Written by Simon Horton, VP of International Sales at Sangoma
We all, generally speaking, need and rely on the internet almost every day of our lives, and it’s no different for businesses. A countless number of employees across the world simply couldn’t do their jobs without internet access, especially with the rise of remote and hybrid working. Selecting the right connection is vital to the operational success of any business, but how do you find out what is best for you?
The consequences of losing connection
Many Unified Communications (UC) and UCaaS systems cannot operate without complete access to the internet. And with many large organisations operating globally, an unstable internet access across multiple sites or offices, can have drastic consequences for critical operations and internal communications.
While internet access is vital within both small and larger companies, IT leaders control how internet access is purchased, installed, distributed, and managed. This presents IT leaders with a big job in managing all areas of internet access, including employee complaints relating to connectivity and speed issues.
Problems with internet connection and speed are common in both corporate and everyday life. But the impact of slow and disconnected internet can have severe consequences on large corporations, often resulting in operation downtime, affected performance and negatively impacted business critical systems.
Ensuring continued access for all
In response to frequent connectivity issues impacting vital operations, many companies have turned to Managed Internet Providers (MIP) to fix this issue. Through MIPs, businesses can obtain the internet connection that best suits their individual business, location, and operation. This allows IT leaders to effectively manage their uptime to ensure their company has constant internet connectivity.
But with so many UC companies beginning to offer Managed Internet solutions, it can be confusing which access is best suited for a company. There are many different types of internet access to choose from, such as Fibre, Cable, T1, 4G, and Ethernet over copper to name a few. Each access has its own unique advantages for each company, depending on the physical location.
With so many different types of access available, IT leaders must remember that they don’t need a one size fits all model for their company. With large, multi-site businesses, IT managers can choose which access would be most suitable for different locations, and they needn’t be all the same. Managed Internet Services allow companies the flexibility and choice to build their own unique internet access system which best fits their internal and external business infrastructure.
The Benefits of Managed Internet Services
While MIPs provide IT managers with the flexibility to choose the best internet access for each physical location, they also allow managers to build their access packages themselves.
By using MIPs to install managed internet services, providers can ensure that a business is getting the best price for each type of internet access. MIPs can also provide Quality of Service configuration, meaning the provider can set up the full internet network for an entire company.
So, while IT managers have free choice to build their Managed Internet service package to suit their business, they can then pass this to a MIP who can install the full system for them. The provider would also perform up/down circuit monitoring and alerting to help manage the Internet network. MIPs can also provide support to companies and help them manage and maintain their network, meaning that IT managers are not solely responsible for all connectivity and network issues. Should an issue occur resulting in network downtime, the provider can enable a network backup, to prevent operations downtime, and allow businesses to continue their work whilst the provider fixes the network issue.
As with all new technologies both the installation, maintenance, and security costs can be high, however by using MIPs companies would get one single unified bill from the provider, allowing IT managers to prevent multiple invoices and help better manage IT budgets.
The advantages of using MIPs are limitless and will revolutionise business internet service offerings. MIPs build a unique, customised solution to provide the best connectivity, security, and reliable option for each individual business. So, it is time for businesses to obtain their internet through MIPs, if they have not already done so, or risk falling behind their competition.
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