Broadband Internet access: The choice for businesses

Let's face it: To an employee, Internet access has now become synonymous with a PC. If you are the owner of a business and are providing each of your employees with a PC to make them more effective in their jobs, they will expect that the machine will come with Internet access.

They will think of hundreds of reasons as to why one is necessary, in case you do not believe that Internet access will make them more productive. Worse, you might even worry that, with the Internet at their fingertips, they will spend their time more on writing e-mails and participating in various chat rooms.

However, despite these work-related drawbacks of the Internet, it is also undeniable that it has helped a lot of companies -- big and small -- reach new heights. Exchanging information now takes only minutes instead of days or weeks. Orders can be placed on-line, and product shipment can be monitored every step of the way.

Some companies still rely on a dial-up Internet connection to run their businesses. Once a day, or at regular intervals, they fire up their modems and connect to their service providers. If there are new e-mails, they will be downloaded. If not, the connection will be terminated right away and there will be no chance for employees to do other things on the Net. It seems to be very cost-effective, as Internet access is always strictly controlled.

Unfortunately, this is not the way people do business nowadays. Questions need immediate answers. Inquiries need immediate responses. If your prospective client has to wait until the next day to get your reply, they may choose to go to your competitor, who will instantly give them the information they need.

Besides which, the Internet has turned into a huge repository of knowledge. While some employees may waste their time visiting adult sites, there are others who may choose to pursue new knowledge with the help of the Internet. If you let them surf the Net, they may also be able to find important news for you -- news about new products, news about competitors' business performance, etc.

Now, if you have already realized that the Internet will bring a lot of benefits to your business, will a dial up connection be adequate? Probably not. Your business will more likely require a broadband Internet access.

A broadband Internet access offers higher speed than a dial-up connection, and can therefore be shared by multiple users in your company. You can easily download manuals, diagrams, blueprints, white papers, presentation slides -- even video clips -- that you can use for your own sales and marketing activities.

Better still, a broadband access also connects your computers to the Internet all the time -- meaning, "24-7". It means that correspondence with your customers, suppliers and partners can take place in real time, as if you were constantly talking on the phone with these people. But now the cost of doing so has become so much cheaper.

If you have a leased line from an infrastructure provider, you will normally get a high-speed, broadband Internet access as part of the package. With this combination, the "toll-road" will not be shared with other customers of the same provider. It is not unlike cable Internet access, where your speed will decrease if more of your neighbors are on-line.

There will be other benefits, too, if your company subscribes to a leased-line provider. Usually, a leased-line provider has a 24-hour technical support service. They may also have a remote troubleshooting capability that can help you solve a problem without having your site open. If you think you want to monitor the online activities of your employees, the provider can supply you with a Multi-Router Traffic Graphing (MRTG), a chart that will show the actual usage of your bandwidth.

Finally, you may prefer a provider that has an international backbone, which usually means that its bandwidth availability is so good that it even serves local Internet Service Providers. -- Zatni Arbi