While the company itself is housed in a modest office park on the outskirts of Cape Town, the products that Multenet Technologies makes can be found around the world. The company develops networking products that are not only in demand for an array of South African applications, but enjoy enough of an international market that the company has appointed resellers in the USA, Europe, the Middle East, southeast Asia and Australasia.
Registered as a subsidiary of Control Instruments Group in 1999, Multenet’s commercial début came in the form of the E88, which proved popular with local banks as an effective method of connecting ATM machines to their Ethernet networks. It has since earned respect from the likes of Schneider Automation and Hirschmann Electronics for its ability to supply products specifically designed for the industrial automation and industrial Ethernet markets.
The company’s product range now encompasses a broad selection of equipment – some Multenet-branded and some made for third parties – targeted at telemetry, process control, building automation and access control. Embracing state-of-the-art wired and wireless technologies, these devices include modems, routers, gateways and device servers, and are supported by an optional private APN service with static IP addressing for businesses requiring secure and remote connectivity to their devices and networks.
Boasting certification to ISO9001:2000, Multenet’s focus on quality is evidenced by its employment of reputable local contract manufacturers – namely Tellumat and Barracuda Holdings – for printed circuit board assembly. Its commitment to maintaining accountability for the final product means that Multenet prefers to keep product integration and software load and test processes in-house. This dedication, together with its enviable reputation for providing exceptional service and support, has gone a long way to securing a loyal customer base that continues to expand.
This loyalty is mirrored by the company’s own support of the local electronics manufacturing industry, despite challenges such as the shortage of technical skills and high unit cost of short production runs. Sadly, this is not being adequately reciprocated by government.
In the context of continuous infrastructure development by the likes of part state-owned company Telkom, and given the potential synergy with Multenet’s area of expertise, it is disappointing to see this local developer being left out in the cold: the company “gets no enquiries from government and quasi-government organisations,” explains sales and marketing manager, Phil Blain. “Telkom has a supply organisation structure that makes contact difficult. We are also not well placed to bid for mega projects.”
Despite this, the rate at which Multenet continues to innovate shows no signs of slowing. Its latest offering, the MultiGate, is a router capable of switching between ADSL and 3G cellular network interfaces in case of link failures, as well as switching between two cellular service providers for added redundancy. Its feature set includes advanced VPN functionality, built-in firewall, advanced routing, VRRP+ and dynamic DNS.
For more information contact Phil Blain, Multenet Technologies, +27 (0)21 905 1369, phil@multenet.com, www.multenet.co.za
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