Choosing Your Business Internet Access
by VENDIREX on 10/28/2015 - 11:27 am |
Tags: Internet Marketing, Maintenance Management
It’s not an option. Appropriate and reliable Internet access is something your business cannot afford to be without. There may be other things you can scrimp and save on as you open that new office, but this isn’t one of them.
Sure, you need a great website, and maybe an IT person on staff that you trust. That said, the equipment and service you decide upon can make the difference between high employee productivity, and faltering systems that frustrate everyone from your secretary to the clients you communicate with daily.
Well, business Internet is going to be much more expensive than your residential setup. And, there’s a reason for that. It’s a much higher grade of reliability and the support needs to be available during your open hours. At home, they can take 1-2 days to respond when your service goes down. Obviously, that’s not going to work for your company.
The cost will depend on what is needed to keep your business up and running properly; the size of the office and number of employee connections, data needs and - of course - the distance between the ISP (Internet Service Provider) and your location.
Lengths of contracts are usually three years. Most ISPs provide you with Ethernet, T1 piping and routers without charge (or they put it into your monthly payments). Sometimes taking out a longer term contract can get you a free installation and maybe free local loop as well.
Less expensive, this option includes both Internet and telephone service over the same lines. Small businesses can take advantage of this distance-sensitive system, with speeds ranging from 384-1500 Kbps which would easily support 20 people with email and all the basics.
The price is assessed depending how far your office is from the provider’s point of presence (POP). That expense is larger here, because there are fewer subscribers per line. Depending on the bandwidth, this service can cost $50 to $300 for installation, as well as monthlies. If you ‘burst’ your allotted bandwidth limit, there will no doubt be additional charges.
Also known as DS1, this access gives you three times the speed of a dial-up modem; it also supports digitized voice capability on the line. Popular with companies having up to fifty employees, the system supports much larger file uploads/downloads, along with all the basics.
Prices depend on whether it is standard, fractional or bonded - including the local loop from you to the provider’s POP and the access port’s bandwidth. Standard setup and monthlies can cost anywhere from $350 to $1200 depending on the number of activated channels as well as your choice of data, voice, or integrated service. Fractional service is the least expensive and bonded T1s are costed out in multiples of standard lines.
Also known as DS3, the T3 service is a substantial hike in quality. It has a combined bandwidth of 28 T1 lines. It’s a good solution for companies with over a hundred workers, as it runs on fiber optic cable. It handles up to 30,000 times the traffic of traditional copper phone wires!
Of course, the ‘Cadillac’ of Internet access is going to have a hefty price tag. Expect installation and monthlies to run between $3,000 and $5,000. Fractional increments are one option for this office size, but T3 service will actually cost less than T1 bonded multiples with the same speed.
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