Is there anything in today’s world that does not rely on the internet? It plays a vital role in almost anything we do; from business to personal endeavors the internet is usually at the center of it all. When it comes to maintaining and advancing your business one of the key pieces of the puzzle should be a reliable internet connection. Many things are affected by a bad or no internet connection, let’s start with what doesn’t work if your internet is out.
E-mail / VoIP Phones / Cloud Based Services -If your internet is down you have essentially lost all forms of communication. You cannot attend that video conference for your next big project, nor can you send an e-mail stating why you won’t be able to make it, furthermore you cannot listen in because your phone is down as well. While you may have just missed a conference call, your employees are now sitting idly while they wait for the internet to come back up, and you’re paying them to do so. Productivity has now slowed down almost to a screeching halt and your overhead has remained the same. When so much, if not all, of your communication relies on the internet why would you gamble with your connectivity? Which brings me to my next point, don’t cheap out on the internet service plans.
Some small businesses try to get by on cheap plans or even worse a residential internet plan to save money, while this might work for a short period of time it will eventually be detrimental to your growth. With a lack of bandwidth (how much information can be transmitted over a connection) that is suitable for your needs, your day to day processes are going to become slowed or interrupted. With so many entrepreneurs out there all trying to obtain the same thing, success, don’t fall short because you had internet problems and could not get the proposal sent out in time. Be sure you are choosing the correct amount of bandwidth for your company now and as it grows. It may cost a little more but in the long run will save you down time and lack or efficiency from a slow connection.
While no internet connectivity is bad, slow connectivity is just as detrimental. With a slow connection you are always at the risk of your systems freezing, phone calls dropping and data packets getting lost. This presents your company in an unprofessional way to the client who was on the dropped call or the customer who needs help, but you cannot help them because your system is frozen. Keep in mind that the lack of maintenance on your technology products could be causing some of your slow connection as well. One computer alone with viruses and malware on it could be sucking up available bandwidth and you don’t even know it.