Cassava Fintech International has launched an enhanced voice and video conferencing service that allows up to 20 people on one call on its Sasai platform.
The service is likely to come in handy for Zimbabweans as the country remains in a Covid-19 imposed lockdown.
The pandemic has disrupted movement and caused economic disruptions in the country and globally.
The service is available through the Sasai all-in-one App that allows users to pay, chat, and explore a vast range of services and content and has been unveiled in Zimbabwe first.
Sasai TeamTalk will offer free voice and video conference service, with secure end-to-end encryption, that connects up to 20 people on a single call, compared to telcos and most other social media platforms that offer between five and eight people on a conference call.
Said Cassava Smartech chief executive Mr Eddie Chibi:
“The timing of this service could not have been more appropriate. Families, communities, industries and nations have been impacted by Covid-19 pandemic. Lockdowns, working from home and social distancing have been introduced as some of the measures to stem the spread of the virus and flatten the curve.”
“However, for business, lockdown should not mean ‘shutdown’ and team meetings must still happen if productivity is to be maintained. For families, friends or churches, social distancing should not mean that they stop ‘seeing’ each other, talking to each other or having fellowship in cell groups because they can now use Sasai TeamTalk.”
Mr Chibi said of the latest feature on the Sasai super App, which already offers a unique in-app language translator service with over 80 languages, 50 of which are African languages — including Shona and Ndebele.
The Sasai super App was first launched in August 2019 and is already being used in 180 countries across the globe. Mr Chibi said following its launch in Zimbabwe, Sasai TeamTalk will be rolled out to other markets.
“We fast-tracked this product to meet a market need to enable families, churches and communities across the country to spend time together online during this time in which they are not able to meet freely due to social distancing restrictions on movement,” said Mr Chibi.
He added that as part of the promotion, Sasai data costs at any other time would be at half of the Whatsapp data costs until May 31, 2020, as a way to bring some relief to Zimbabweans.
Sasai chief operating Officer, Mr Tapera Mushoriwa, said:
“The Sasai TeamTalk feature was developed to address a critical need in the market. It sits in the all-in-one super App to provide users with efficient data usage compared to the use of separate, multiple apps.”