Business Phone and Broadband Deals: 6 Tips When You’re In The Market
Small Businesses have very different needs from enterprise companies. For small companies to thrive & grow, keeping costs low is the biggest priority which often leads them to buy the cheapest business broadband service available . But this can cost them much more over the year with the downtime they experience from it & poor speeds. No business wants an unreliable broadband connection. If you need Business Phone and Broadband deals for the smooth and efficient running of your business, you have come to the right place! We have done the research for you, so read on below to learn some handy tips and tricks to help you secure the best deal.
If you would like to learn more information or pricing about business broadband, you can do so here .
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Opinium have done some research on the cost of poor internet to UK businesses. It tells us that a whopping 72% of UK businesses faced internet failures last year & which caused an estimated downtime of 149 million hours. Individually these businesses experienced 43 hours in lost connectivity and suffered losses averaging out at £3,125, translating to £521 per employee.
When you consider the amount of money you can throw away picking the wrong phone and connectivity solution, its understandable most business owners would want to ensure they get the right product at the right price. Knowing how to choose the right fit can be a difficult task. We have put together this guide to help you.
1. Know your business broadband Speed
When looking at business broadband deals, before you even get a quote, you need to know what speed your company requi res . Broadband speeds play a big role in the price you will pay, so the higher the speed you need, the more it will cost you monthly. Traditional DSL broadband typically starts from around £15 per month, which is often attractive to small businesses who want to keep costs low.
However, this is not always the most reliable internet connection you can get for your business. This is because it runs on copper wires, and many lines are shared with up to 50 other users. This means that speeds aren’t reliable, and you may find the connection gets much slower or drops out entirely at peak times.
Fibre optic business broadband has increased in popularity amongst business users in recent years. It will give you faster speeds and improved reliability but also comes with a higher cost point than DSL solutions. There has been huge infrastructure improvements in the UK, which has seen certain areas able to get 1Gb broadband connections.
1Gb broadband would be suitable for many small businesses that need fast speed. However, it’s essential to remember speeds are not guaranteed & like traditional broadband, the service is still shared, which means you may experience lagging or drop outs at peak times. Its also worth noting that just because its available does not mean you need it. The only way to get 1 GB guaranteed is to opt for dedicated leased lines .
1Gb is a huge amount of bandwidth and generally would only be needed by corporations that have high bandwidth needs, like architects or streaming websites. The majority of small businesses in the UK are unlikely to need more than 100Mb business broadband .
2. Know your business phone and broadband needs
There’s quite a few options when picking out a business phone & fibre optic broadband deal & its important to know exactly what you need so you are comparing like for like & don’t end up with a product that doesn’t work for you.
A few questions worth knowing the answer to are:
How many handsets do you need?
What type of phone service is suitable for your business?
If you decide on an IP-based phone system, they are cheaper, but you do need a stable & reliable internet connection, so ask yourself how good your internet is.
Do you need to upgrade your internet to enable the business phone line to work?
Do you need fibre business broadband or a dedicated leased line ?
What is your budget & timescales?
Are there any other services you can bring in to negotiate a better deal for your company?
These will all play a part in helping you secure the best deal possible, but we would also suggest using what you can to negotiate with providers. Contrary to popular belief there is often room for negotiation so if you could sign within a short timescale, have other services to add in or have had a good quote elsewhere, use it to your advantage!
Us Brits often get caught up being too polite, but this is business – yours was probably built on great negotiations so do what you do best.
3. Understan d business broadband is not the same as home broadband
Business Broadband is different to your home broadband for a few reasons. Firstly, its not shared with as many other customers. This means that a business line in the same area as home broadband line will be more reliable & have less buffering.
Business broadband will also usually come with a static IP address, whereas your home broadband will usually give you a dynamic IP address. Most businesses prefer a static IP address as it is more secure & can enable you to do a range of technical things like host your own website.
You will also get better customer service with business broadband, so if anything does ever go wrong, you get quicker responses & queue priority with most providers, most being UK-based teams. The customer service for business broadband is not as good as you would get for leased lines, so if you do need a stable connection with guaranteed speeds, a leased line would be a better choice.
The other key difference is the line rental cost. Business-specific broadband services tend to cost more than those advertised to home users. This is usually because the providers don’t allow as many subscribers on the same line, meaning your business gets a lower contention on the line and, therefore a more reliable speed.
4. Do not just go with BT Business phone and broadband
BT business broadband has dominated the UK since business broadband began. BT are the leading name when it comes to telecoms in the UK & with good reason. They are the most prominent brand & have dominated their industry for years.
However, much like the big 6 in energy have been disrupted, so have BT when it comes to business phones & broadband. They are often one of the most expensive providers despite having the ability to sell cheaper than anyone. If they had a superior product or customer service, it might be worth paying, but the fact is they don’t. In fact, BT business customer service reviews can be found with a quick google search & they paint a picture.
BT rely on its reputation to get new customers & high retention because customers don’t want the hassle of switching providers. Consumers now are aware that there are big cost savings when you change providers or shop around for the best one.
5. Understand the types of business phone systems & connectivity options
When looking at business phone systems, the two you will hear of the most are :
Traditional PBX – This requires having the equipment on site. Install time is longer, it’s more expensive and needs a professional to manage. It’s becoming a legacy service so wouldn’t be recommended for small businesses.
VoIP/Hosted VoIP – Hosted VoIP solutions are the easiest and cheapest service for small businesses. They use the internet to make calls so it’s important you have a good connection. Simply download the sofware, plug in your softphones and you are able start making calls. All the technical side is managed by the provider & can cost less than £10 per month per user.
If you are unsure what the best phone system for your small business is, follow the link to read our article that will help you make an informed decision.
Below is a handy guide to common terms about VoIP and business phone systems:
Name
Meaning of Reference
Leased circuit,
Circuit
The words line and circuit are often used as synonyms in telco terminology, circuit makes reference to the electrical circuit between the two endpoints.
Serial link,
Serial line
The words link and line are also often used as synonyms. Serial, in this case, refers to the fact that the bits flow serially and that routers use serial interfaces
Point-to-point link,
Point-to-point line
Refers to the fact the topology stretches between two points and two points only.
T1
A specific type of leased line that transmits data at 1.544 megabits per second (1.544 Mbps)
WAN link,
link
Both these terms are very general, with no reference to any specific technology.
Private line
Refers to the fact that other telco customers cannot copy data sent over the line, so the data is private
6. Compare business phone and broadband deals
Using a comparison site to get the best deal doesn’t mean meerkats & Oprah singers. They have done a great job of showing how much consumers can save by comparing prices. But for business services, you are better off using a business comparison, like us!
You can save hundreds per year by switching to a better business broadband and phone provider & it couldn’t be a more straightforward process:
Fill out the quote request form
Let us do all the work & find the cheapest suppliers in your area
Sit back & wait for the quotes to come in.
For more information on business phone systems, visit the pages below:
Other useful links about business broadband:
Guess Wifi for Businesses
EE Business Broadband
What makes business broadband, business? | Compare Your Business Costs
Remember to Compare Your Business Costs is here to help your business every step of the way from business advice , or saving you time and money on your business purchases such as:
James Ward is CEO and founder of CompareYourBusinessCosts.co.uk, a website that won the Prestigious ‘Website of the Year’ only in its second year of operations in 2015. The website has grown organically since then offering comparisons on over 20 different products including insurance, energy, telecoms, card machines, coffee machines and much more. James has a range of interests including horse racing, skiing, rugby and boxing. He splits his time between home family life, friends, exercise and socialising.