Sales Director
This post explains the definition of leased lines and how they can impact business operations and productivity.
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With many businesses working primarily online through the cloud, it's no wonder we're looking for reliable internet with fast loading and upload/download times. We highly rely on unfaultable connectivity that allows us to complete tasks, even as simple as answering the phone or emails or scheduling meetings.
Without fast and trustworthy internet, our businesses risk reduced productivity and dependability, which can seriously impact company operations. If you're looking for reliable internet, then leased lines are something your business should consider.
In short, a leased line is a private fibre internet connection. It is a dedicated, fixed-bandwidth business connection. What we mean by 'dedicated' is that your leased line is solely reserved for your use.
Say goodbye to jittery streaming, slow downloads and unreliable internet with leased lines because they are much faster than broadband. Many businesses have leased lines to the interest as they are faster, have much more capacity and are far more reliable than broadband; this results in speedier upload/downloads and internet speed.
Typical fibre broadband is shared and divided between other users. Dividing your bandwidth allowance between users results in slower loading times, especially during peak internet use periods. Think of it like this: the ratio of consumer broadband is typically 50:1 and business 20:1, meaning that if you get a peak surge of people using the internet, it can affect the performance of your connection. But a leased line is always a 1:1 contention, so it's a private internet service solely dedicated to your business.
If you are a business that heavily relies on fast, reliable internet, then this fluctuating speed could severely affect your business and its operations.
Leased lines are usually used to connect businesses to the internet, but you can also get inter-site leased lines connecting offices. Companies will often have inter-site leased lines when they have teams working in various locations, and having a reliable connection between sites is essential.
When thinking about whether leased lines will benefit your business, think about the following questions:
If you answer yes to any of these questions, investing in leased lines may benefit your business, especially if you're heavily involved with customer service, where customer response times and efficiency are crucial for business operations.
Leased lines to most will be about fast and reliable connectivity to the internet. They are highly recommended for all types of businesses, from small, to medium and large. Every company that depends on speedy and reliable internet will benefit from investing in leased lines.
As you would expect from technology that promises better performance, it will come at a cost. Fixed lines are considerably more expensive than business broadband options. When you order a leased line, BT Openreach will often need to go to your office and perform a site survey to see if you have fibre already going into the premises. If you do, they can install a few bits of kit, and you're good to go. If you don't, they'll quote to install it, which can cost a lot of money if they need to close or dig up roads.
Installing leased lines can be costly, especially if you have multiple offices requiring leased line installation. However, if you're heavily relying on the internet for your business and want to expand your business, then installing leased lines can dramatically outweigh the negatives.
A leased line can bring many groundbreaking advantages to your business. Here are just several significant benefits to expect from switching from broadband to leased lines:
A leased line is not limited to download caps or data limits, meaning you can download files without difficulty. Download caps are placed on broadband (shared networks) so downloads stay within the supplier's demand. If you have a dedicated network, downloading files will no longer become an issue.
With leased lines, you have complete control, which allows you to determine any data restrictions.
Leased line service providers offer 24/7 customer support. Companies that invest in leased lines will access ongoing customer support whenever issues occur. You can expect almost instant support when investing in leased lines, therefore maintaining constant premium internet access.
Broadband typically doesn't have much of an SLA. If it stops working, the providers will fix it when they can, but they're usually not contractually obliged to do it in a given time frame. There's usually a 4-hour response time to issues with leased lines, so if you get problems (rare with leased lines), you'll be back up and running quickly. If you're a heavily reliant business on the internet, this is another crucial factor to keep in mind.
Businesses that are set up over multiple offices in different locations can highly benefit from investing in leased lines. This is due to having greater bandwidth capabilities to cope with large-volume communications, including conferences and video calls.
Leased lines are also beneficial for businesses that have adopted the remote/hybrid working environment, as company laptops and PCs can be connected easily back to the office. This then offers your remote workers better connectivity, boosting confidence that your workers are connected to reliable internet wherever they're based.
Speeds range from 10Mbps (megabits per second) up to 1Gbps (gigabits per second), with the cost of faster speeds always coming down. 2Mbps, 10Mbps and 100Mbps are the most popular connection speeds. They can be tailored to your business needs, meeting your capacity and budget requirements. While leased lines are not the most budget-friendly and the cheapest solution, it is undoubtedly worth the investment due to the increased productivity and faster loading times that comes with leased lines. These are our internet speed recommendations for different business sizes:
When you're budgeting for a leased line, remember that the faster the internet speed, the more you'll need to invest. 10Mbps connections cost twice as much as 2Mbps connections. And 100Mbps connections cost twice as much as 10Mbps connections. Depending on how fast your business requires internet speed, you will want to consider and compare the different options available.
If you need clarification on what your business requires, speak to us, and we'll help you determine the best options available (in terms of bandwidth) and find the solution that best fits individual needs.
Are you a business that's looking to get the most out of its business internet connectivity? Then get in content with T2k today. T2K has been helping many companies get the most from their internet connectivity for more than 25 years. Our expert advisors are here to help you get the most out of your internet, and we're here to make the installation process easy with ongoing 24/7 support. For a jargon-free conversation on how leased lines can help your business run better, contact T2K today.
Having worked for T2k for nearly 25 years, it's fair to say that Lee is an expert when it comes to all things telephony and business communications. Overseeing the commercial side of the business, he has helped the company evolve and grow through the decades. In recent years, and with the advent of VoIP and hosted telephony, Lee has made sure that T2k is at the forefront of technological developments. With a firm interest in helping businesses navigate the world of telecoms, Lee is responsible for the majority of the content on this website.
