Internet is the one utility almost every small business depends on all day. Phones, payments, cloud software and email all travel over it. Yet many owners pick a provider by whatever the lowest advertised price is that week.
I am Vice President of Operations at DirecTech Connect, a Nashville-area provider of business phone systems, managed IT, websites and digital marketing. I oversee our managed VoIP and telecommunications services, managed IT for small and medium-sized businesses, and client project delivery, so these are questions I deal with every week.
Choosing an internet provider is one of the decisions that comes up most often when a business modernizes its phones, because voice calls ride on that same connection. A weak connection will show up as choppy calls long before it shows up anywhere else.
Start with what is available at your address. Options vary block by block. Ask each provider what is actually offered at your exact address, and what type of connection it is, such as fiber, cable or fixed wireless.
Ask about upload speed, not only download. Video calls, cloud backups and VoIP phones all send data out. A plan with a big download number and a small upload number can still feel slow for an office.
Ask about business service terms. Business plans often differ from home plans in support hours, repair response and whether a static IP address is available. Ask what happens when it goes down and how quickly someone commits to respond.
Read what is included. Ask about equipment rental fees, installation charges, price changes after an introductory period and any early termination fee.
Think about a backup. If the business cannot operate without internet, a second connection or a cellular failover can keep you running during an outage. It costs more, so weigh it against what an hour of downtime costs you.
Finally, ask for everything in writing and compare plans on total monthly cost, not just the headline number. If you want a second set of eyes on a proposal, we are glad to read it with you.
Danielle Lemons is Vice President of Operations at DirecTech Connect, a Nashville provider of business phone systems, managed IT services, websites and digital marketing. More about Danielle.
