ADSL and Business
ADSL has not yet taken off in South Africa to the extent that it has in other parts of the world. There may be compelling cost reasons for this, as we very well know, South Africa is known as early adopters when it comes to new IT developments, yet here it has not grown as expected. (See the statistics below to see how far behind Africa and the Middle East actually is). Yet, there are signs that costs are decreasing and due to decrease even more rapidly in the foreseeable future.
The advantages and benefits for the private user have been widely discussed and form a big part of the advertising of the service providers. They are especially vocal in their advertising now that costs are coming down rapidly and competition for services is becoming fiercer. What have not been discussed to the same extent, at least in South Africa, are the advantages to the business sector, more specifically to the smaller enterprises that form the greater part of our commercial environment.
So, what are the advantages to be gained by using broadband, or more specifically ADSL in South Africa where cable broadband is not an alternative? For the purpose of this article we assume that dedicated broadband connection such as Diginet is not an alternative – remember we are talking about the smaller enterprise.
Small or not, the business requirements remain the same; it may just be the scale that differs. Every organisation needs to communicate on many different fronts. We have to send e-mails, we must make our web site available for access and we must have voice contact with customers, suppliers, staff, and colleagues, we must send data to file servers and a myriad other requirements. It is here that ADSL comes to the fore.
The one main advantage is the fact that ADSL is always on, 24 hours a day. This means that data can be sent real time. File servers can continue to provide the power user with the latest information, even if only one telephone line connects the business. This means that immediate advantage can be taken of having the latest information available; head office can download special deals and pricing immediately, management can see transactions statistics and data to help with inventory management and control in real time, etc., all this whilst telephone and fax connections remain uninterrupted.
With the development in voice over IP (VoIP) solutions and the free, or low cost, availability of these it is also possible to have one-to-one video conferences with staff in branch offices, or between branch offices, to add to the normal e-mail and voice only communication channels. This allows much better, clearer, and in the end, accurate communication to take place.
As you enjoy its greater accessibility, more and more options will become available to you, such as marketing, sales, banking and business management. Lastly, and most importantly is that the cost is fixed and known at all times. Clearly an added advantage when data transfer traffic volumes are high and daily downloads is essential for good business practice.
ADSL and Business
ADSL has not yet taken off in South Africa to the extent that it has in other parts of the world. There may be compelling cost reasons for this, as we very well know, South Africa is known as early adopters when it comes to new IT developments, yet here it has not grown as expected. (See the statistics below to see how far behind Africa and the Middle East actually is). Yet, there are signs that costs are decreasing and due to decrease even more rapidly in the foreseeable future.
The advantages and benefits for the private user have been widely discussed and form a big part of the advertising of the service providers. They are especially vocal in their advertising now that costs are coming down rapidly and competition for services is becoming fiercer. What have not been discussed to the same extent, at least in South Africa, are the advantages to the business sector, more specifically to the smaller enterprises that form the greater part of our commercial environment.
So, what are the advantages to be gained by using broadband, or more specifically ADSL in South Africa where cable broadband is not an alternative? For the purpose of this article we assume that dedicated broadband connection such as Diginet is not an alternative – remember we are talking about the smaller enterprise.
Small or not, the business requirements remain the same; it may just be the scale that differs. Every organisation needs to communicate on many different fronts. We have to send e-mails, we must make our web site available for access and we must have voice contact with customers, suppliers, staff, and colleagues, we must send data to file servers and a myriad other requirements. It is here that ADSL comes to the fore.
The one main advantage is the fact that ADSL is always on, 24 hours a day. This means that data can be sent real time. File servers can continue to provide the power user with the latest information, even if only one telephone line connects the business. This means that immediate advantage can be taken of having the latest information available; head office can download special deals and pricing immediately, management can see transactions statistics and data to help with inventory management and control in real time, etc., all this whilst telephone and fax connections remain uninterrupted.
With the development in voice over IP (VoIP) solutions and the free, or low cost, availability of these it is also possible to have one-to-one video conferences with staff in branch offices, or between branch offices, to add to the normal e-mail and voice only communication channels. This allows much better, clearer, and in the end, accurate communication to take place.
As you enjoy its greater accessibility, more and more options will become available to you, such as marketing, sales, banking and business management. Lastly, and most importantly is that the cost is fixed and known at all times. Clearly an added advantage when data transfer traffic volumes are high and daily downloads is essential for good business practice.