Guide to Business Broadband
What is Business Broadband?
Most businesses now rely to some extent on the internet. Some businesses simply use it to send and receive emails, but many businesses would not be able to operate without a broadband connection.
Business broadband is geared exclusively towards businesses of all sizes. It includes a range of features that are of use to businesses but of little importance to home users, and it justifies its higher fees through a combination of superior performance and greater reliability.
Overall, it is designed to provide business owners with peace of mind for the smooth operation of their business.
This guide will explain the main features included in the majority of broadband packages, so you can decide whether it is something you would be willing to invest in for your business.
What Does Business Broadband Provide?
The extra features that business broadband provides vary between service providers and the size of the business in question. Below you will find the main features that are fairly standard on most business broadband packages.
Security
Viruses can spell disaster for a business. Not only can they corrupt important files, but they could even allow hackers to get access to sensitive data. Data loss is big news at the moment, leading to huge fines for companies accused of mishandling sensitive data, not to mention the added embarrassment that comes with it. Many businesses will have access to at least some personal details of clients, customers or employees, and protection of these is paramount.
Viruses, Trojan horses and malware can cause serious problems to the reputation and functioning of a business. It is therefore worth the extra investment to ensure that all the business data is protected. Business broadband comes with superior security protection compared to domestic broadband, making it one of the major reasons companies make the investment.
Backup
Computers can suffer from a range of problems that can cause data loss: hard drives crash, equipment gets stolen, viruses delete important files. It is therefore important to have a backup.
Backing up files and systems is absolutely essential for businesses. Whereas a domestic user would only have to put up with the loss of a few photos and files should their hard disk fail, a business could lose a whole year’s work.
A business broadband package will nearly always provide an offsite backup service. This literally means that they will take all the information from the system and back it up somewhere offsite. Then even if the worst happens and all the computers are stolen overnight, at least the loss is limited to the hardware and not the vital documents and information contained within.
Better Support
Every broadband package will have some element of support. With domestic broadband this support is likely to be very limited, perhaps coming with a phone number or an email address. For most people, this is not a problem. Although it can be frustrating when your broadband connection goes down, it is usually not a serious problem.
For a business, the loss of a broadband connection can be disastrous. That’s why business broadband comes with far superior support. This will often consist of a dedicated support line, the option of having an engineer sent out to fix the connection, and the inclusion of an SLA (Service Level Agreement) in the package. This is a guarantee that the problem will be fixed within a certain time or compensation will be due.
Other forms of additional support include a backup dialup service that allows the business to keep sending and receiving emails if the broadband connection goes down, and remote support where a technician can take control of computers in the office from a different site.
Faster Speeds, Bigger Limits
Domestic broadband is getting faster all the time. But business broadband packages tend to provide faster speeds to make downloading and uploading files a lot more efficient. A slow connection costs money for many businesses, and it is important to get the best speed possible.
Domestic packages often come with download limits, which restrict the amount of time that the internet can be used for. This is generally not an issue with business broadband, which often comes with unlimited downloads.
Remote Connection
Remote connection means staying in touch with the rest of the office whilst you are offsite. This is achieved through a VPN (Virtual Private Network) which allows workers to connect to the office just as normal from anywhere. This can be very useful for workers attending business meetings or working from home.
Static IP Address
A static IP address is often essential for businesses. With domestic broadband, every time you log onto the internet you are assigned a different IP address. However, if you want to use things like FTP servers and email servers, which are widely used by businesses, then a static connection will be required.
Scalability
Businesses grow and develop, and for that reason you may well need to upgrade your broadband service after purchasing the initial package. Business broadband allows for this in a way that domestic broadband does not.
Extras
There are numerous extras that are often included with a business broadband package. Some of these are very useful, whereas some may just be used to swing your decision.
- VoIP – more and more businesses are using VoIP, especially when it comes to making international calls. Businesses that have offices in different countries can set up whole networks so that they never have to pay for calls. Free software and even hardware is thrown in on certain business broadband packages.
- Free Equipment – this can include routers, useful software, backup tapes and anything else that will save you a bit more money.
- Free Web space, domain name registration, emails – these can all be useful for businesses and can help to save a bit more money.
Choosing a Business Broadband Package
When it comes to choosing a business broadband package, the choice can seem endless. Every provider offers some kind of business broadband deal, and it can sometimes be hard to choose exactly which one is the best. Although they may all look the same on the surface, if you look at the details you will find that they differ in many respects.
Here are some things you should consider when choosing your provider:
- Support – this is the most important factor. How good is the ISP’s support? Will they send out an engineer? Do they have SLAs? Also, find out what operating systems they support as some ISPs will not support Linux users. Also, find out whether they provide 24-hour support or whether it is restricted to business hours.
- Speed – how important is broadband speed to your business? If you are just using the internet to send emails then even a slow speed should be sufficient and should not affect your decision too much.
- Security – always go for the best you can, even if this means paying extra.
- Price – clearly this will be a factor, but remember it’s not always best to go with the cheapest as they are likely to miss out important features.
- Backup – backup is important, but a service can often be bought from third parties for a small cost. If this is thrown into the deal then that’s great, but don’t let it affect your decision if you’ll be paying a lot more for it.
- Freebies – everyone likes freebies, but don’t let them influence your decision too much; free webspace and emails can be acquired very easily from third parties. However, things like free WiFi hotspot access might be very useful for workers on the go.
The best place to start looking is on a broadband comparison website such as Money Supermarket, Broadband Choices, uSwitch and Top 10 Broadband.
But remember, price is not everything when it comes to business broadband, so don’t dismiss the more expensive packages. They could save you a lot of money and frustration further down the line.
