Broadband means speed. It is the collective name given to a range of high-speed internet connections that are (normally) always switched on. Always on, always available – just like your electricity or water supplies – broadband is ready, steady, communication power.
For businesses, organisations and individuals, the prospect of moving from an internet connection over a standard telephone line to a broadband connection has been described as like moving from a single track road to a ten lane highway – and one where you’re allowed to drive up to ten times faster!
Broadband is the future of telecommunications – not just for business and personal web and email use, but also for other internet applications such as voice, video conferencing, e-business, radio, streaming video and digital TV. In business, in particular, broadband will impact across almost every sector from education and healthcare to manufacturing and tourism.
Offering speeds up to ten times faster (and sometimes even 40 times faster) than a standard internet connection, broadband makes it easy and cheap to transfer large quantities of data, images, graphics, video and high quality sound.
Enhancing communications
Broadband can make a profound impact on the way you do business. And that impact is often most apparent in the area of communications, both internally among employees, and externally with customers, suppliers and other stakeholders. Broadband means that many small businesses can finally exploit the full potential of already familiar communication tools such as the web and email – while it also opens the door to using more sophisticated tools such as remote storage services and online meeting facilities.
The always-on nature of broadband technology means that employees can communicate with each other much more easily. They can also have online information updates delivered direct to their desktop with no need to dial up. For smaller businesses, an always-on connection will help to improve external relationships – particularly with customers. For example, it will help you to deal more effectively and efficiently with customer enquiries and orders. You will receive enquiries and orders as soon as they are sent, and so you should be able to respond much sooner too. Individual customers will enjoy greater personal contact with the key people within your business.
A broadband connection will also allow you to collaborate with partners and suppliers remotely – using advanced web-based meeting and planning tools. With high-speed connections, collaborative communications can overcome any distance barriers and enable you to work with others in virtual private networks (VPNs).
Business communications can also be improved. Using your broadband connection to exercise constant control over your website, you can rapidly add or amend content and sales data as required. As a result, communication with your customers and potential customers will be more efficient. And, of course, using your broadband connection to ensure that your website is always up to date is the first step in beginning to exploit the potential of e-business.
Improving performance
Getting the most out of business communications and e-business can help to improve productivity and performance within your business. The simple ways in which broadband may help small and medium sized businesses to improve performance will include:
- freeing up dial up and download times for other activities
- enabling employees to use the phone and internet simultaneously
- being able to connect different PCs to the web at the same time
- reducing paperwork by using web services to book travel, buy stationery, etc.
- improving employee satisfaction and, as a result, individual productivity
- creating more effective home working opportunities
Businesses will also be able to improve their customer service – and cut the time taken to process and manage customer orders – by operating web-based customer relationship management systems and on-line ordering facilities.
Similar opportunities to improve performance will extend throughout most areas of your business. Because, to put it bluntly, the full use of many existing business software applications is simply not practical with a traditional dial up service. For example, a broadband connection will make it much easier to use online procurement systems to find new suppliers.
And, of course, broadband will also break down many of the traditional barriers to export. The use of streaming video and conferencing facilities such as Net Meeting will make it easier to make business presentations, and market and sell your products, to potential customers anywhere in the world.
