Rick Felderhof (Managing Director)

Overall I can commend and endorse the way owner Ali Ebrahim and Converge approaches his policy of great service, great attitude, great flexibility, great integrity and honesty, and great technology all at a fair & reasonable price – all core attributes that SME businesses in NZ are looking for. We need great technology and we require our technology partners to find new ways of helping us with what we really need. We found that working with our technology partner as we do with Converge, in good and bad situations, builds trust and a strong bond. We know that Converge is constantly looking for the next generation of technology with international vendors that appreciate our skillsets and could help Kiwi businesses progress internationally. We know that Ali loves and is very passionate about what he does and as you will appreciate, technology cannot be treated as a 9 to 5 job – it is a calling from within.

Most SME businesses realise the true nature of larger technology providers after the honeymoon period is over - when things don’t work / account managers change / management decisions go in a different direction / lack of flexibility / have blinkers on with processes / do not innovate etc. Ali on the other hand has demonstrated he understands SME businesses… his business is one after all. Delivering and servicing Kiwi SME businesses is clearly a market niche that Ali & Converge should focus on to grow their business. As mentioned before, our partnership has grown to the point now where Ali has keys to our premises, allowing me to travel for work or holiday outside Auckland, safe in the knowledge that if I need someone onsite while I am away, Ali or one of the team, will be there asap in an emergency – you won’t get that from a big technology provider.

If you are looking for a new roadmap with your technology solutions, I would strongly recommend Ali Ebrahim and his company Converge. I would also encourage you to consider an end-to-end solution providing you with complete IT services and procurement, communications and the next generation of technology. This will help avoid those situations where different providers blame each other and nothing gets resolved, and when it finally does they all send you a bill. Problems do happen, but with “Ali & Converge” when you have one super attentive partner looking after the whole system, they can usually quickly identify where the problem is and get it solved as quickly, efficiently, and the least intrusively as possible.

Happy for you to make contact with me should you require more details at rick@ourworld.travel.

Nirmala Patel & Hanisha Vallab ( Product Champions)

Nirmala: We started the journey with Converge understanding the communications technology and how to use it most effectively within our work environment. Initially, I was impressed by the technologies that it covered and its flexibility. It gave us the ability to phone, video conference with screensharing and instant message. All these could be used through a mobile application or computer with Polycom deskphones for those that need it.

We understood how the system was designed and fine-tuned it with Converge to suit our business and how we operate. The true test for me was when I was selected for Jury duty during our busy period of the year in 2019. At the time, I did have the ability during my breaks to connect to wifi and make much needed calls from my mobile application and manage voicemails with ease through my email. Another instance where the technology helped us was during the Covid-19 lockdown, the video conferencing and screen sharing kept us connected as a team even though we were working out of home.

I look forward to using some of the other technologies that are being tested by Converge in the near future.

Hanisha: Being a Technophobe, the thought of using a new technology was daunting. However, the steps that we followed have made the difference taking us to a point where the team uses the solution like they have for years.

Working with Nirmala on the change over, We compared notes at the end of each day initially and helped each other out. The application itself was intuitive and pretty easy to figure out but if we did get stuck, the support that we got from Converge made the difference. We were able to call or text and ask what we should be doing in a particular situation and always got an immediate solution. This put us at ease, motivating us to use the technology, building confidence to the point that the use of the technology came naturally. It’s like anything new that you try and it takes time to get used to it.

In the office today, we have a much better experience with faster Internet speeds and no outages. The experience of getting a new technology is not something that any employee looks forward to. With Converge, we have seen that tech team is patient and they persevere with us and take us to that next level where we need to be.

Lesley Seuli: (System user)

Two years ago, Converge introduced our company to a new phone system. I thought at the time the system we had was sufficient but once Converge discussed what outcomes theirs would offer, I realized how out of date ours was.

Having the SmartOffice App on my personal iPhone has been incredible for work life balance as I am a full-time working mum and sometimes must leave the office unexpectantly. I can now continue to work from home receiving my DDl and Queue calls if needed. If a client leaves a voice message, I receive an email.

The timing could not have been any more perfect with having the new phone system in place prior to COVID-19. Our whole office has been able to work remotely from home using SmartOffice to receive and transfer calls and Video Calling for our meetings which can be done on both our laptops and mobile phones.

I also love my noise cancelling headset which is great in a busy work or home environment with the bonus of being able to listen to my music through Bluetooth.

Converge were great to deal with and made the transition easy. Through any teething problems they were easily contactable and would have a solution.

Converge really understands what our business requires from a phone system and has delivered so well!