Many businesses offer their staff smartphones for business purposes. While the smartphone has revolutionised the way that businesses operate, the small screens are not the ideal for certain tasks. These tasks need to be completed on a computer and this is why many businesses are looking at pay-as-you-go mobile broadband. In addition to pay-as-you-go mobile broadband many providers offer business mobile broadband deals. These deals can give you more options than PAYG deal. It is best that you find out about the options available to you and the added bonuses you could get from your provider.
Business Mobile Broadband
Providers offer business broadband as a way to increase their business opportunities. If you are already a business mobile phone customer you may be offered better rates on the broadband. Most of these business deals come with the dongle free of charge. In some cases you are able to get a MiFi dongle instead.
When providers first started offering these deals they were not that great, and many businesses were better off getting personal mobile broadband instead. As more providers offered these deals the competition increased and the price as well as quality of the deals became better.
Should your Business look at Mobile Broadband?
If you are considering mobile broadband for your business you have to calculate whether it is viable. You need to consider if getting this will actually help your business in any way or if you are just adding an expense you dont need. If your staff members are constantly on the move and unable to work properly then you are losing time and money by not having mobile broadband. If you provide the staff member with a tablet or laptop that has internet connections will they be able to do their work? If the answer is yes then you should look at mobile broadband. If the answer is no then you should not get mobile broadband.
Another way to determine if you should look into this broadband is to consider the Wi-Fi bills you get. When your staff are away from the office are they running up Wi-Fi bills for work related reasons? If they are you can save money by getting them a dongle.
Of course, when you look at mobile broadband deals you have to not only consider the price, but also whether or not the broadband provider has coverage where your staff members frequently travel. If they do not then you are throwing money away with the dongles.
Would you like an iPad?
A lot of business mobile broadband deals come with freebies. The most common freebie is the iPad. The reason why providers offer the tablet is to make the deal more attractive to the potential client. If you are offered this freebie you should take a close look at what the rest of the package is. You are generally signing a long-term contract for these freebies, and the price may be higher than you need to pay.
When you are offered these items you should consider whether they will have a positive impact on your business. There is no point in paying the higher cost of the contract for an iPad if you are not getting any valid business returns from it. It is not only the iPad that is offered but other Android-based tablets as well.
The contract terms for these deals are usually 24 months, which gives the provider enough time to make back the cost of the freebie. However, you have to think about whether this long-term contract is good for you. The coming of 4G should play a role in your decision. Do you want to be locked onto a long-term contract when you could be getting 4G soon?
Pay-as-you-go Business Broadband
If your staff members are not always out and about you may not need to get a fixed-term mobile broadband contract. Getting PAYG broadband instead allows your staff members to get online, yet does not cost your business each month.
When you have this kind of broadband you are also able to keep better track of the broadband that your staff use. Topping up the broadband can be easily monitored and you can find out who uses the most broadband and then find out why. This broadband can also be viewed as a back up to the office broadband. If you ever have any problems with your fixed line broadband at the office and need to get online, you will have a way to do this.
PAYG broadband may not be the best for your business if you have to complete data-heavy tasks. If your staff members have to upload large files or use data-heavy software packages you should consider alternatives. High data users should never get mobile broadband because the speeds offered are not fast enough and the data limits are rather low. You may end up spending more with PAYG broadband than getting a monthly contract.
Of course, when you get a monthly contract you have to check the data limit. There are no unlimited mobile broadband packages. The highest data allowance you can get with a business mobile broadband package is 15GB. This is not enough for a heavy data user. This means you could have staff members not being able to get online partway through the month. You could then end up having to pay large amounts in excess use charges, or sacrifice the use of mobile internet for your staff which can certainly affect your business as well as the companys image.
What to Look for in Broadband Packages
If you have decided that you need to get mobile broadband for your business you have to consider certain aspects of the packages:
The contract length: The mobile broadband industry is constantly changing so you dont want to be locked into a contract and thereby miss out on better deals. 24-month contracts may look appealing as far as monthly costs go, but the length of time is very unattractive.
The data allowance: You should get a data allowance that suits the needs of your business.
The start-up price: Business broadband deals will often have a start-up price. You should never pay more than you need to.
This information should help you get the best deal for your business, so be aware of these points when shopping for business PAYG broadband.
Sam Jones friend needed to get pay as you go mobile broadband. Phil told him that the best place to start was with a comparison service such as uSwitch so he could make sure that he got a good deal.
This article is copyright free.