Your business has unique connectivity needs. Here’s what to look for when selecting your satellite service.
As demand for increased connectivity continues to grow amongst businesses in Australia, satellite services can play an important role in helping businesses bolster their online capabilities while making the most of our increasingly digital landscape. From agriculture and mining to energy, broadcast media and the public sector, satellite technology can be applied to businesses across numerous industries. As the use case of satellite services can vary from business to business, there are certain things you should look for when selecting a service to digitally enable your organisation.
In a recent discussion jointly hosted by ACCI and business nbn titled ‘Satellite Services: Helping lift the digital capability of Australian business', a panel of experts examined what businesses should consider when evaluating a satellite service. There are six key points for businesses to keep in mind.
The importance of service availability
When choosing a satellite service, it’s important to figure out first whether the satellite service is available at all the locations your organisation is looking to connect to, both now and in the future.
It’s also vital to consider the speed and quality of the connection available at your locations. A service with a Committed Information Rate (CIR) can deliver a steady and consistent connection. Whether your provider has an extensive network of delivery partners that can offer a professional installation of service and access to ongoing support should also be a factor in your decision.
Business-grade connectivity
Along with reach and availability, a business satellite service also needs to have high uptime to reliably connect a business’ field of operations. Can your business rely on the service you’re considering to boost the productivity of your teams by connecting them from remote sites to your corporate network?
It’s also vital to ensure your future satellite service is secure. A connectivity solution should be delivered on a secure, private link, rather than over the public internet, where the connection may not be secure enough for business use.
A business-grade service also requires the deployment of fit-for-purpose equipment such as satellite dishes and modems. Depending on your business location, this equipment may need to cope with a variety of environmental conditions.
Business-grade support
Even the most reliable of satellite services can still encounter issues such as outages due to weather events or equipment faults. A business-grade support system comes with SLAs (Service Level Agreements) designed to get you back online as quickly as possible in the event of an outage. This may include 24x7 access to service teams who can help resolve issues, as well as prompt access to replacement hardware.
Business value of the service
You should evaluate the business value a satellite service can deliver for your organisation, which can usually be determined from the use case. For example, if the service is being used for disaster recovery, it can help mitigate disruption from natural disasters or outages caused by accidents by quickly reconnecting your sites. So, it could add value to your business continuity plan by providing additional connectivity options. Ground equipment for satellite services can also be moved around. This can make satellite services more cost-efficient to set up in remote areas and at temporary sites compared to extending fixed line fibre networks.
Other ways a business satellite service can help deliver returns on investment (ROI) include enabling remote monitoring of assets for preventative maintenance and helping improve efficiency in operations and energy consumption.
The benefits of a trusted service provider
The business nbn® Satellite Service is sovereign owned and operated and enables phone and internet providers* to offer business-grade network services to their customers. It is available nationwide, with several providers also offering business nbn Enterprise Ethernet to give businesses an integrated communications network solution.+
Enabled by a satellite service implemented by a trusted service provider, businesses across Australia can lift their digital capabilities today and into the future.
