In the hyper-connected, always-on business environment we live in, 24/7 access to email, voice, text, chat and file sharing is imperative, making it necessary for employees to have coverage at all times.
For businesses in remote areas, or those with employees regularly off-site, a system that offers you coverage at all times is vital. Wi-Fi is ubiquitous in offices, retail, and major public places. Combined with 4G, it enables business communications almost everywhere.
This makes wireless hotspots extremely useful for startup founders, entrepreneurs, freelancers, contractors, sole proprietors and small- and medium-businesses, especially those who are mobile, growing, and focused on their customers.
Companies such as US Cellular offer 4G mobile hotspots that allow you to share your network with up to five other devices, with a variety of data plans for different business sizes.
Meanwhile ViaSat is a satellite broadband company that can extend the reach of broadband Internet connections with professionally installed or plug-n-play hotspots for both single and multi-site networks.
Robert Brown, vice president of wireless services at ViaSat, notes that sometimes business owners purchase Wi-Fi hardware off the shelf that doesn’t suit their needs, when having a poor Wi-Fi experience ultimately drives customers away and costs you more than if you purchased a managed Wi-Fi service.
“Having Wi-Fi allows businesses to drive more customers into their venues, and serves as another touch point to extend their brand, their products and services over the Wi-Fi pages while at their location,” he says. “Such promotions may include new product announcements, in-store deals, loyalty programs, unique content and applications, other location-based services and much more.”
Having a service provider handle your Wi-Fi network ensures the network is maintained, and that there is a quality of service made available to all users of the network (including employees if a back-office network is also supported), which secures against threats to their devices and personal information while on your Wi-Fi network.
Whether you’re working in construction, own your own food truck, or have salespeople constantly on the road, ensuring you have a quality Wi-Fi network for your patrons and employees will ensure your business keeps running smoothly.
data plan, coverage, small business, connected, data usage