The agreement
These Terms of Service (“Terms”) form a binding agreement between you (“Customer”, “you”) and Tech Knowledge Open Systems (Pty) Ltd (“TKOS”, “we”, “us”). They govern your access to and use of the TKOS platform, including hosted phone, contact center, AI, messaging and wholesale voice services (collectively, the “Services”).
If you sign an Order Form, Master Services Agreement or Statement of Work with us, that document controls in case of conflict with these Terms for the matters it addresses.
By creating an account, clicking “I agree”, or using the Services, you confirm you are authorised to bind your organisation to these Terms.
Your account
Eligibility
You must be at least 18, lawfully authorised to enter contracts in your jurisdiction, and not on any sanctions or denied-party list. Services are intended for business use.
Credentials & security
- You are responsible for activity under your account.
- Keep API keys, auth tokens and passwords confidential. Notify us at info@techopensystems.co.za within 24 hours of any suspected compromise.
- We strongly recommend SAML SSO and IP allow-listing for production accounts.
Provision of the Service
We provide the Services on a subscription basis as described in your active plan or Order Form. We will:
- Use commercially reasonable efforts to deliver the Services in line with our published Service Level Agreement.
- Maintain documented information-security controls aligned with HIPAA where applicable and STIR/SHAKEN attestation on US-bound traffic.
- Provide 24/7/365 NOC coverage with tier-3 engineers on call for severity-1 incidents.
We may from time to time modify, replace or discontinue features. Material reductions are notified at least 30 days in advance.
Acceptable use
You agree not to use the Services to:
- Violate any law, including South African TCF, ICASA regulations, anti-spam laws (POPIA, CAN-SPAM, GDPR / ePrivacy) or international sanctions.
- Send unsolicited messages, robocalls, or content prohibited by our Acceptable Use Policy (incorporated by reference).
- Spoof CLIs, manipulate caller ID, or deliver traffic with fraudulent origination.
- Reverse-engineer, decompile or attempt to access the Services' non-public infrastructure.
- Resell the Services unless your contract expressly authorises wholesale or partner reseller terms.
We may suspend or terminate any account that materially breaches this section, with notice where reasonably practicable.
Fees & payment
Pricing & usage
Fees are set out in your Order Form or on our public pricing page. Usage-based charges (calls, SMS, AI minutes) are billed in arrears using rates effective on the date of use.
Invoicing
- Subscription fees are billed monthly or annually in advance.
- Usage fees are billed monthly in arrears.
- Invoices are due net 14 days from issue, unless your Order Form states otherwise.
- Late amounts accrue interest at the lower of 1.5%/month or the maximum allowed by law.
Taxes
Prices exclude VAT and any applicable telecom levies. You are responsible for taxes other than those on our net income.
Term, suspension & termination
Term
The agreement begins on your sign-up date and continues until terminated. Plans renew automatically for successive periods unless cancelled before renewal.
Termination for convenience
You may cancel from the dashboard. Cancellation takes effect at the end of your current paid term — no refunds for partial periods unless required by law.
Termination for cause
Either party may terminate immediately if the other materially breaches the agreement and fails to cure within 14 days of written notice. We may suspend without notice for security or legal reasons.
Effect of termination
On termination, your access ends. We will, on request and within 30 days, export your data in a machine-readable format. After 30 days, residual customer content is deleted in line with the Privacy Notice.
Customer data & confidentiality
You retain all rights to data your organisation submits or generates through the Services (“Customer Data”). We process Customer Data only as your Operator / Processor in line with the Data Processing Addendum, which is incorporated by reference.
Each party will protect the other's confidential information using the same care it uses for its own (no less than reasonable care) and for at least 3 years after disclosure.
Intellectual property
We retain all rights, title and interest in the Services, the underlying software, the documentation and any improvements, including improvements suggested by you.
You retain all rights in your Customer Data. You grant us a worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, process and transmit Customer Data only to the extent necessary to provide the Services to you.
Feedback you give us about the Services is non-confidential and we may use it without restriction or attribution.
Warranties & disclaimer
We warrant that the Services will perform materially in accordance with the documentation. Our exclusive remedy for breach of this warranty is, at our option, repair, re-performance or pro-rata refund of fees paid for the affected period.
To the maximum extent permitted by law, the Services are otherwise provided “as is”. We disclaim all implied warranties, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. We do not warrant uninterrupted or error-free operation.
Limitation of liability
To the maximum extent permitted by law:
- Neither party is liable for indirect, special, incidental, consequential or punitive damages, lost profits, lost revenue or lost data — even if advised of their possibility.
- Each party's aggregate liability arising from or related to the agreement is capped at the fees you paid TKOS in the 12 months preceding the claim.
- The cap and exclusions do not apply to: (i) breach of confidentiality, (ii) indemnification obligations, or (iii) liability that cannot be limited by law.
Indemnification
We will defend you and your affiliates against third-party claims alleging that the Services, used as permitted, infringe valid intellectual property rights, and we will pay damages or settlements finally awarded.
You will defend us and our affiliates against third-party claims arising from your Customer Data, your use of the Services in breach of these Terms, or your end-user complaints.
Each party's indemnification obligations require prompt notice, sole control of defence and reasonable cooperation.
Governing law & disputes
The agreement is governed by the laws of South Africa without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. The parties submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the High Court of South Africa, Gauteng Local Division (Johannesburg), unless your Order Form specifies arbitration.
Before filing a formal claim, the parties will attempt good-faith negotiation for at least 30 days, escalated to senior executives.
General
- Assignment. You may not assign this agreement without our written consent. We may assign in connection with a merger, acquisition or sale of substantially all assets.
- Force majeure. Neither party is liable for failure caused by events beyond reasonable control, including carrier outages, regulatory action or civil unrest.
- Notices. Legal notices to TKOS must be sent to info@techopensystems.co.za with a copy to our registered address.
- Entire agreement. These Terms, the DPA, the AUP, your Order Form and any signed addenda are the entire agreement and supersede prior understandings.
- Severability. If a provision is unenforceable, the rest remains in effect.
- No waiver. Failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of future enforcement.
Contact us
Questions about these Terms? We're happy to help.
- Email: info@techopensystems.co.za
- Post: Tech Knowledge Open Systems, Spaces Broadacres Willow Wood, 220 3rd Avenue, Fourways, Gauteng 2191, South Africa
- Phone: +27 10 070 6007 (Mon–Fri, 07:00–20:00 SAST)
Document control
This page replaces all prior versions. Material changes are emailed to account admins at least 30 days before they take effect. Archived versions are available on request.