Your client needs an important legal document sent to them by 4pm. At 3:30pm the unthinkable happens. The internet goes down. You are unable to send the document, you lose the project and you lose the client.
Virtually all businesses depend on the internet these days. In fact, internet to the modern business is like what air is to our bodies. When it is withheld, everything is harder to do and eventually grinds to a halt.
In ensuring you don’t lose this life sustaining property for your business, it is important to remember not all internet providers are created equal, and that bigger doesn’t mean better. With large carriers like BT or Virgin you may be able to get a super deal, but the level of support and speed of service will most likely be lacking. Big telcos don’t care about you or your business.
Moreover it is important to remember no provider can guarantee a perfect internet connection 100% of the time. If a provider tells you they can, they can’t. It simply isn’t possible. What you can do is make sure you have a provider with a resilient network, that cares about keeping your business and is dedicated to providing you with the best service possible.
There are 5 key things to look for to ensure you get the best internet service:
1 – Find a provider that is a member of RIPE. Otherwise they are likely just a reseller (which means a lower level of technical support). Read more about this here.
2 – Ask if they offer 24 / 7 UK based technical support from an engineer, not a call centre. You may think you won’t ever need this, but chances are over the long term you just might.
3 – Do they have Tier 1 data centres and ISP’s with multi gigabit connectivity? If not, reliability will undoubtedly suffer.
4 – Do they provide customer support until the problem is resolved? Or do they just offer a few things to try and then tell you there is nothing they can do. Ensure your provider offers troubleshooting until the problem is solved.
5 – What is their track record like? The past is a likely indicator of the future.
What should you do now?
Check out Connectivity from VTSL. With a 99.9% track record of reliability, two Tier 1 data centres, 24 / 7 technical support from engineers, and troubleshooting until the problem is resolved – you can be sure your business won’t lose out.
