If you're a flourishing business that is enjoying unprecedented growth, you need the infrastructure to take your company to the next level. From hiring new staff to purchasing new products, you essentially have to 'feed' your business a bigger diet to maintain its growth, beat your competitors and consolidate your customer base. Here, we look at some of the best scalable connectivity options for fast growing businesses today.
Unlimited, fast internet access – a prerequisite for fast-growing enterprises
High-speed broadband
Broadband is now a vital infrastructure requirement for businesses of all shapes and sizes. In June 2013, the UK Government pledged to invest an additional £250 million to ensure that 95 percent of UK homes and business are connected to a broadband link by 2017.
The internet has enabled millions of people across the world to set up their own business from home and earn a living in a way that would have been inconceivable just a few decades ago. Indeed, there are now many companies in the UK that operate from remote, rural bases where the cost of rent is much cheaper than large towns and cities. Of course, to be competitive and to enjoy constant online access, they need a suitable broadband supply.
For fast-growing businesses, an efficient, reliable broadband connection is essential for everyday tasks like checking e-mails, communicating with clients on services like Skype or managing invoices. The faster your broadband speeds, the more data you can download and upload, which is useful if you regularly exchanges large volumes of data with your clients.
Use a leased line
A leased line could be more beneficial for your business if you happen to live in an area that is a long way from an exchange. If you're regularly struggling with sluggish internet speeds or periods with no connectivity at all, now may be the time to make the switch from an ADSL line to a leased line.
A common complaint among internet customers today is having broadband speeds that are slower than what they were advertised in their contracts. With a lease line, however, you can achieve speeds of up to 100Mbps because the bandwidth is dedicated to you, as opposed to an entire community that is dependent on one exchange.
Try hosted telephony
With hosted telephony, you can reduce your expenditure by only paying for the calls you make as opposed to a standard monthly tariff. You can also enjoy many up-to-date features like voicemail, speed dialling and call history to keep track of your clients and make sure that no important phone calls get missed.
For example, with the FeaturePlus hosted IP telephony system, you can administer all of your telephone calls via an online control panel, which helps you manage your telephony with greater efficiency and ensure that you never miss any calls. The Horizon telephony solution, meanwhile, also allows you to manage your fixed and mobile telephony via a web portal and is ideal for business of all sizes, particularly companies operating from more than one premise.
Modernise your business facilities at the earliest possible chance
The longer you wait to update your broadband connection or repair a faulty telephone line, the more you are jeopardizing your commercial prospects and putting your business at a serious advantage. So if your company is thriving and you expect it to expand further in the coming months, now is the perfect time start investing in faster, more efficient facilities to maximize its growth for the future.
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License: Royalty Free or iStock source: www.sxc.hu
Steve Holloway is a senior consultant at ARC Systems, an IT support firm that offers a huge range of connectivity options to clients of all sizes and budgets. Steve has helped dozens upon dozens of businesses improve their communications systems throughout his time at the company.
