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Posted on Author Dave King Categories Business Broadband, Telecoms

6 Things To Consider When Choosing A Business Broadband Provider

Choosing the best provider for your broadband can be complicated. There are several considerations to make and the service that each business needs can be very different.

Reliable, high-speed broadband is no longer an add-on, it is essential to the day-to-day operations of almost every company.

Here are six of the most important things to consider when choosing your business broadband package.

1. How Good Is The Customer Service?

When it’s something as critical as your business broadband, customer service can be vital to ensuring you maintain operations. For many businesses, every minute of downtime equals more and more lost revenue.

Ideally of course, your broadband will never go wrong, but if there ever are any connectivity problems, it’s important that your provider fixes them ASAP.

Make sure that the SLA (service level agreement) on your broadband contract is within an acceptable time frame for your business.

2. How Scalable Is Your Plan?

If you’re a growing business, it’s important to have broadband and telecoms plans that can grow with your company.

Don’t let your broadband package set the pace of your company’s expansion, make sure that you choose a package which is scalable. Before you decide on a plan, think about the following:

  • Could this broadband package handle a 50% increase in users?
  • Are there processes or technologies which aren’t in place now but that I would like to introduce in the near future?
  • How much could my business expand before this package would become insufficient?
3. How Long Are You Tied Into The Contract For?
Many business telecoms providers will use “deals” and “special offers” to try and lock you into three, or even five-year contracts. While these might suit some businesses, they are not best suited to small and medium businesses who are still in the process of expanding and may well outgrow the limits of those contracts. Only sign up for a five-year contract if you are 100% sure it is the best deal for you, and you are reasonably sure it will still be a great deal in five years’ time.

Some providers, such as Carden Telecoms, offer monthly rolling contracts that can be cancelled at any time.

4. Can You Get A Better Deal By Combining Multiple Services Into One Package?
Combining your services into a single bill can mean serious savings. You also get the convenience of having a single point of contact for multiple services. Consider if, like Carden Telecoms, your broadband provider also supplies phone lines, VoIP (Voice over IP) services, business mobile phones and other telecoms hardware like desk-phones and headsets.

Ideally, your provider will let you build you own bespoke package, choosing various services to craft the best value deal for your needs.

5. Does The Package Match Your Needs?
The headline price on many packages can seem too good to be true – and there’s normally a reason for that. Cheap prices can often refer to very specific circumstances and features which may not line up with how you actually use your broadband.

In addition to checking that the price covers all the services you require; you should check that the costs are fixed for the duration of the contract so there are no nasty price hikes after the first six months.

6. Research Others’ Experience
A company can have the best sales patter in the world, but the proof is in what their current and former customers say about them. Investigate how others have found their experience with the provider or package you are considering.

Speaking with friends in similar industries, checking review sites, reading the broadband provider’s own testimonials and asking for recommendations on LinkedIn are all good ways of gathering information before making a big purchasing decision.

Choosing the right business broadband for your company is a big decision and one you should consider carefully. We hope this guide has given you a good overview of a few of the most important factors to consider.

For more information about business broadband and other enterprise-grade telecoms solutions like work mobile phones and VoIP, speak to a member of Carden Telecoms’ team today.

Business Broadband Telecoms

Author: Dave King

Dave King is the Co-Founder and Director of Carden Telecoms and the wider Carden IT Group. Dave is experienced in business telecoms with a focus on cloud telephony and connectivity services.