Streamyx

There aren't many businesses nowadays who don't utilise the internet in one form or another. Large corporations may use it to communicate with their many members of staff, and a smaller business might use it for market research purposes.

First of all, a company will need to sign up to a business broadband package. Domestic packages don't have the same features and flexibility as business ones, as domestic users don't have the same needs as a company.

The main benefit to a business connection is the technical support you receive. When a home connection goes down, it's an inconvenience but when a business connection goes down, it can mean loss of revenue and customers, so it's vital that proper technical support is provided. A business package should provide a company with 24 hour access to a helpline, quick engineer call-out and even remote assistance if necessary. Some providers offer a backup service which will keep the servers running on dial-up while the broadband is being fixed.

Security is another concern for company internet. While the cheap broadband business packages may only offer the basic security and anti-virus, a more expensive deal can also prevent against hackers who could possibly steal financial details and staff information.

Speed is important, with more upload speed needed than on a domestic package. An uncapped download limit it useful as it's likely that a lot of downloading will be taking place, especially if you have a lot of employees.

Consider how many computers will need to be connected together on a LAN, and make sure you have an option to expand as more employees join the company. You can also have the option of connecting to offices in different parts of the country. VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is useful for this type of setup. It's a way of using broadband internet as a phone line, and communicating between machines with VoIP software instead of making phone calls. Calls between computers with the same software are usually free so it's cheaper for businesses to communicate with each other in this way.

As with anything, do some research first into the different business broadband deals around, and make sure you get one which will suit your business best.

Want broadband? Find cheap broadband by comparing broadband internet online.