Meet Carmen du Toit — the driving force behind Ocean Basket’s seamless tech operations. As the lead for head office infrastructure, restaurant systems, and connectivity, Carmen plays a vital role in ensuring everything runs smoothly.
But keeping Ocean Basket’s network connected wasn’t always simple. For years, unreliable internet meant delayed insights, disrupted operations, and frustrated teams — costing valuable time and impacting customer experience.
For Carmen, this wasn’t just a technology issue — unreliable connectivity was limiting Ocean Basket’s ability to make fast, informed decisions. Without stable connectivity, head office couldn’t track real-time restaurant data, delaying critical business decisions and slowing the company’s ability to act fast.
“In the old days of dial up modems, connectivity was intermittent and one could still get their job done with a pen and paper but this has changed significantly over the years. Today we cannot function when connectivity is lost even for a moment. The connectivity between the Head Office and our restaurants is so important. If we cannot see their data, it delays critical business decisions.”
Carmen knew the answer wasn’t just better connectivity — it was a partner who could simplify complex infrastructure and deliver always-on solutions. She found that partner in Herotel Business.
Her first priority was ensuring failover capability at both Ocean Basket head offices — reducing the risk of downtime that had previously kept her working late into the night.
Paired with her dedicated Herotel Business account manager, Martin and his team — or her ‘dream team’, as Carmen calls them — a trusted partnership grew. Confident in Herotel Business’s solutions, Carmen gave the go-ahead for Herotel Business to expand services across Ocean Basket’s entire restaurant network.
“I wish Herotel Business were already part of the picture when I joined the business as it would have made my life much easier! I spent many evenings waiting for our service provider to come fix the lines. Almost immediately after meeting them, I felt like they cared more than the other businesses I had been dealing with.”
Herotel Business’s proactive approach helped Ocean Basket avoid costly downtime — keeping teams productive, customers happy, and profits steady.
When one restaurant had no fibre infrastructure and was hampered by municipal red tape, Herotel Business swiftly deployed LTE connectivity to keep operations online — ensuring Ocean Basket’s revenue stream wasn’t affected.
“I can call Martin day or night, speak in English, Afrikaans or Sotho and without fail he will sort out the issues I am experiencing. He never hesitates, delays or disappoints. I always receive an immediate response and quick problem solving. This is a massive win as a service provider in South Africa because we don’t often receive this level of customer support.”
For Carmen, the real difference wasn’t just Herotel Business’s technical expertise — it was their commitment to understanding how connectivity challenges impacted the business.
While Herotel Business’s solutions aren’t yet available at all franchise locations, Carmen envisions a future where every Ocean Basket restaurant benefits from this stable, always-on foundation — unlocking opportunities for innovations like customer Wi-Fi and real-time data streaming.
“After spending a few years in the ICT industry you start to think every service provider is the same. Is a change really going to make a difference? Yes I was hesitant to make the change in the beginning but every so often you come across a service provider that cares. We need to take those leaps of faith because sometimes they turn into a story like this!”
