5 Useful Services You May Not Know You Can Access Online

We live in a world where everything is on demand and at our fingertips, allowing you to accomplish a lot more online than you previously could five or 10 years ago.

From purchasing groceries to securing plumbing and electrical services or ordering flowers to be delivered, there are many solutions available online to make your life easier and provide you with instant access to the things you need.

Technology-enabled innovation has led to the disruption of industries and services that were previously only available offline or in person.

The number of services you can secure online is constantly expanding to include things that were unheard of in the past. With that in mind, here is a list of five services you may not have known you could access online.

Book your parking spot

Finding a parking spot in certain busy areas can be a real mission, and it often feels like a waste of time, discouraging you from going there in the first place.

Thanks to a number of useful online services, including Admyt and Parkupp, you can now book your parking online and pay for access to parking areas in advance to enjoy hassle-free access to shopping malls, airports, train stations and other parking structures in popular areas.

Renew your car license disc

If you own a car, you can renew your motor vehicle license disc online. FNB customers can do so from their mobile banking app, while supermarket chain Pick n Pay and the Post Office have now launched services to do the same.

You simply provide some details related to your personal identity and your vehicle, before processing a secure payment online. Your license disc will then be sent to you via courier within a few days at a fee.

Secure professional call answering services

If you run a business and require someone to answer your business calls professionally, using the services of a virtual or remote receptionist and porting your number to a VoIP solution is the smart way to outsource your call answering requirements online.

With Thetha Connect, a virtual receptionist will answer and transfer all of your simultaneously incoming calls via a VoIP extension. This will allow you to reap the cost, security, quality and efficiency benefits of VoIP telephony while ensuring that your calls are screened and answered professionally.

Be sure not to miss any important calls while avoiding spam and other sales calls that will be filtered out by trained virtual receptionists regardless of call volumes. By outsourcing your call answering requirements online to Thetha Connect, you can focus on running your business while your remote receptionist takes messages, transfers important calls as required and organises your incoming communication efficiently through proven VoIP solutions.

Gain new skills from top international universities for free

Online learning is nothing new, with many learning institutions in South Africa and abroad offering courses online. However, you may not have known that you can access more than 2000 free online courses from 140 leading institutions worldwide through edX, an online portal founded by Harvard and MIT in 2012, which aims to increase availability to higher education across the world.

By registering and completing free courses, you can gain new skills and earn a certificate of completion for your efforts.

Find someone to clean your home

Imagine going online to find a trustworthy cleaner to keep your home or office clean. This is now possible thanks to businesses which have been set up to address this need.

South African online cleaning platform SweepSouth is an example of this, using technology to connect users with domestic cleaners through an easy-to-use online system. SweepSouth has been so successful that it has expanded its service offering to include gardening while launching services in other African countries including Kenya and Nigeria.