base for menu

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Local support and partnership

SmartAlex operates out of Johannesburg and Cape Town. Local support during South African business hours (08:00 to 18:00 SAST). Implementation partners accredited to deploy SmartAlex in South Africa:

• (Your accredited partner network)

If you’re an MSP or telephony reseller interested in partnering, contact partners@getsmartalex.com.

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Common pitfalls for SA deployments

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Next steps