If you operate a small business on a budget but you need a good Internet service provider (ISP), the good news is that you can opt for the basics and still get a great system. Regardless of the type of business you’re involved in, most business Internet companies can provide you with everything you need for your office to run smoothly and efficiently. That being said, you’ll still need to research different companies to make sure that they offer you what you need at a price that is affordable, and below are some of the features that you’ll want to look for:
High-Speed Access
At one point, high-speed Internet access wasn’t that fast and it was very expensive. That is no longer the case, and a high-speed plan allows your staff to do more things in less time. Even if you intend to grow — and who doesn’t? — high-speed access will grow with you and always accommodate your needs. The biggest advantage, however, is that business ISPs can be up to ten times faster than residential Internet connections. And when you’re running a business, this speed is crucial to your success.
Mobile Apps
Self-service apps that you can enjoy on your smartphone are a necessity. Let’s face it; people are on the go now more than ever. If you travel regularly for business, you’ll appreciate the fact that you can use your mobile phone to pay bills, update your profile, and change your password. These apps also allow you to save invoices and customer history to the clouds so that you can do almost everything through those apps that you can do when you’re sitting at your computer. More than just a luxury, mobile apps are now considered a necessity when researching different business Internet companies.
Good Customer Service Department
This is especially important when dealing with smaller or unknown ISPs because the last thing you want is to have a problem in the future and not have an easy way to take care of it. An ISP’s customer service department should be available 24/7, and you should be able to talk to a live person at any time in order to resolve any issues you’re having. You should also check customer reviews online to determine how satisfied most of them are with the service. Look at uptime and network stability, and the more information you can find out about them, the more comfortable you’ll feel choosing that particular Internet service provider.
Business Email Service
Most business ISPs offer a good business email service. Let’s face it; this is a must in today’s business world. A professional business email address lends some credibility to your organization and makes it much easier for employees to communicate with one another. Unlike personal email accounts, business email accounts usually have tons of storage space in case you regularly send out attachments to your email. You also get more room to archive all of your emails, and as a business, this can come in handy quite a bit.
Web Hosting Services
If your business is going to have a website, you’ll need a good web-hosting plan, and a good business Internet service provider can provide it to you. Even if the ISP doesn’t help you build your website, it should still offer a web-hosting service so that customers and others can find you online. These days, a lot of business ISPs are offering web hosting that is cloud-based, and this offers tons of advantages. The biggest one is your ability to handle any surges in peak simultaneous users (PSUs) that would otherwise cripple your web server. And while you’re at it, the ISP should also be able to help you with registering your domain name so that you’re all set to go.