An effective communications infrastructure is essential to the survival and success of businesses. The ability to interact electronically with the market has to be functional and constructive, and this is best achieved through stable, robust technology. One of the primary steps in acquiring the necessary infrastructure is to analyse the core operations of the business and visualise the role external communications plays.
This ensures that priority areas are identified and related needs addressed accordingly.
Variable requirements
Companies and the industries in which they operate have variable requirements as far as communication is concerned. A practical example is the level to which a company invests in mobile and wireless infrastructure. This may or may not be a prerequisite for doing trade and daily operations within the business.
An online sales environment would need external communications to be a lot more reliable than someone who dabbles in occasional online trade or simply requires email correspondence.
In the same way, an advertising and marketing agency or broadcast company is heavily reliant on voice, visual communications. It is important to ascertain whether or not these requirements fall outside of the normal telecommunications infrastructure and possibly whether VoIP is needed due to costs incurred on local infrastructure.
Place for consultants
In many instances a company will solicit the advice of an external party to ensure that all bases are covered. There is a place for consultants, especially when it comes to the complex integration of infrastructures and technologies like VoIP and telephony. Some external advisors simply ask the same questions you have in mind anyway.
The emerging small-to-medium sized operation, ranging from a single individual with a PC and an account with a communications services provider (fax, email) right through to a medium-sized office, is having a profound impact on the diversity of infrastructures.
As companies grow and the dissemination of information becomes more critical and complex, the deployment of more effective solutions is required.
It is critical to understand your infrastructure and requirements before acquiring the services of an external consultant.
This will help companies, especially those that experience rapid growth, to avoid overlooking the status of their ICT infrastructure. The advantages of paying close attention to the dynamics and inner-workings of the business is a decrease on running costs, more streamlined operation and a solid return on investment.
