How to ensure your business survives broadband downtime

If there’s one thing a business relies on – other than its employees – it’s a good internet connection. But what do you do when you lose access to the internet? In 2016, UK businesses lost three days on average to downtime. Here’s our quick guide on how to reduce the damage caused by a broadband outage.

Put a disaster recovery plan in place

If the worst does occur, you and your staff need to know exactly what to do. Make sure you have a plan in place with clear steps to take.

Ensure yours is a ‘business’ broadband service

With the internet allowing more and more entrepreneurs to establish their businesses from home, it’s important that you agree a deal with a company which provides you with broadband as a business, rather than a consumer. The connection may be identical, but there could be other advantages to using a business connection, such as priority when there is a fault with a telephone line, or even increased compensation in case of a network-wide outage.

Set up separate connections

One option to combat the likelihood of downtime is by having two different connections using different technologies, such as fibre and cable. It’s unlikely that both will fail at the same time. Ensure that, even if your office connection is down, you still have access to the company email – don’t host the mail server in the office, store it in the cloud instead.

Look at other options

Depending on your office broadband router, you may be able to plug in a 4G USB dongle which, during downtime, your employees will be able to switch to and continue working from. Other options include allowing staff to work from home (and thus using their own internet connection) or sharing a connection with other firms or offices in the vicinity of yours.

Invest in business only broadband

Don’t let downtime get your business down. At RHM Telecom we work exclusively with business grade service providers to ensure a quick and reliable connection. To find out more about how we could help your business, get in touch with us today.