Benefits to business

The benefits to your business of using broadband

Broadband will give your business a faster and more reliable connection which can save your business both money and time. It also provides you with a lot more opportunities and benefits:

• able to use social media including LinkedIn - youtube video of the social media revolution
• communication with customers and suppliers - according to research by 2012, £1 in every £5 of all new commerce in this country will be online
• manufacturers and retailers able to provide documentation for goods and services onlice, allowing customers and service engineers to self serve and meet their needs without going through a help-desk or call centre
• remain competitive
• creative industries are able to move large audio and video files between different components of their supply chains
• hoteliers and B&B owners can offer broadband as a service to tourists
• ability to research
• new market opportunities - both locally and globally
• able to access cloud based services and applications - businesses able to use licensed software and backup their data avoiding the risks of critical data loss
• improves marketing with use of new media
• voice over IP - considered by many to be the future of making and receiving telephone calls. The technology turns the caller's voice into data packets and send them instantly over an existing broadband network to the person being called
• allows for online meetings/ video conferencing
• collaboration technologies - support mobile, distributed and home working with services such as Huddle
• online training and distance learning - can cut costs and save time travelling from rural areas 
• homeworking - ability for employees to work during bad weather, public health scares etc
• broadband enabled CCTV improves security, particularly important with isolated rural businesses

What Norfolk businesses have to say

"Broadband is essential for an internet business like ours and without it we would not be able to operate. Broadband is something we take for granted but I can clearly remember the days of 56k dial up connections that would leave even the most patient of person tearing their hair out. Broadband was what the internet needed in order to really take off and it is only since it has become widely available that online business has flourished. It's quite simple - the more people who have access to it, the more people that will shop online and the more business companies will do. Time is the most precious commodity nowadays so it's important to always have the fastest connection possible. Our area already has broadband but this could certainly be improved given the high speed fibre optic connections that are now becoming available. We're eagerly awaiting the day when its launched in our area!"  
Simon Doidge, Director, Passion Automotive

"Broadband connections enable System Three Business Solutions to support the IT systems of companies all over the UK and sometimes beyond. By using remote control software running over broadband, our clients can have one of our qualified, experienced and helpful IT professional virtually right there by their side in seconds, seeing what they are seeing , helping them and resolving their problems immediately without the delays and expense of travelling . It gives us access to a much wider market for our products and services which is unrestricted by geography, and this has helped our business to grow. We also use broadband to help our clients work more efficiently, creating inexpensive communication links between their sites and enabling their staff to work from home or remotely. It’s now such a fundamental part of all our businesses it’s difficult to imagine how we ever managed without it."    David Parish, Managing Director, System 3 Business Solutions

"Having a good broadband connection/speed is unquestionably vital to the vast majority of UK business. The case for this is only going to get stronger, not just from the numbers of people using the internet but from the ever increasing amount of data travelling across the world. It is particularly important to small businesses and for those who are based outside urban areas where broadband tends to be better. Broadband enables us to, work more efficiently on and off site, reduce the need to travel, reduce costs and reduce C02 and increase our competitiveness in a global market place."  
Louis Clabburn, Sales Manager, liftshare

Virtual Business Support Project - supporting micro and start up businesses in North Norfolk