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With
the Internet receiving widespread attention on radio, TV and
in the print media many companies are examining their strategies
towards establishing a presence on the "Information Super
Highway." You cannot guess Standard Bank's phone number, but
it is easy to guess their web site address, e.g. www.StandardBank.co.za.
As
the fax machine replaced the telex, and as e-mail is replacing
the fax, so is the electronic medium superseding traditional
media in the field of information dissemination.
With
the World Wide Web's interactive and dynamic nature, it offers
business’s an exciting way of publishing information about
themselves, their products and or services at a comparatively
nominal cost. Information which is easily updateable and is
accessible 24 hours a day to a world-wide market of millions
of potential clients.
South
Africa is currently rated as the 12th most connected country
in the world. Still, the market is far from saturation
as the number of new Internet subscribers and Web pages continue
to match and even exceed current growth rates. By establishing
an Internet World Wide Web Site your company can join thousands
of other companies, both large and small, already using the
Internet to further inform their clients and service their
needs.
Protecting Your Company Name on the
Internet
The
Internet uses unique Domain Names such as http://www.vserve.co.za
for Web Sites and info@vserve.co.za
for e-mail. Domain Names are registered on a "first-come-first-serve"
basis and, as with trademarks, once a name has been registered
by a company, everyone else loses the right to use it.
With
over 100 000 domains being registered every month across the
Globe, many companies are registering their domain names even
if they only plan to have their web site designed at a later
stage. With predictions that the Internet will become the
primary vehicle for information dissemination and trade in
the near future, the registration of a company’s name on the
Internet is an investment in it’s future.
"An
Internet presence shows the public what your company does,
the style it does it in and provides vital information about
the services you provide … Another advantage is that it
provides a point of reference for establishing contact and
setting up valuable customer relations, to the client and
future clients."
"A Web presence is necessary for the same reason letterheads
and business cards are necessary. A business can get by
without them for a while, but sooner or later people simply
expect you to be able to produce a business card with a
telephone number, a fax number and an e-mail address on
it. More and more businesses are starting to prefer looking
up an on-line presence to reassure themselves that they
are dealing with a reputable company. "
From
the South African Technology Update Magazine, April 1998.
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