DSL Telecom - Blog , Zoho Software

How South African Payment Gateways Work With Zoho Books

Mon, 13 Jul 2026 16:21:09 +0200

When a customer can tap a "Pay Now" button and settle their invoice in under a minute, you get paid faster. Zoho Books makes that happen by connecting to the payment gateways South Africans already use, like PayFast, PayGate, Paystack and AddPay. Here's how it works, and how to get it set up properly.

Getting paid shouldn't be the hardest part of running your business. Yet for a lot of South African businesses, it still is. Invoices sit unpaid, EFT proof-of-payment emails get lost, and finance teams spend hours matching bank statements to invoices that should've reconciled themselves.

Zoho Books fixes this by plugging directly into the payment gateways your customers already use. It's worth remembering that Zoho Books' South African edition is already built for local business from the ground up with VAT201 Return reporting to SARS specifications, VAT Audit Report downloads, and Domestic Reverse Charge support for qualifying transactions. Payment gateways are the natural extension of that: getting the money in as smoothly as the SA edition already handles the compliance side of it.

Here's how it actually works, and which gateways make sense if you're invoicing in Rand.

Why the payment gateway matters more than you think

An invoice with a "Pay Now" button gets paid faster than one without. When a customer can settle an invoice with a card, an EFT, or a mobile payment in under a minute, you cut the time between "invoice sent" and "invoice paid." Every gateway you connect to Zoho Books turns your invoice from a request into a transaction.

Once a customer pays, Zoho Books marks that invoice as paid automatically. No manual reconciliation, no guessing whose EFT just landed in the business account, no chasing.

The gateways that work with Zoho Books in South Africa

Zoho Books natively supports global providers like PayPal and 2Checkout, which is useful if you've got customers paying from overseas. But for Rand-denominated transactions, the gateways that actually matter run as extensions through the Zoho Marketplace:

One of the longest-standing gateways in South Africa, trusted by major retailers and banks. The PayGate extension for Zoho Books lets you send invoices with an embedded payment link. Once your customer pays, the invoice status flips to "Paid" without anyone lifting a finger.

A gateway built for South African card and EFT payments, with strong adoption among SMEs. It connects to Zoho Books via its own Marketplace extension and supports the same invoice-link-to-auto-reconciliation flow, along with recurring billing and local debit card support.

Now part of the Stripe family, Paystack has a strong footprint across Africa, including South Africa, covering cards, bank transfers, and mobile money.

The newest entrant, and the broadest in terms of payment methods: cards, USSD, bank transfers, direct debit, and POS, across African markets. Worth a look if your customers pay in more ways than just card or EFT.

What happens behind the scenes

Once a gateway is connected and payment methods are enabled on your invoices:

Your customer receives the invoice and clicks the integrated “Pay Now” link.
They’re taken to a secure payment page hosted by the gateway, not by Zoho, and not by your business. Customer card details never touch your systems directly.
The gateway processes the payment and sends confirmation back to Zoho Books.
Zoho Books updates the invoice status to “Paid,” logs the transaction, and files it against the right customer ledger, ready for reconciliation against your bank feed.

That’s the whole point of a payment gateway: it does the compliance-heavy lifting (PCI DSS, card data handling, fraud checks) so your accounting platform doesn’t have to.

It also matters for POPIA: since payment gateways handle the card data and Zoho Books only stores the last four digits and expiry date, your business carries far less sensitive customer data than if you were processing payments manually.

Getting it set up right, the first time

Connecting a payment gateway is rarely as simple as the Marketplace “Install” button suggests. API credentials, card verification rules, and invoice template settings all need to be configured correctly before that “Pay Now” button actually does its job.

DSL Telecom is South Africa’s longest-standing Zoho Premium Partner, and Zoho Partner of the Year for three consecutive years. With 17 years in business, 50+ specialists, and 16 Zoho certifications across the team, including Zoho Books, we’ve set up payment gateways for South African businesses across just about every industry there is.

Our support covers every stage of getting paid through Zoho Books:

Gateway selection based on how your customers actually want to pay
Extension installation and API credential setup for PayGate, PayFast, Paystack, and AddPay
Card verification and invoice template configuration, so the “Pay Now” link shows up correctly every time
Reconciliation checks, so payments land against the right invoice, customer ledger, and, come tax season, your VAT201 Return
Ongoing support if a gateway connection breaks, a payment fails, or your requirements change

Zoho Premium Partner · Partner of the Year

Let’s get your Zoho Books payments working the way they’re supposed to.

Whether you’re connecting your first gateway or fixing one that never worked quite right, we’ll set it up correctly the first time. Payment gateway setup is simpler when you’ve done it before.

Frequently asked questions

Which payment gateways work with Zoho Books in South Africa?

Zoho Books Support in South Africa: Why Work With A Certified Zoho Premium Partner

Tue, 10 Mar 2026 16:27:19 +0200

If you're running a growing business in South Africa and are using - or considering - Zoho Books for your accounting needs, the platform you choose is only half the equation. How it's set up, configured, and supported makes all the difference.

Zoho Books is a cloud-based accounting platform built for growing businesses. It handles invoicing, expense tracking, bank reconciliation, financial reporting, and much more - all from one centralised system accessible anywhere, on any device. Crucially, it includes a dedicated South African edition built specifically to meet local tax and compliance requirements.

Why Zoho Books Works for South Africa

Zoho Books isn't a generic global accounting tool with a ZAR currency option bolted on. The South African edition has been built with local regulatory requirements at its core:

VAT201 Return reporting built to SARS specifications, so your VAT returns are accurate and submission-ready
VAT Audit Report download, ready for SARS audit processes
Domestic Reverse Charge support for qualifying transactions
ZAR pricing and local data considerations
Integration with South African payment gateways

For South African businesses, this means the platform is already doing a lot of the compliance heavy lifting - provided it's configured correctly from the start.

The Challenge: Getting It Set Up Correctly

This is where many businesses run into difficulty. Zoho Books is a powerful platform, but its value depends entirely on how well it's implemented. Without the right expertise, businesses can end up with:

VAT configuration that doesn't account for South African tax rules
A chart of accounts that doesn't reflect their industry or business model
Bank feeds and reconciliation that haven't been set up for local banks
A team that hasn't been properly trained and isn't using the platform effectively

The result is an accounting system that technically works, but isn't working for your business. And when tax season or a SARS audit arrives, the gaps become costly.

Why Local Zoho Books Support Matters

When your business operates under South African tax law, there are realities that only a local partner can address effectively.

VAT Compliance: South African businesses need to comply with SARS VAT regulations, file VAT201 returns, and maintain accurate audit trails. Your Zoho Books setup should reflect this from day one - not be retrofitted later.

POPIA Considerations: When handling customer financial data, it's worth working with a partner who understands the Protection of Personal Information Act and how it applies to your business processes and software configuration.

Local Banking and Workflows: South African bank feeds, payment terms, and business processes have their own specific requirements. Getting these right requires a team that works with them daily.

Context, Time Zones, and Language: Having a local team on hand means fast, relevant support from people who understand your business environment.

Why DSL Telecom

DSL Telecom is South Africa's longest-standing Zoho Premium Partner, the highest tier in Zoho's partner programme, awarded to partners who demonstrate exceptional implementation quality, customer satisfaction, and technical expertise.

Award-Winning Track Record

Zoho Partner of the Year, South Africa, for three consecutive years
Zoho Partner of the Year, MEA - 2024
Zoho Key Business Contributor Award - 2024

17 Years in Business. DSL Telecom has been operating for over 17 years, with a team of 50+ specialists and 16 Zoho certifications held across the business, covering applications including Zoho Books, Zoho CRM, Zoho Creator, Zoho Analytics, and more.

Consistently 5-Star Rated at the highest level of Partner tier on Zoho's Partner platform for implementation, support, training, and service delivery.

Locally Based. We are based in Somerset West, Western Cape, and support businesses across South Africa and beyond. We bring both local expertise and global best practices to every implementation.

What DSL Telecom Zoho Books Support Includes

Our support covers every stage of your Zoho Books journey, from initial setup through to ongoing success:

Initial setup and configuration tailored to your business
VAT and SARS compliance setup, including VAT201 Return configuration and VAT Audit Report
Bank feed and reconciliation setup for South African banks
Opening balance data migration from Sage, Xero, QuickBooks, or spreadsheets
Automation setup to reduce manual work and human error
Staff training, both in-person and online
Integration with other Zoho apps, including Zoho CRM, Zoho Inventory, and Zoho Desk
Ongoing Zoho Customer Success Plans with one-on-one coaching, dedicated support, and proactive guidance

What Our Customers Say

" Working with DSL Telecom has been an exceptional experience. They are quick to respond, hands-on, and consistently deliver effective Zoho software solutions. What sets them apart is their commitment to client empowerment - involving us in the process, explaining every change, and providing thorough training. DSL Telecom has been indispensable in supporting our expansion. Thank you for this profoundly positive partnership! ''

- Titan Secure

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Zoho Books support South African VAT?

Yes. Zoho Books includes native VAT201 Return reporting, a VAT Audit Report download, and Domestic Reverse Charge support - all built to SARS specifications. Our implementation services ensure your VAT configuration is set up correctly from the start.

Can I migrate from Sage, Xero, or QuickBooks to Zoho Books?

Absolutely. DSL Telecom handles data migration from Sage, Xero, QuickBooks, and spreadsheets. The migration process ensures your customers, vendors, items, and chart of accounts with opening balances are transferred cleanly, with minimal disruption to your business.

How long does a Zoho Books implementation take?
Timelines vary depending on the complexity of your business and the amount of data being migrated. Straightforward implementations can be completed in as little as two weeks, while more complex projects with significant data migration may take longer. DSL Telecom will provide a clear project plan and timeline upfront so you know exactly what to expect.

What is a Zoho Premium Partner?

Zoho Premium Partner is the highest tier in Zoho's partner programme, awarded to partners who demonstrate exceptional implementation quality, customer satisfaction, and technical expertise. DSL Telecom holds this status and is South Africa's longest-standing Zoho Premium Partner, with 14 years of continuous partnership.

From first-time setup to migration and ongoing support, we're here to help make your Zoho Books experience a success.

Why South African Businesses are Replacing Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace with Zoho Workplace - A DSL Telecom Webinar Recap

Tue, 03 Mar 2026 15:50:37 +0200

South African businesses are no longer accepting rising licence costs as “just part of doing business.” With Microsoft 365 prices climbing again in 2026 and Google Workspace costs steadily increasing, many organisations are actively looking for a smarter, more cost-effective workplace solution.

Microsoft has announced further pricing adjustments taking effect in 2026, adding to multiple increases over the past few years. For many organisations, this means:

Higher per-user monthly costs
Additional charges for premium security and compliance features
Paying separately for tools that were previously bundled

Zoho Workplace offers a fully integrated workplace app suite at a predictable, transparent cost, without the layered pricing model that continues to drive Microsoft licensing higher year after year.

In our recent webinar, Adriaan Dijkstra and Gideo Beukes unpacked why more businesses are moving away from Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, and how Zoho Workplace is emerging as a powerful, cost-effective alternative.

About Zoho Workplace

Zoho Workplace is a fully integrated workplace productivity suite built to replace the complexity of Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace. Instead of stacking multiple apps, licences, and add-ons, businesses get one connected platform for email, file storage, document collaboration, meetings, and team chat. (Zoho Mail, Zoho WorkDrive, Zoho Writer, Zoho Meeting, Zoho Cliq)

Many businesses don’t realise how much they’re overspending on workplace apps. Between Microsoft 365 licences, Teams add-ons, security upgrades, and third-party integrations, monthly costs quietly escalate.

Over the past four years, Microsoft 365 E3 pricing (combined with Teams and security features) has increased by approximately 26%, and 2026 will introduce additional pricing adjustments.

That means higher recurring costs, with no significant increase in functionality for most SMEs.

Zoho Workplace addresses this by:

Consolidating essential workplace apps into one licence
Removing the need for costly add-ons
Providing enterprise-grade features without enterprise-level pricing

Enterprise-Grade Email and Security

When businesses think of email, they often think “inbox.” But in reality, professional email is far more than sending and receiving messages. It supports your organisation’s identity, protects sensitive data, enables secure collaboration, and ensures communication remains available at all times.

Whether you’re a growing SME or a large organisation, email remains one of your most critical business systems, and it needs to be secure, reliable, scalable, and privacy-focused. Unlike ad-driven platforms, Zoho Mail operates on a privacy-first model, meaning your business data is never monetised.

Zoho Mail for business, as a fully integrated component of Workplace, works seamlessly alongside documents, storage, chat, and meetings within one connected ecosystem.

Zoho Workplace offers:

Predictable, lower licensing costs

Integrated workplace apps
Local migration and support from your Zoho Workplace partner in South Africa - DSL Telecom
Enterprise-grade email and collaboration

With Microsoft 365 prices increasing again in 2026 and Google Workspace costs continuing to rise, now is the time to reassess your productivity stack. Zoho Workplace offers predictable, lower licensing costs, fully integrated workplace apps, secure business email, and collaboration tools - plus local migration and support from DSL Telecom.

Q&A Highlights

The live Q&A session sparked valuable discussion, with attendees raising important questions about migration, security, and scalability. Here are some of the highlights:

Question 1: Can we migrate from Google Workspace to Zoho Workplace easily?

DSL Telecom Team: Yes, definitely. We’ve helped a number of customers migrate from Google Workspace to Zoho Workplace. The process usually starts with a discussion to understand your setup: how many users you have, the number of mailboxes, etc. From there, our team plans the migration carefully to ensure minimal disruption to your business.

Question 2: How does Zoho Workplace compare to SharePoint on permissions and external access sharing?

DSL Telecom Team: That’s a great question. You’ve got plenty of flexibility when it comes to sharing files externally. You can create secure links for specific documents or folders, share them with clients, and set permissions to control access.

For example, you can password-protect links or set them to expire after a certain time. If needed, clients can also be added as users in Zoho WorkDrive - Zoho’s equivalent of SharePoint or OneDrive, giving you even more control over how files are accessed and managed.

Question 3: Can I try out Zoho Mail with only a few of my team members?

DSL Telecom Team: Yes, with Zoho Mail, hybrid setups are definitely possible. A hybrid solution means you don’t have to move everyone over at once, allowing you to integrate Zoho Mail into your existing email environment. This can be helpful if you want to test the platform first, move departments in phases, or keep certain teams on a different system temporarily.

Question 3: What backup measures are in place during migration, and how can data be restored if required?

DSL Telecom Team: Once your data is migrated to Zoho, it’s safely backed up as part of their regular processes. We can also set up extra backups if needed, so your data can be restored anytime.

Key Takeaways

Webinar attendees got a clear look at how Zoho Workplace helps South African businesses work smarter, stay secure, and cut software costs. The session covered its all-in-one apps, and showed how moving from Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace can be smooth and hassle-free.

If you missed the webinar or want to revisit the insights, you can watch the full recording or reach out to our team for personalised guidance on getting started with Zoho Workplace.

If you’d like a cost comparison between Microsoft 365, Google Workplace, or a Zoho Workplace migration assessment, speak to our team today, or start exploring Zoho Workplace yourself with a free trial by clicking here .

Zoho Voice Launches In South Africa And DSL Telecom Is The First VoIP Provider Offering SIP Trunk Integration For Cost-Effective Local Calling

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 11:13:40 +0200

South African businesses can now enjoy a seamless, professional, and cost-effective way to manage their communications with the arrival of Zoho Voice, Zoho's native telephony solution. DSL Telecom is proud to be the first South African SIP provider able to integrate our VoIP service directly with Zoho Voice.

For the first time, companies in South Africa can connect DSL Telecom's reliable and affordable voice services straight into the Zoho Voice platform. This integration gives businesses access to competitive local calling rates while taking full advantage of Zoho Voice's powerful, unified communication features.

Zoho Voice Explained: What It Is and Why It Matters

Zoho Voice is an advanced online telephony platform that allows businesses to make and receive local and international calls, and manage all communication within the Zoho ecosystem. Instead of juggling multiple systems or relying on third-party calling applications, Zoho Voice places everything under one roof.

Customer interactions, call data, and records are automatically linked to tools like Zoho CRM, Zoho Desk, Zoho Bigin, and ServiceDesk Plus from ManageEngine, enabling teams to work more efficiently and deliver a superior customer experience. By unifying calling and messaging, businesses can simplify operations, eliminate unnecessary complexity, and maintain a professional, consistent presence with every customer interaction.

DSL Telecom's SIP Trunk Integration With Call Rates That Deliver Real Savings

DSL Telecom's ability to integrate our SIP service into Zoho Voice represents a significant advantage for local businesses. By connecting directly with DSL Telecom, companies can benefit from our affordable South African VoIP rates while still enjoying the power of Zoho Voice. Businesses no longer have to rely solely on international SIP providers. With DSL Telecom, you gain the reassurance of local expertise, transparent pricing designed for the South African market, and a seamless setup process that ensures your telephony system works exactly as you need it to.

If you already have a voice provider that you are happy with, you can still sign up for Zoho Voice and continue to use your current VoIP provider. Alternatively, you can choose to move your voice service to DSL Telecom and take advantage of our competitive voice rates. Either way, our team will guide you through the Zoho Voice implementation to ensure that it works perfectly for your business.

The Key Benefits Of Combining Zoho Voice With DSL Telecom VoIP

By combining DSL Telecom voice services with Zoho Voice, your business unlocks powerful advantages:

Business Calling Made Easy: Make and receive calls to both local and international destinations, expanding your reach without inflating telephony costs.
Geographic Numbers And Number Porting: Use local numbers for a stronger regional presence or port your existing number for a seamless transition.
Exceptional Call Quality: Enjoy crystal-clear voice connectivity through our reliable local VoIP integration with Zoho Voice.
Unified Communication Platform: Centralise calling, messaging (SMS and WhatsApp), and customer data within Zoho Voice to improve productivity, streamline workflows, and deliver outstanding customer service.

Key Zoho Voice Features To Enhance Communication

Outbound Service

Initiate cost-effective outbound calls to both mobile and landline numbers across the globe, and pay only for what you use.

Call Recording

Record calls and analyse them later to track performance, ensure compliance, and maintain high service standards.

Two-Way SMS & WhatsApp

Centralise calls, messages, and customer data in Zoho Voice to boost productivity and enhance service.

Interactive Voice Response

Easily set up IVRs to automatically guide customers to the right team or department, saving time and streamlining requests.

Listen, Whisper, Barge

Monitor calls to ensure quality. Listen in silently with whisper mode or step in with barge mode to boost customer satisfaction.

Call Forwarding

Reroute calls to any number and keep customers supported after hours by forwarding their calls to active agents.

Expert Zoho Voice Implementation And Local VoIP Rates From DSL Telecom

As a trusted Zoho Premium Partner with extensive experience in both VoIP and the Zoho ecosystem, DSL Telecom can implement Zoho Voice for your business seamlessly and efficiently. If your organisation is ready to modernise its communication systems, simplify operations, and take advantage of competitive local VoIP pricing, our team will tailor the implementation to suit your specific needs.

How To Add South African Public Holidays To Zoho Calendar

Fri, 09 May 2025 08:59:02 +0200

Whether you're managing your inbox in Zoho Mail or planning your week in Zoho Calendar, syncing South African public holidays is a simple step that can make a big difference. It helps you stay organised, avoid scheduling conflicts, and keep your team on the same page.

Here’s why it’s worth doing:

Avoid Booking Meetings on Holidays: Prevent awkward scheduling clashes on days like Heritage Day or Freedom Day.

Simplify Leave Planning: Make it easier for your team to plan time off around official public holidays.

Improve Team Coordination: Ensure everyone is aligned with shared calendar visibility.

Pro Tip: When set up correctly, Zoho Calendar automatically blocks out public holidays, saving you time and avoiding unnecessary admin.

How to Add South African Public Holidays to Zoho Calendar

Syncing public holidays with your Zoho Calendar is quick and easy. Just follow these steps:

Step 1: Log In to Zoho Calendar

Go to calendar.zoho.com and sign in using your Zoho Mail credentials.

Step 2: Access Calendar Settings

Once logged in, click the gear icon (⚙️) in the top-right corner of the page to open your Calendar Settings.

Step 3: Subscribe to South African Holidays

In the Settings menu, select the “Subscribe” tab.
Click on “Holidays” from the options listed.
Use the search bar to find “South Africa.”
Click “Subscribe” next to the South African holiday calendar.

Once subscribed, public holidays will automatically appear in your Zoho Calendar—no manual entry needed!

Step 4: Confirm the Holidays Have Been Added

Return to your main Zoho Calendar view. You should now see South African public holidays automatically highlighted in your calendar. To personalise the experience, you can customise the holiday calendar’s colour, notification preferences, and visibility by going back into Calendar Settings and selecting the holiday calendar under “My Calendars.”

Bonus Tip: Sync Zoho Calendar Across All Your Devices

Using Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, or Microsoft Outlook in addition to Zoho? No problem—Zoho Calendar makes it easy to stay in sync across all platforms.

Here’s how you can keep everything connected:

Export Your Zoho Calendar: Share your Zoho Calendar (including South African public holidays) by exporting it in iCal format. This ensures your calendar events are visible on any external calendar app you use.

Sync with Mobile & Desktop Apps: Set up calendar sync on your smartphone, tablet, or desktop to keep your schedule up to date, no matter where you are.

Stay Connected On-the-Go: Whether you’re travelling, in meetings, or working remotely, you’ll always have access to an accurate, synced calendar.

With these sync options, your South African public holidays, and all your events will appear seamlessly across every device and calendar app you use.

South African Public Holidays In 2025

Here’s the official list of South African public holidays for 2025 and 2026. Once added to your Zoho Calendar, these dates will be automatically highlighted and blocked out, making planning easier and more accurate.

Date	Holiday
1 January	New Year's Day
21 March	Human Rights Day
18 April	Good Friday
21 April	Family Day
27 April	Freedom Day
1 May	Workers' Day
16 June	Youth Day
9 August	National Women's Day
24 September	Heritage Day
16 December	Day of Reconciliation
25 December	Christmas Day
26 December	Day of Goodwill

South African Public Holidays In 2026

Date	Holiday
1 January	New Year's Day
21 March	Human Rights Day
3 April	Good Friday
6 April	Family Day
27 April	Freedom Day
1 May	Workers' Day
16 June	Youth Day
9 August	National Women's Day
24 September	Heritage Day
16 December	Day of Reconciliation
25 December	Christmas Day
26 December	Day of Goodwill

Final Thoughts

Syncing South African public holidays with your Zoho Calendar is a small step that brings lasting benefits. From avoiding meeting clashes to simplifying leave planning, a synced calendar helps keep your team organised and informed.

Take just five minutes to subscribe to the holiday calendar today, you’ll save time, reduce confusion, and stay effortlessly ahead all year long.

Need Help? Ask A Zoho Premium Partner

At DSL Telecom, we help South African businesses unlock the full potential of Zoho, whether you’re using Zoho Mail, Zoho CRM, Zoho Calendar, or the entire suite. As an official Zoho Premium Partner, we’re here to support you with expert guidance on setup, automation, and seamless integration.

Contact DSL Telecom

A quick start guide: No Code Chatbot With SalesIQ

Mon, 09 Jan 2023 10:45:34 +0200

Chatbots have become a crucial part of customer engagement, and they are only becoming more popular. With Zoho SalesIQ you are given the option to design and integrate no code, low-code and pro code chatbots based on your needs respectively. The SalesIQ no code chatbot builder allows businesses with very little coding knowledge to automate customer interactions and provide 24/7 customer services. In this blog we will shed light on the no code chatbot features provided by Zoho SalesIQ and how it can help you and your business improve customer engagement.

The difference between No code, Low-code and Pro code chatbots

No code, Low-code and Pro code chatbots refer to the way in which you design and build your chatbot.

No code chatbots, as the name states require no coding and use a visual interface to create pathways with rules and fields in order to determine the outcome of the interaction.
Low-code chatbots, similar to no code chatbots also use a visual interface however it allows for basic coding to be used for more advanced features and wider customisation options depending on the your needs.
Pro code chatbots are in a league of their own. Requiring advanced coding skills to build and design. Pro code chatbots give you the best results in terms of flexibility but this is due to the resource investment required to have it operational.

The differences between the three chatbot creation methods lie in the amount of resources and knowledge needed to build and design them. For this quickstart guide we will be focusing on the No code chatbot feature within SalesIQ.

The benefits of using a no code chatbot builder

Now there are multiple benefits of using the SalesIQ no code chatbot builder. The first as we mentioned above is that it does not require coding. You are able to design and build a custom chatbot without coding skills and this opens up the feature to businesses of all sizes. The second benefit is that the interface is user-friendly, this allows for easy navigation and setup. The integration blocks built into the chatbot builder are a huge benefit as they award you the ability to utilise applications like your Zoho CRM to store lead data and Zoho Desk integration allows for support tickets to be created and allocated automatically.

Creating a no code chatbot is as easy as 1, 2, 3

In this 5 step guide, we'll walk you through the process of setting up a no code chatbot in SalesIQ, and help you start automating customer interactions and providing 24/7 customer service.

1. Log Into SalesIQ

The first step is to navigate to the Zoho SalesIQ website and sign in. If you do not have a Zoho account, you can head over to our website and signup for a 15-day free trial: www.dsltelecom.co.za/zohosoftware. Once you have signed in click on the settings icon and under bot coloumn and select Zobot.

2. Start the chatbot creation process

Once you have found the Zobot menu, you can then go ahead and name your chatbot as well as fill in the description and choose the platform you would like to use.

3. Define Triggers

Your next step is to choose the bot audience and define the triggers. Selecting how quickly you want your bot to reach out to your potential customer and how fast you would like the response time to be. For a more "genuine" interaction we recommend 2 seconds between response intervals.

4. Create the chatbot's responses

Here comes the fun part, this is where you use the visual interface to create your no code chatbot. Defining pathways and rules in order to guide the customer down a path of your choosing while gathering the information to determine the correct path for your customer to go down.

5. Test your bot

This is one of the most important steps in this guide. Test, test, test, ensuring that your bot is functional and the responses are accurate all have a role in determining customer satisfaction at the end of the day. Something as small as misspelled words or the inability to provide the content the consumer came to your site for can be the reason you lose a potential lead.

Integrations

Integrations are available at every turn within SalesIQ.

With Zoho CRM you can use an intergration card in the chatbot builder to store customer information or pull customer information from your CRM.
Zoho Campaigns allows you to use an intergration block to add the customers information to a mailing list should they need additional information or qualify for marketing mailers.
The Zoho Desk integration block can be used to allocate support tickets to support staff automatically allowing you to tend to customer issues quickly and effieciently. There is so much more to the integration side of Zoho SalesIQ, with multiple integration tools from numerous software applications.

Why we recommend Zoho SalesIQ

SalesIQ no code chatbot builder is a cost-effective solution for businesses looking to improve customer engagement. It's an easy to use tool that can help businesses automate customer interactions and provide 24/7 customer service. In this blog, we have highlighted some of the benefits and setup instructions for SalesIQ no code chatbot, showcasing how it can add value to your business and how easy it is to get started. We highly recommend you consider SalesIQ no code chatbot for your customer engagement solution.

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5 Signs It's Time To Sign Up For Zoho Bigin - A Revolutionary CRM Software For Small And Micro Businesses

Fri, 23 Dec 2022 08:32:08 +0200

Managing leads and customers is a given regardless of how small your business is or what industry you're in. But, if you're still using spreadsheets, files crammed with paper records, or multiple folders with saved emails to keep track of your customers' details and order deals, you're wasting valuable time and energy and missing an opportunity to increase your profitability. Luckily for you, we aren't here to only tell you what you are doing wrong, we are here to help. With Zoho's Bigin app, you'll be able to transform your business for the better. In this blog post, we'll be discussing 5 signs that indicate it's time to make the switch to Zoho Bigin and take your business to the next level. From struggling to manage customer information to feeling overwhelmed by daily tasks, we'll cover it all. So, let's dive in!

Zoho Bigin is a pipeline-centric CRM made and priced for small and micro businesses. Its goal is to improve the efficiency of your sales process. Without having to rely on other sources, Zoho Bigin provides all the features you require to run your business. The relationships you have with your customers are improved and your sales process is streamlined, allowing you to close deals effectively and swiftly. With Zoho Bigin, you can customise and manage multiple pipelines, as well as create automated processes for managing daily tasks and planning ahead for the week.

Here are 5 signs that it's time to sign up for a CRM application like Zoho Bigin:

1. You mainly make use of spreadsheets to store data

Spreadsheets are great for simple bookkeeping, storing data, and performing statistical operations. However, you can't run your entire business on spreadsheets. With spreadsheets adding to poor data organisation, and increasingly failing to detect duplicate entries, can cause your team's productivity to take a hit as they struggle to keep up with the admin coming their way.

Zoho Bigin allows you to move beyond spreadsheets with its multi-pipeline feature where you can design different stages for each pipeline and track its progress down to the smallest detail. It allows you to track leads, deals, and opportunities as they move through the pipeline, and provides an overview of the current status of each stage. The pipeline can be customised to match your specific sales process, and deals can be easily moved between stages with a drag and drop interface. It also has a feature for forecasting future sales and generating reports.

2. There is missing information in your customer data

With multiple employees working on various clients' accounts, some information is bound to get lost or be left out. A lack of good data can hinder the growth and development of your business and prevent you from expanding your offering or entering new markets. Accidents are bound to happen in a workplace especially if multiple people are working on the same accounts, at the same time. For example, someone deletes a customer profile because they accidentally clicked on the wrong button, or another person updated the wrong customer's phone number without realising it.

As everything on Zoho Bigin is synced with one another, the chance of something being left out is minimal. You'll be able to work with multiple employees on one account and all edits and updates done by one person will be automatically updated on everyone else's device. Another convenient feature Zoho Bigin has is profile roles. This is set up when you create your profile in Zoho Bigin. This feature creates a hierarchy of the people within your business. It prevents people of a lower ranking to gain access to information such as client accounts, financial statements and other confidential data that you might not want your employees to have easy access to. Zoho Bigin also allows you to have access to your Audit logs which shows you what data was changed by who and at what specific time it was changed.

3. Your data formats are inconsistent

You may have employees working with different data fields that are clashing across departments. This inconsistent approach leads to inadequate and inaccurate customer data. Implementing a CRM system requires consolidating all customer data and transferring internal information to a central location. This can be a challenging task, but it also presents the chance to review current processes, identify areas for improvement and develop a cohesive strategy that aligns with the chosen CRM platform. This not only helps to optimize the CRM, but also improves the overall customer experience.

To make everything easier for the user, Zoho Bigin lets you import your data from various spreadsheets or documents and automatically place it in one format when storing it in the app. After that, you can undo unnecessary imports or just simply delete the records that are no longer needed. It also forces employees to insert data into the same formats as everyone else. This will ensure your data to be more consistent throughout your small business and will help employees be more prepared when dealing with customers.

4. Your customer service needs to be improved

When your customers have to repeat and confirm their details over and over again just to resolve a minor issue, it can be incredibly frustrating - for your staff and customers. In addition, the lack of workplace organisation affects customer satisfaction and promotes a negative image of your business.

Zoho Bigin streamlines customer service by keeping track of recent interactions with each customer, making them easily accessible to all team members, even those working remotely. This eliminates the need for repetitive information sharing and allows for faster, more efficient customer support. Additionally, Zoho Bigin keeps track of which team members are working on specific customer accounts and ensures that data is correctly entered, making it easy to quickly address any issues or improve customer relations. Overall, Zoho Bigin helps to effectively manage your team by eliminating the need to search for misplaced information.

5. You struggle to see how your business is actually performing

CRM data is critical in showing which sales activities generate the most inquiries or result in the most conversions. This information is crucial for determining where to allocate resources and focus efforts in the future Without an effective lead tracking system, businesses may not have a clear understanding of which sales activities are working and which aren't. This can lead to wasted resources, missed opportunities, and poor performance. An adequate CRM software allows businesses to track leads and conversions in real-time and monitor sales team performance, providing insights that allow them to make data-driven decisions.

With Zoho Bigin you can easily track your progress and the performance of your sales people using the wide variety of customisable dashboards. You are also allowed to create your own dashboard and share them with others. Zoho Bigin's dashboard feature allows you to monitor various sales statistics such as deals closed, tasks in progress, revenue generated, as well as internal breakdowns like deal owners and stage population.

Ready, Set, Bigin!

Zoho Bigin can be a new beginning for anyone self-employed, has a small business, or is a freelancer for example hairdressers, plumbers, florists, etc. It doesn't matter how you started, with cramped-up files, spreadsheets, or a cluttered CRM mess. It's always possible to start over. Your employees will learn how to easily navigate themselves within the Zoho Bigin App in a matter of hours.

With a subscription fee as little as R105 /user/month billed annually, you are allowed to create 50,000 records, 3 pipelines, 10 workflows and have access to 10 custom fields or modules designed by our Zoho Implementation team here at DSL Telecom.

Click here to sign up for a free 14-day trial of Zoho Bigin.

Alternatively, click on the button to request a Zoho Bigin demo session with one of our Zoho experts.

Book Your Demo Today

Top Ecommerce Platform Features To Consider For South African Businesses

Wed, 07 Dec 2022 08:10:33 +0200

With the world of ecommerce growing rapidly it can sometimes be a daunting task deciding what elements are important or on which ecommerce software you should use to launch your business. Worry not, we've done the research and are here to help. In the blog below, we dive into some of the key features you can use on Zoho Commerce, along with a comparison between Zoho Commerce and Shopify. We even give you a quick setup guide to help you get started with Zoho Commerce.

3 Key Features your Ecommerce store needs

With ecommerce being an R86 Billion industry in South Africa, standing out and being able to deliver the best experience to your customers is the only way to stay ahead of the competition. Being able to keep your customers coming back for more is easier than trying to find new ones, you can do this by giving your customers the best online shopping experience with three key back-end features:

1. Mobile Optimisation

A responsive ecommerce platform is the best defense against a high bounce rate over all platforms. Mobile and Tablet users account for over 46% of online consumers and 75% of them admit to leaving sites that aren't responsive or optimised for mobile.

2. Automated Payment & Checkout System

Having an automated payment system deals with the billing process so that you don't have to, allowing you to avoid manually processing transactions entirely. This can be done through payment integration with online payment platforms like Zoho Checkout, PayPal, or Stripe.

3. Reporting & Analytics Tool

Data and Information are key components to understanding your business. With the correct data you can monitor consumer behaviour, gain insight into product performance as well as track payment reports. These in return helps you make better business decisions related to the growth of your online store.

Using the right ecommerce platform for your business is vital to it's success, whether its functionality, user experience, templates or security. The features ecommerce platforms provide need to be tailored to your business. With so many platforms to choose from, such as Spotify, Woocommerce, Wix etc. you need to choose a platform that works best for you. Not every platform will suit your business' needs, however there are a few that come close, one of them is Zoho Commerce. If you are looking for easy setup with vast integration options, nothing comes close to Zoho Commerce.

What is Zoho Commerce?

Zoho Commerce is an ecommerce platform, providing you with effective ways to design, tailor and maintain your online business. The idea behind Zoho Commerce is to keep your everyday decision-making process to a minimum, allowing you the time to focus on the key aspects of what makes your business unique and leave the mundane tasks to the software.

With the features designed with your success in mind, let's dive into some of them and how they work for you:

Website Templates
Product Cataloging
Inventory & Shipping

Website Templates

Zoho Commerce offers a wide range of pre-built templates and designs that are mobile optimised to help to get started faster. If pre-built sites aren't for you then take advantage of the customisation tab where you can design and arrange your store the way you want it.

Product Cataloging

You can easily add your products and their details without breaking a sweat. Uploading product images and adding alt text to aid with search engine optimisation with ensure higher levels of traffic to your store.

Inventory & Shipping

It is important to keep track of orders and their position within your pipeline. Zoho Commerce can automatically monitor inventory levels and shipment integration with your preferred shipping carriers to ensure a smooth shipping process. Not to mention the Batch & serial tracking feature that allows you to keep track of large orders effortlessly.

Integrations

Easy integrations are essential to managing an ecommerce store with efficiency. Zoho Commerce integrates with all the relevant sales, marketing, and finance apps within the Zoho suite, empowering you to scale your business operations as your sales multiply.

As you begin making use of more tools and services to support your ecommerce business and its growth, you're soon to find that a lot of your customer data is distributed across different systems. With Zoho CRM integration you are able to improve user experience with the help of detailed information in order to tailor product marketing channels.

Zoho SalesIQ integration allows you to use live chat features on your website, effective in answering customer queries in real time to help you continuously move them down your sales pipeline. Other marketing integrations such as Zoho Campaigns allows you to trigger emails based on customer actions. Delivery of your product is not the final step with Zoho Survey, you can gain valuable feedback from customers and their experience with your online store.

Setting up your store with Zoho Commerce

When it comes to launching your ecommerce store, it does not come easier than Zoho Commerce. Follow these simple steps and you'll be up and running in no time.

6 Easy Steps:

Fill in your Store Information
Select a Template
Add your Products
Publish your Store
Configure your shipping rates + times
Set up your tax information Integrate payment gateways

6 Easy Steps:

Fill in your Store Information
Select a Template
Add your Products
Publish your Store
Configure your shipping rates + times
Set up your tax information Integrate payment gateways

How does Zoho Commerce compare with Shopify?

In the table below we compare Zoho Commerce and Shopify to give you insight on the limitations you are presented by other ecommerce platforms and the risk it poses to your business.

Zoho Commerce	Shopify
Large variety of templates, absolutely free	Hardly any free templates to choose from
Effortless integrations with other Zoho products to scale your business	Greatly dependent on third-party applications
High level of data privacy thanks to Zoho's stringent privacy and security policies	Integrations with high number of apps increase data privacy and security risks
Plans starting at R324/month	Plans starting at R326/month

Why we recommend Zoho Commerce

We strongly recommend Zoho Commerce for small, medium, and micro enterprises in South Africa. With all the easy to use features, it awards you time to focus on what is important. Zoho Commerce was built to empower your everyday business operations and develop the growth for your business.

Start your 15-day free trial, or contact us to get a Zoho Premium partner to implement your online store for you.

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6 All-New Zoho CRM Features That You Should Know About

Tue, 02 Nov 2021 16:07:16 +0200

Zoho as a leading software provider, has always been well-renowned for their constant technological innovations to their new apps and improvements to their existing apps with frequent feature releases across their entire software suite. 2021 has been no exception.

Their latest releases come with multiple innovative ways to further examine your customer data, uncover even more interesting trends and more ways to evaluate team and individual performance, to name but a few.

Zoho CRM empowers a global network of over 150,000 businesses in over 180 countries. It helps businesses engage with customers, convert more leads, and grow their revenue by closing more deals

Here we showcase our favourite 6 just-launched Zoho CRM features:

Subscribe to CRM editions from the mobile ''in app purchases feature''

With the Zoho CRM mobile app, you can oversee your sales on the move.

Whether you're a sales rep making calls, a sales manager monitoring the sales pipeline, or a business owner nurturing your business, approach your workday efficiently with a state-of-the-art mobile CRM system.

Your mobile CRM app not only covers your CRM software requirements on the go but also helps boost mobile sales productivity with features like search, call, email, check-in, near-me, and notifications. With a highly fluid, interactive interface, offline access, and the ability to sync data across all your devices automatically, Zoho's mobile CRM is perfect for field sales.

You can now upgrade to the Standard, Professional and Enterprise editions from the app settings from your iOS mobile device. You can do so by following the steps demonstrated in the image below.

1. Go to your Zoho CRM app

2. Navigate to settings

3. Tap ''Upgrade''

Introducing Prediction Analytics from Zia

Zia can understand business metrics, analyse it and predict the possible outcome that can help in decision-making and preparing ones business for the future. To substantiate the prediction results, Zia shows the analytics that were taken into consideration to predict an outcome.

With Zoho's new prediction analytics feature from Zia, you can now understand the analytics that Zia took into consideration to predict an outcome and make informed decisions to change the Prediction configuration to achieve more accurate outcomes.

With Zia’s predictions, you never have to guess. Zia scores and sorts your records into different focus groups, so you know how to treat every record. Zia scores your records as a percentage, calculated using win-behavior, the related sales activities, the responsiveness of the lead or prospect, and the time invested. As these scores change, you also understand which sales activity has an impact on your prediction score.

Compare KPIs or targets in Zoho Motivator

Motivator for Zoho CRM inspires healthy, competitive sales by capturing the data from your CRM account to create a competitive environment for your sales team using sales activities. Motivate your team's sales performance via competition and gamification.

Evaluate team, individual, company or time-specific performance to know whether there is an increase or decrease in KPI performance or target parameters.

For example, the increase or decrease in trend can be viewed by comparing the previous month's or last day's data with that of the current month and present day respectively. Likewise, comparison can be drawn between the current and previous month's performance for a particular field.

Introducing Zone Analysis - a new Dashboard component

Zoho CRM has also introduced a new dashboard component called "Zone Analysis" to provide more detailed analytical insights of business data. Zone analysis distributes data into different zones which are created by taking the parameters in the X and Y axes into consideration. It makes understanding of data easier and make informed decisions.

Use Zone Analysis to understand the business data that requires more attention and those that are doing well with the help of comparative analysis between two parameters.

Zoho CRM offers many analytic tools that help users decode business data into simpler graphical forms that are easy to understand and can be shared with peers across the organisation. One of these tools is Zones, where data points are plotted on a graphical area to represent the most optimal to least optimal conditions in the form of zones.

In Zone Analysis, the darkest zone represents the best or the most optimal data point and the lightest zone indicates the least optimal data point.

Transform your CRM user experience using Canvas

Canvas is a no-code, drag-and-drop design studio built into Zoho CRM where you can create contextual, immersive experiences for your entire team.

Now you can redesign your CRM record detail page with this easy-to-use, drag-and-drop design studio that compliments your business, industry, culture and methods.

The Canvas detail page allows you customise the record detail page to your preference by letting you add background colour to each field, arrange them in a different order, use custom buttons instead of field names, use different font styles and a lot more. This view is available in all the modules, including the custom modules.

New metrics and charts in Webform Analytics

Web forms simplify the process of capturing visitors or users information from your website into your CRM system. They are designed to automate the importing of data from websites into Zoho CRM. Non-technical users find it easy to design and publish their own web forms.

Web forms are supported for Leads, Contacts, Cases and any other Custom CRM Modules that you have in your account.

Most of the time, organisations host multiple webpages that help them focus on a wider audience and generate more leads. It is also important to analyse the performance of each web form to understand if they are serving the desired purpose.

Web form analytics help you analyse the performance of the web forms by identifying how well the visitors interact with your web forms and what causes them to drop off.

The new metrics include:

The individual form analytics will display abandon rate in submissions and average time spent.
In the field-based analysis, metrics like: Time spent on fields, field correction rate, field drop rate and field filled order will be available.
Submission based on the device source will also be available

And there there you have it. DSL Telecom's top 6 Zoho CRM enhancements for 2021 so far. If you want to learn more about Zoho CRM and what it can do for your business, get in touch with one of our Zoho Specialists today and book your free Zoho CRM Software Demo.

Book Your Free Zoho CRM Demo

Zoho Apps vs Zoho One, which version of Zoho is right for your business

Mon, 18 Oct 2021 09:34:00 +0200

Zoho One - The Operating System For Business

For the last 2 decades, Zoho has made the experience of managing and building customer relationships super-simple for many businesses the world over. Zoho is arguably one of the most successful business software solutions companies internationally with over 24 years of experience in business software development. Zoho began with its Zoho CRM platform in 2005 and has expanded to all different departments of business and enterprise.

In 2017, The Zoho Corporation launched its most innovative product yet to the SAAS marketplace – Zoho One – ''One Operating System For Your Entire Business'' at a very affordable per-user price. Zoho One is a broad and cohesive set of applications that work collectively to run an entire business on the cloud. It includes more than 45 web applications and an equal number of mobile apps under a single sign-on, with centralised administration and provisioning making it a true operating system for any business. While each application punches above its weight against the competition, collectively they deliver a knockout punch.

One question that many of our Zoho customers ask us, is ''What is the difference between having different Zoho app licences vs a Zoho One licence?'' Here we take a look at the key differences:

What a Zoho One licence costs versus what you get for Zoho One pricing:

What is the main advantage to investing in a Zoho One licence?

Zoho One is really competitively priced because you're not paying for every single app on its own which would only be compounded as you add on additional apps. Instead, with a Zoho One licence, you're paying for a bundle or package of applications so ultimately if you sign up for just one Zoho app, you only get access to that app whereas for an unbelievable price of R450, Zoho One gives you access to the enterprise edition of every single app and what's more, the apps all integrate seamlessly with one another.

With Zoho One, Zoho has put together all the applications a company needs to acquire and serve its customers (marketing, sales and support apps); run its operations (finance, recruiting, and HR apps); and provide all the tools for its employees to work collaboratively and get their work done (office suite, mail, personal productivity, and collaboration apps). With one of Zoho's newest features, Canvas, you get access to a drag-and-drop builder to build a custom CRM interface for your unique business needs.

Zoho App comparison pricing

Now to gain a better understanding of Zoho app pricing, let's take a look at 5 of our best-selling Zoho apps and what they cost individually:

For Zoho's Enterprise CRM edition, you'll pay R525 per user / per month / billed annually.

For Zoho's most popular subscriber-based plan for a maximum of 5000 subscribers, you'll pay R506 per month / billed annually.

For Zoho's Professional Social edition, you'll pay R375 per month / billed annually or for their brand new Premium edition, you'll pay R562.50 per month / billed annually.

For Zoho's Professional Desk edition, you'll pay R300 per month / billed annually or for their Enterprise edition, R525 per month / billed annually.

For Zoho's Enterprise Projects edition, you'll pay R150 per month / billed annually.

Conclusion

It's easy to see that Zoho One has all the applications to run your business with one application so you save dramatically on compounded app costs for individual Zoho app licences. With Zoho One supporting every part of your business, not only you can get your work done from anywhere, on any device, you can focus on the big stuff that matters the most.

DSL Telecom is a Zoho Premium Partner in South Africa. If you need to speak to one of our Zoho Experts about Zoho One for your business, email us on sales@dsltelecom.co.za

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