Aside from being online and getting their business name lookup by phone number for free, an internet connection is indispensable for almost all companies today. Small companies or freelancers can sometimes still handle a private connection, but for most (larger) companies only a business connection is sufficient.
These need more options for business than a private connection offers, especially when they want to grow. Most of the advantages of business internet are in the difference in the possibilities and the guarantees on the business connection.
Here, we have listed the biggest ones for you.
1. More connection options with business internet
Fiber optics are still far from being accessible everywhere. Private construction is often only possible if there are economies of scale – i.e. multiple customers. Providers connect district by district to fiber, after which a fiber optic connection is possible.
For business users, the connection can be connected on behalf of the customer (you as an entrepreneur). It is therefore not strictly necessary that a complete fiber optic network must be built by means of demand bundling. In that respect, business customers have an advantage.
2. Low to no bank transfer
When there is a transfer, the capacity of the business Internet connection in the provider’s core network is shared with multiple users. This ensures that the maximum capacity of the connection is not guaranteed, which is at the expense of the speed and quality of the connection.
With a private connection, the transfer is usually between 20 and 100. In other words: between 20 and 100 people use one and the same connection. A connection of 20 Mbit/s used by 30 people (transfer factor 1:30) therefore only has a speed of 0.67 Mbit/s. With business internet, the transfer is often between 1 and 20. Non-overbooked (1:1) connections are a more expensive option, but you will receive in full what you sign for and pay for. A very reliable connection with the highest possible speed.
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3. SLA vs. Best Effort
At many companies, the data is in the cloud or a data center and telephony runs via the internet, making a stable internet connection crucial to remain accessible to the customer. A malfunction can therefore have major consequences for the performance of your company and can lead to loss of turnover or reputational damage.
If you were to use a private connection, there are few to no obligations from your provider to help you with this. This is done through the ‘Best Effort help’, where customers are often not even helped the same day after minutes on hold at the telephone customer service.
Usually, the uptime percentage for business internet is 99.8%, so you can assume that your internet always works. In the unlikely event that downtime does occur, you want to be helped immediately. These matters are recorded in a so-called Service Level Agreement (SLA). Because of the agreements in your SLA, you as a business customer are immediately helped to solve problems 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
4. Customization options
With private internet, we often work with so-called all-in packages where a fixed price per month applies. This works differently with business internet. Not every company is looking for the same solutions and every company has a different need in terms of network design, bandwidth, and service. That is why business internet more often provides tailor-made solutions that are fully tailored to your (future) needs. Plus, you’re not paying for services your business doesn’t need.
5. Additional services
Where with private connections the internet is mainly used for Facebooking, Netflixing, or amen, business internet connections are made for megabytes of internet traffic per day to billing, payment terminals, security cameras, running servers, uploading and downloading content by employees, working in the cloud and calling via the internet (Voice over IP, VoIP). That simply does not work on a private connection.
Business internet benefits
The above advantages are exactly the reasons why entrepreneurs choose the business internet. Nevertheless, choosing the right internet provider is often a difficult task. Are you considering a business internet connection? Feel free to contact us to discuss the possibilities.