Tasmanian towns join Pay It Fwd scheme providing free digital phone service for SMBs
Connexus, the leader in enabling small business success through technology, has ramped up the rollout of its world-first initiative, the ‘Pay it Forward’ scheme. ‘Pay It Forward’ (Pay It Fwd) provides free digital phone services to local businesses that are in turn asked to reinvest their savings locally.
The innovative Pay It Fwd program, which is funded by Connexus (owned by Australian-founded MNF Group), is now in operation at three Australian towns across two states, with more sites to be onboarded over the next six months.
Hundreds of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are already participating in the program in the South Australian town of Gawler, and Tasmanian communities of Devonport and Sorell.
In exchange for a free digital phone service, local businesses are asked to ‘pay it forward’ and spend with other businesses in their local community. By encouraging businesses to spend the money that would have gone towards their phone bills with other local businesses, it is hoped the Pay it Fwd program will help supercharge local economies. Those taking part in the scheme can use the #payitfwd hashtag on social media to highlight their participation.
“At Connexus our intention is to help boost SMBs. While SMBs account for around 70 percent of all businesses across Australia, only one in five SMBs have a digital business strategy. Upgrading legacy phone systems to cloud-based phone systems utilising the NBN backbone has the potential to assist productivity and save money for regionally-based businesses,” Connexus’ General Manager Lee Atkinson said.
“Often SMBs need a helping hand to overcome the hurdle of moving onto newer technologies. We want to bust open the myths around how onboarding new technologies is difficult.”
The Pay It Fwd initiative was first rolled out to South Australian town Gawler 6 months ago and was launched in Sorell and Devonport this week.
“Since the launch six months ago in Gawler, we are ahead of targets and estimate participants in Gawler have saved over $100,000, reinvesting that money back into the community. On top of this we have provided several sponsorships within the region,” Atkinson said.
“The town of Gawler is an enthusiastic supporter of new technologies and innovation which help to drive business in our town and region,” Gawler Mayor Karen Redman said. “The Pay It Fwd partnership with Connexus has provided local businesses with the opportunity to adopt cloud-based technologies at a subsidised rate. It is great to see Connexus providing this benefit to local businesses, enabling them and their customers to spend more in the local economy which, in turn, assists business growth and job creation.”
Communities involved in the initiative are also supported with TEDx-style educational events and community activations to further accelerate their growth.
Connexus is actively seeking communities across Australia that would like to participate in this ground-breaking regional investment program. Businesses who want to be a part of Pay It Fwd will receive a cloud-based business grade phone system and a basic desk phone handset for free.
For more information about the national Pay it Fwd scheme, please visit https://www.payitfwd.org.
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About Connexus
Connexus solves the pain of technology for small business. Connexus makes business-grade phone, mobile and NBN easy to understand, quick to setup and simple to use, leveraging world-class innovation and investment to create the best business telecom experience for SMBs.
Connexus is part of the MNF Group, one of Asia-Pacific’s fastest growing technology companies. Listed on the ASX since 2006, it is now twice the winner of the Forbes Asia-Pacific “Best under a Billion” award. MNF develops and operates a global communications network and software suite enabling some of the world’s leading innovators to deliver new-generation communications solutions.
For further information about Connexus visit: https://www.connexus.com.au/