In today’s digital landscape, when your network goes down, so too can your team’s productivity, customer satisfaction, and potentially your bottom line. That’s why it’s important to have a handle on the relationship between how your network performance can support your business processes.
Your business network refers to the IT systems that allow your devices to connect and talk to each other effectively, whether they sit inside your office or in the hands of your employees. When your business network is set up correctly, it can help support your business to function in the way that’s best for you, your team and your business goals. On the other hand, without an optimised network, your business’s reputation, productivity, and overall effectiveness could be impacted.
Let’s explore some of the key business processes a quality network infrastructure can help optimise.
Key business functions your network should support
1. Hybrid working
First and foremost, to keep up with the new normal, your staff should be able to work remotely. This means that your network needs to facilitate multiple devices connecting across multiple locations, without disruptive latency that may create costly downtime. In this case, a more seamless connection can lead to a more seamless operation.
Plus, customers expect consistency, so if they are experiencing a different level of service when your staff work from home versus in this office, this will likely negatively impact their satisfaction.
2. Communication and collaboration
A workplace’s ability to communicate and collaborate is vital to the success of every business, and because of hybrid working, a lot of this is happening virtually. This makes it important for your network to help facilitate effective collaboration which comes in the form of unified communications (UC) tools that offer an integrated calling, text, and video platform. The role of your small business network is to help support all devices as they leverage UC tools whether they’re in the office, or at home. With fewer lags, instant file transfers, and screen sharing, communication can be faster and mostly uninterrupted.
3. Positive customer experiences
Quality service is one of the keys to help attract and retain customers, and with expectations shifting towards speed and reliability, your network can help you provide a more streamlined customer experience.
With the support of UC tools discussed above, your team can connect with your customers more easily through voice, video, or text chat. This means they can be better kept in the loop and become a more involved part of decision-making processes, helping to lead to higher satisfaction and better outputs. Any issues that arise can also be resolved faster, with open communication lines that allow staff to gain a better understanding of the problem, assisting to reveal a clearer path to a solution.
4. Data management
Businesses generate a lot of data that needs to be digestible and easily distilled. Using cloud platforms over onsite servers not only helps business data be more easily accessible, it allows your workforce to move much quicker – of course, this is only possible with a network that can facilitate the use of the cloud. That way, your people can experience faster uploads, downloads, and data transference that help benefit your bottom line.
5. The implementation of quality tech upgrades
Business technology is always growing and improving, and you don’t want to be left behind simply because your network is unable to support rolling out the newest innovation. By keeping your finger on the pulse of the latest upgrades, you can help to maintain a competitive edge and position your business as a market leader within your industry.
Plus, these innovations will likely improve the way you do business, further optimising and automating your processes. This can help lead to a better performing organisation and increased growth for your business.
6. Cyber security
With all these functions taking place on your network, effective cyber security has never been more important. Without it, you could risk reputational and material costs.
Cyber criminals may enter your business network through unsecured devices and can compromise it, which may completely derail your operations. You can suitably arm yourself against this risk with network protection and anti-virus software. The network itself simply needs to help facilitate the integration of these security measures.
7. Business growth
A growing business often means hiring more people, and more people means more connections on your network. During these transitionary growth periods, you want to avoid experiencing interruptions and lags because your network can’t handle the extra traffic and increased business connections. Likewise, you don’t want to be paying for higher bandwidths during periods where you might need to downsize. Your network should be scalable with the ability to grow as you do. That way, you can experience business as usual no matter what stage your organisation is in.
Optimise your business network with TBTC Perth South
Our experienced team can help you make the most of your network. We’ll take the time to get to know your organisation’s needs, goals and challenges so we can recommend appropriate tech solutions and a network infrastructure that helps support the way you do business. Chat to us today, and let’s get solving.
