A robust IT infrastructure is crucial to making any small- or medium-sized business (SMB) work. Regardless of the industry, a reliable network infrastructure ensures smooth business operations. Problems such as outages, redundant applications and data, and the like place can place your company at a greater risk of failing to meet service level agreements (SLAs), revenue and reputational loss, and more.
Imagine having an online retail shop, and a customer calls to inquire about a bulk order. Unfortunately, he is unable to reach your staff because your phones are down, so he starts looking elsewhere. That is a lost business opportunity for you due to your phones’ downtime. The longer you keep your customer waiting on the phone, the more customer frustration builds up. Pretty soon, those customers rant on social media, and your bad reputation spreads; and no amount of high-quality product can make up for poor customer service. This is just one of the many reasons why you should keep your network infrastructure in tip-top shape.
Needless to say, when you need to coordinate with businesses from other locations and your internet bogs down, your business-to-business (B2B) relationships will be greatly affected, and your SLAs could be impacted immensely. If you don’t consistently achieve your SLAs, contracts can be terminated and your reputation can be scathed indefinitely.
Here’s a list of how to make your network infrastructure more reliable and deliver the best results:
#1. Make virtual private networks (VPNs) easy to use
Remote work is becoming more popular across the globe. This increases employee satisfaction due to flexibility in time and a reduction in daily transportation costs. One possible downside to productivity since employees are not present in a physical office and may not work hard if confined within the comforts of their home. It also depends on cellular and Wi-Fi connectivity at home, which are much less secure than the IT network of an office.
With VPNs, you can have better security by establishing private connections on a public network, regardless of location, and you can access applications and other company resources safely and easily.
#2. Move on from PBX to VoIP
Private branch exchange (PBX) is not necessarily unreliable; however, it is quite limited where connectivity is concerned. To extend PBX outside its main location means adding more lines, which is costly. And PBX does not have the same integration capability as a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).
VoIP solutions are more flexible than PBX because they can be used with desktops and/or mobile devices together with traditional telephone lines. Linking VoIP solutions to a customer relationship management (CRM) database keeps customer information accessible for business tracking and customer engagement purposes. Plus, no call gets unanswered since call forwarding instructions can be set.
#3. Fortify network intelligence with SD-WAN
A software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) is an application that unifies connections in one network and is able to prioritize mission-critical apps. It boosts performance, scalability, and security by incorporating various modes of connection, including conventional broadband, and provides foolproof defenses in the event that a link gets heavy traffic or bogs down.
#4. Seek the help of IT services
Before all else fails with your network infrastructure, consult a team of experts who have a genuine concern for how your business tech needs. Zentech IT has network services to help businesses experience robust and secure connections, even to remote locations. They deploy only top-of-the-line branded equipment, giving you one less thing to worry about and letting you focus more on your business and customers.
For a more reliable IT infrastructure and a team of IT experts to help you achieve awesome returns, contact us today!
