We hear the stories all the time:
- It takes too long for employees to launch apps—especially cloud-based apps—or to do the things on their workstations they need to do to accomplish their jobs.
- You can’t stream video or audio smoothly from your new digital media or audio controller, and when you do, the quality is terrible.
- The company’s point-of-sale system went down once again, and customers were required to pay by cash or check, or they’re asked to come back later.
- Your wireless network is too slow; the signal is inconsistent at best, and in some places it's non-existent.
- Downtime is simply making it too painful to use your technology.
How do you know when is it time to simply accept that your network is a real problem? At what point does the cost of getting help outweigh your current pain?
These are not easy questions for most small business owners to answer because most small business owners don't have all the facts. Often they are unable to keep pace with the advancements in business technology, so they are unaware of the possible solutions that are available.
Here are some signs that it's time to speak to an expert about which network solutions are right for you given the issues you face:
- Do you have more than five devices connecting to your network? This includes computers, phones, point-of-sale systems, printers, or other connected devices. If you do, you may want to consider the advantages of optimizing your system. Devices tax and slow down the network, which impacts all other devices. Sometimes the issue is related to equipment, sometimes Internet bandwidth, and sometimes configuration settings.
- Do you have a large space that you're trying to cover with your network? If you have a large office space, then you can experience issues based on placement of the network equipment. Verifying wireless signal strength as well as physical cabling needs are important.
- Do you need multiple functions from your network? For security purposes, it is important that guest Wi-Fi is separate from employee Wi-Fi. Also, there are methods for prioritizing traffic for "Voice over Internet Protocol" (VoIP) phone systems to ensure audio quality. Some business employees need to be able to work from home and still access the office network. All of these situations add complexity to the network setup.
- Does your business heavily depend on constant and reliable Internet connectivity? Some businesses need a constant connection to the Internet. How important is it to your business that you have reliable access to email, file shares, Internet sites, credit card processing, etc.? If those functions are critical to your business, you may want to know more about available options and strategies that can help ensure that your connection is always up.
- Does your business handle sensitive customer data? If there is credit card data, personal client information, trade secrets, or other types of sensitive data passing through your network, then it is wise to understand the security measures that can protect your data and keep it from being accessed by those who wish to do harm.
- Do you or your employees frequently complain about how slow your network is running? How many times in the past week have you thought, “Connecting to the Internet can’t be this difficult," or "it shouldn't take this long to load this application"? Wages lost to such hassles and time delays can add up quickly.
If you've answered "yes" to one or more of these questions, then it's time to talk to a technology expert. There's no need to keep tolerating inefficiencies and losing productivity due to an out-dated, improperly configured, or insufficient network.
Talk to us about getting a comprehensive assessment of your IT infrastructure, and be sure to check out our July Meraki Madness promotion for the year's best prices on the best network and security solutions.
The Promotion ends on JULY 26th, so you must hurry! Financing options are available. So click here, or call us for full details at 574-268-CTSi [2874].