10 Ways Fiber Internet Connectivity Helps Businesses Make Money
Many think that today’s business world is going wireless. The truth is, whether it’s 5G mobile data or high definition Wi-Fi, information is stored on servers, and accessing it requires a hardwired connection somewhere along the way. The best and most secure way for a business to reach a server full of data is through fiber connectivity.
There are many advantages to wiring your building with fiber optic cable vs. copper wiring. At first, it may seem unnecessary to re-wire an office with fiber, especially if your internet connections seem to be adequate most of the time. However, investing in fiber connectivity can actually help your business make more money in the short term and the long run.
Because fiber technology is state-of-the-art, you may not know all of the benefits. You’ve likely heard of older, legacy internet technologies such as broadband internet, coaxial cable, or twisted pair lines known as DSL. At one point, each of these sat on the cutting edge of internet delivery, but today, fiber optic cable is taking the lead.
Here are ten ways fiber connectivity is helping businesses make money today.
1. Outstanding Speeds
Fiber optic internet is many times faster than older copper wire technology primarily because the materials used to make the fibers are physically superior for transmitting data. Even the highest quality copper is incapable of sending data from point A to point B anywhere near as fast as fiber optic cable. Because you and your team can access information at higher rates of speed, productivity immediately increases.
Rapid speeds are even more critical for businesses who see changes between busy and slow periods. Even if your copper wiring seems to serve your needs on an average day, your ability to access the internet can diminish during your peak time of the month or year. Fiber connectivity eliminates all seasonal slow-downs.
2. Unparalleled Reliability
Fiber optic resources are more reliable than copper wire connections. Electricity and inclement weather can interfere with signals traveling through copper wires. Fiber-optic connections are stronger and more impervious to outside interference.
Fibers must be physically cut for the connection to stop. As long as your fiber cables are well-protected, you don’t have to worry. Rain, ice, and high levels of heat won’t cause problems like they do with copper coaxial cable. If your business needs reliable connections with minimal change of interference, fiber connectivity is the best choice.
3. Powerful Signals
One of the biggest problems with copper wired connections is the loss of signal strength. The further your computer is down the line, the weaker your signal is. Buildings in remote or rural locations are most affected by signal losses. Fiber connectivity eliminates this headache, allowing messages to travel for hundreds and thousands of miles with no damage whatsoever.
With fiber installed on-site, every person on your team will get the same, powerful internet signal, no matter where they are in the building. This strength is especially important for businesses that interact with customers on-site. Better signals mean faster transactions, more satisfied customers.
4. Higher Bandwidth
Another great benefit of fiber optic connectivity is a much higher bandwidth versus traditional internet delivery technology. It’s not unlimited bandwidth, but it’s so vastly increased versus copper wire. More bandwidth means businesses using fiber can do more things at once. Many, many more things at once. Graphics, videos, and other large files that get sent from one office to another all take up high levels of bandwidth. Cloud-based applications take bandwidth, as well. Twenty employees attempting to send and receive large files all at once will accomplish the task on a fiber set up in a fraction of the time it would take over copper wire.
5. Superior Cloud Access
Fiber optic internet can also be beneficial for businesses that rely on cloud access. Twenty years ago, most software was hosted on-site, either on individual PC hard drives or on a local server. Now, nearly all of the latest software manufacturers use cloud hosting for part or all of every program. Even longtime favorite business suites, such as Microsoft Office and Salesforce, require cloud access for business to have full functionality.
Having fiber optic internet connectivity installed in your office means faster access to files on the cloud. Whether that’s customer information or core software systems, your team reaches servers more quickly and efficiently. Depending on the location of your offices, you might be thousands of miles from the server where your customer files are kept. The faster your connection, the faster you can serve your customers and respond to their needs. This rapid access can even lead to better customer retention rates due to higher than average levels of customer service.
6. Advanced Security
Fiber connectivity is more secure than older cable technologies. Hackers very quickly figured out a way to gain access to cable technology through a practice called cable tapping. Criminals put a device near the copper wire to catch signals that are traveling through. That cannot be done with a fiber optic internet connection. Even if a hacker actually hacked into the cable, there would be no information to steal, because all transmissions would cease.
According to a recent study by IBM, a data breach costs an average of $148 per customer affected. If your files include records of 1,000 customers, that’s a lot of lost earnings. Fiber connectivity dramatically diminishes the chances of a data breach.
7. Rapid Scalability
Scalability is something that a lot of companies spend time planning for these days. If you’re not familiar, It’s a practice of making plans for periods of future growth and expansion. Having your building wired with fiber connectivity allows you to be ready for operations on a much larger scale at any moment because so much information can travel through each connection. Large buildings with lots of employees can work at the same time without ever suffering from latency or slow down, even if your operations increase dramatically.
8. No Upload Restrictions
You may have seen a postcard or TV commercial for residential internet service that talks about upload vs. download speeds. Many providers will throttle upload speeds to save bandwidth for the download stream. This restriction is fine for households that don’t upload files to the internet regularly, but for businesses, this can be a real hindrance to productivity.
Some fiber connectivity providers, like Dobson, give you equal download and upload speeds, so your business can send information just as fast as it’s received. Faster uploads lead to more agile processing of customer communications, invoicing, and payment processing.
9. Diminished Lag Times
Anyone who’s streamed video content knows about the lag that causes a pause in the video or breaking up of audio. This type of trouble is called latency. But having a building that’s wired with fiber internet connectivity practically eliminates latency, at least on your company’s end. Substantially more information can be transmitted when uploading and downloading at the same time with fiber.
That’s one of the reasons that companies experience issues with video conferencing: transmitting video and audio simultaneously takes a lot of bandwidth. If you have fiber connectivity installed, you can expect better quality Voice Over IP calls. This enhanced level of digital interaction leads to better trust from customers and business partners, and in turn, stronger sales.
10. HD-Ready Operations
It’s no secret that high definition video is becoming more ingrained in today’s business world. Whether that means HD marketing videos on YouTube or teleconferencing with far-away business partners, all sectors of the business world need to be ready for HD. The good news is, fiber internet connectivity from Dobson makes you 100% prepared for “prime time.” With blazing speeds, unparalleled reliability, and higher bandwidth than copper, your business can handle the demands of doing business today, increasing both workplace efficiency and overall revenue.