A scant number of small businesses have joined today’s mobile economy, but that doesn’t mean small-business owners themselves aren’t glued to their smartphones while conducting business.
Today, an estimated 80 percent of small-business owners use these devices for business at least once a day, while 25.3 percent check their mobile devices at least once an hour, according to a survey conducted by Manta. Indeed, small businesses and large companies alike have become so dependent on mobile connectivity that just one hour of downtime costs the average company upward of $100,000, according to the Information Technology Industry Council.
With companies so dependent on this technology, it makes good business sense to optimize your connectivity today and for the future. Here are three ways you can enhance your company’s mobile connectivity to improve its overall infrastructure.
1. Upgrade Your Wireless Connection
The foundation of good business connectivity means having a fast, reliable wireless phone provider. For employees needing to download more than 4 GBs per month worth of data or who require three or more phone lines, your best bet is to go with one of the Big Four carriers — Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile or Sprint — rather than a smaller provider, Consumer Reports advises.
Moreover, when considering different carriers, one of the most important things to scrutinize is nationwide coverage. T-Mobile’s website offers a convenient side-by-side comparison map, allowing you to compare its coverage zones alongside that of Verizon, AT&T and Sprint. Because these national coverage maps don’t always take local dead zones into account, you should also confirm coverage by speaking with area users about their experiences.
Beyond holding those conversations, you should also check with your carrier to verify whether you can cancel your coverage and return your smartphone if you experience routine coverage issues. You’ll also want to determine how much data and how many phone lines and minutes you’ll need for your business. You can then use this information as a basis for estimating costs.
2. Improve Your Equipment
Selecting a new wireless carrier also provides a good opportunity to think about upgrading your smartphone equipment. When considering carriers, take into account which types of mobile devices they sell and which types of payment plans they offer.
Along with costs, speed and security are important considerations to think about when deciding whether to purchase a smartphone for business-related purposes. But consider this: 5G networks, with download speeds 10 or more times faster than current standards, are on the horizon — and manufacturers like Qualcomm have already begun introducing modems and processors designed to support these networks. Smartphones powered by 5G networks are expected to hit the market in early 2018, according to Endgadget.
Meantime, Business Insider has ranked the best smartphones on the market. Experts say upgrading to one of the latest smartphones can speed up your workflow and position you to take advantage of technology enabled by faster networks, including 4K video and virtual reality. Additionally, splurging on the latest smartphones also provides you with the most recent security innovations, such as biometric authentication, which ensures only authorized users are able to access these devices.
3. Migrate to the Cloud
Migrating your IT infrastructure to the cloud is another step you can take to enhance your company’s connectivity. Since cloud servers aren’t restricted to the limitations of local IT equipment, they can handle more data and deliver data faster. Cloud services also offer the advantage of providing multiple remote backups to companies experiencing power outages and other related emergencies, which can reduce the risk of downtime.
Additionally, for companies with multiple office locations, cloud services provide an alternative to the costs and complexity of providing optimal network security and speed associated with wide area networks, or WANs. Still need a bit more information about cloud migration? PCMag provides a guide for today’s leading cloud infrastructure-as-a-service solutions, which include Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft Azure, Rackspace Managed Cloud and IBM’s SoftLayer.