AppDate: Uganda gets chatting

Sanyu

The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) of Uganda has introduced Sanyu, an AI-powered digital customer assistant, based on Avaya technology.

Sanyu is a chatbot that serves as the NSSF’s front line for customer service, and is integrated into the organisation’s Avaya OneCloud CCaaS contact centre solutions. It reduces waiting times for customers who contact the NSSF by providing self-service for routine transactions, in the process freeing up human agents so that they can address more complex requests.

“We estimated that our customer service personnel were spending around three-quarters of their day on easily-answered queries such as statement requests, registration and FAQs,” says Richard Byarugaba, managing director of NSSF. 

This deployment is the NSSF’s latest effort to digitalise the customer experience. Over the last two years, the organisation has moved 94% of its member transactions and interactions to digital channels, with the remaining 6% of customers using walk-in service centres. 

Since October 2020, nearly 164,000 customer transactions and interactions have been registered through Sanyu.

For more information, visit the NSSF web page here.

Health apps from the Huawei AppGallery 

Recent studies by Compare The Market and the Indigo Wellness Index have revealed that South Africa is one of the unhealthiest countries in the world.

The studies took in factors such as too much fatty and sugary foods, lack of exercise, and stress. Many people make an effort by prioritising health on their list of resolutions at the beginning of each year. But, due to lack of discipline, this usually lasts no more than a few months, or even just a few weeks.

With the new year now in full swing, there’s no time like the present to commit to a healthier lifestyle in 2022. 

Using mobile apps is a convenient way to help one achieve healthier habits as they are cheaper than personal trainers and there are a vast number of them to cater to your goals.

Here are four health apps available on Huawei AppGallery to get you started:

• Diet Plan For Weight Loss Healthy Food For Fitness – Choose from a variety of healthy recipes for a suitable eating timetable and water plan, based on a person’s weight.
• Calm – Meditate, Sleep, Relax – Reduce stress and work towards getting a balance. The app also offers meditation techniques and music to help one fall asleep.
• Sleep Cycle– Similar to the Calm – Meditate, Sleep, Relax, but with a twist. Sleep Cycle not only offers you music to de-stress, but once activated it “listens” to noises while sleeping. It picks up sounds such as snoring offers meditation to help fall asleep. It  provides an analysis of a sleeping patterns and some tips on how to get a better night’s sleep.
• Home Workout – No Equipment – Gym equipment is expensive and people are staying away from gyms due to Covid. This app comes with a virtual coach that offers home exercise routines based on a user’s profile. Various exercises are offered and one can choose from beginner, intermediate and advanced levels.

Platform: Huawei smartphones

Expect to pay: All apps listed above are free to use

Stockists: Visit the AppGallery or click on the above links

FYI play it safe

Keeping kids safe online is one of the greatest anxieties of modern parenting.  Trying to create limits, impose restrictions and constantly monitor a child roaming free across the uncontrolled and often dangerous digital landscape is exhausting. Yet, it must be done in the name of responsible parenting.  It’s not enough to apply a parental control app and make a few rules about screen time limits. 

FYI play it safe gives parents a great way to monitor children’s online activity. Using artificial intelligence, FYI play it safe scans every app, every online search and every chat across a child’s device, but only alerts the parent or caregiver if there are potentially harmful communications or activities. The app monitors for cyberbullying, online predator contact, access to adult content, and a range of mental health issues affecting teens, including suicide ideation.

FYI play it safe, which has launched globally for children’s Android devices, takes on the detailed monitoring of communications and activities across all the child’s apps and screens. New apps or sites that the child uses and visits are included automatically without the need for the account credentials.

The app processes language used as it scans for signals of online bullying and also alerts parents if their child is engaging with content around depression, self-harm and suicidal ideation. This early warning system empowers parents to take action, open up conversations and get help, if necessary, long before situations develop into emergencies or become intractable issues.  

FYI play it safe is not a substitute for parental control apps, and rather works in tandem with widely used free apps such as the Google Family Link. It gives you an extra, non-intrusive layer of protection covering a child’s online and mobile activity. It saves parents time, while giving them a consensual way to meet responsibilities to keep children safer in the digital environment.

Platform: Android

Expect to pay: The family package supporting up to four children costs R1,200 per annum.

Stockists: Visit the FYI play it safe website here for more information on the app and downloading instructions.

Routed

VMware partner Routed has launched a channel partner portal, which is designed to provide curated resources for its partners, managed services providers, and ISPs selling through Routed.

Routed uses partners who can manage the implementation of its solutions, VMware Cloud-based infrastructure deployments available locally.

“The opportunity exists for our partners who, with the right resources, knowledge and support from Routed and VMware, can engage with their customers to provide the best solutions,” says Andrew Cruise, managing director of Routed.

“The Routed partner portal is a good start for cloud and VMware cloud in South Africa with its end-user reliability, availability and secure cloud infrastructure. The channel has the resources to grow its skills and access the support materials needed to develop its customer base.”

New partner applications to the Routed partner portal are now open.

To sign up for the partner program, visit Routed website here.

Tod Hero

The Tod Hero app is a business management tool for tradespeople and their clients for those ‘life happens’ moments.

“The Tod Hero app is like an Uber for people who need plumbers, handymen, locksmiths and electricians in real time,” says Shannon Mackrill, CEO of Tod. Lockdown left a lot of tradespeople without work and many smaller companies had to shut down.

“In other words, the work was still there but smaller operators didn’t have access to the market and thus they could not connect with customers needing their services.”

Business management features in the app prioritise simplicity, direct connection and cashless payment. Tradespeople can email personal job quotes, get them approved, generate invoices and send them to clients, all in-app. The same holds true for diary management of Tod jobs, private work and reminders.

The app includes GPS tracking, photo sharing, detailed job card descriptions, tool suggestions and an in-app chat function.

Platform: Android and iOS

Expect to pay: Free to download and use.

Stockists: For customers, visit the Tod site here

For tradespeople, visit the Tod site here