How on-site communications networks can impact your company

Of course I've encountered plenty of companies over the years that have been at the other end of the spectrum; labouring under the rule of a restrictive or overly expensive telephony setup that compromises their ability to operate effectively.

But what is it about your internal communication network that can make or break your business and how can you prepare for problems and preserve business continuity in the face of calamitous events and unforeseen circumstances?

The disaster of downtime

A recent report from SanDisk revealed that average PC users waste up to five days a year waiting for content to load on their computational device of choice, according to the Independent.

This is an annoyance for home users who are merely looking to entertain themselves or shop online. But for businesses this loss of productivity and the downtime it causes is much harder to tolerate.

The same is true of an internal communication network, which in the modern age will not only be charged with handling voice calls, but digital traffic generated from a multitude of users accessing information from an ever broadening array of devices.

Infrastructural resilience has come under even more scrutiny in recent years as a result of BYOD (bring your own device) culture. Companies are expected to allow employees to pull out personal smartphones and tablets when they are at the office and use them for work purposes.

This means that the wired network infrastructure needs to be accompanied by an integrated wireless element to enable engagement with these devices, while still offering an underlying durability which means it can withstand growing traffic levels.

A report published this year by Compuware found that 79% of businesses have undergone serious failures in communications and IT equipment in the past 12 months, leading to costs of up to £6.7 million. And even if the problem is fixed quickly, normal operations are not typically resumed for three weeks.

This should be motivation enough to convince companies that they should seek out reliable equipment and service providers, and have the BT customer services phone number on speed dial.

Seeking support

Businesses need not face the challenges of creating a comprehensive and sturdy internal communications network alone, as there are a number of support channels available which should help minimise the impact of downtime.

If you do not have permanent staff members with the right technical skills to oversee system maintenance on-site, you do not necessarily have to go on a recruitment drive to address this issue. It might be more affordable to secure the services of a third party maintenance provider, enabling you to get a quick response if something goes wrong while lowering costs during periods of normal operation.

Telecoms service providers should also be chosen based on the level of support that they provide. As a rule businesses should avoid packages which are not tailored to commercial operations, as the support infrastructure may not be as well developed.

Contemporary technologies such as VoIP and unified communications are even allowing companies to outsource the entirety of their internal network infrastructure to the cloud, which can help with maintenance costs, although this may not be the right approach for everyone.

The most important thing to remember is that with plenty of planning, preparation and work you can create an enterprise-class communications network which will cater to your voice and data requirements while lessening the likelihood of faults occurring. So do not leave the fate of your business uncertain and take the necessary precautions today.