3 Things to Consider When Expanding Sites

 
Firstly, Congratulations! If you’ve clicked onto this article, chances are, you’re a growing business, take a moment to pat yourself on the back for all your hard work, dedication, sweat and tears! We get it! It’s an up-hill battle. Let’s dive into 3 things to consider when expanding sites!  

It’s 2019 and rarely anybody can survive without the internet, so have you asked yourself, “What would it look like if my business couldn’t get internet, would we still be in business?” If the answer to that question makes you nervous then it may be best to read on!  
 
Many business owners have never had to consider what Internet was available at a site before considering moving there, now it’s something that should be at the top of your list when office hunting. There are many sites all over Australia that are still on the old copper network, therefore, the Internet is in the stone ages! We all remember what dial-up was like, and nobody wants to re-experience that! So, what do I do to check my new site will handle what I need? Furthermore, what if I found the perfect location, but the Internet is shocking? Rest assured, we have the answers.  

By contacting BITS we can pre-qualify your new location to see what is currently available through the NBN and what is available through private Internet links, this also gives you an idea on what the time frame is to become connected to either type, so that you don’t move in and the Internet is still being processed. The last thing you want is to open shop and operate with no Internet for a month or even more because the install times were longer.  
 
So now that you’ve sorted out the Internet, what is your next milestone? How do you get in contact with your clients? How are you going to contact your team in another site? You need to evaluate your scenario for your office phones. Will you be needing to move your existing system or expand your existing system? This is often the perfect time to review a VoIP platform so that all sites can easily integrate as one, you can advertise one or more main numbers through the one system and expansion is cheap as chips! There are major differences between expanding an on-site phone system to expanding a hosted phone system. Your goal to reviewing this is to know whether your business is going to easily be able to communicate with your clients and other sites in the most efficient and affordable way possible.  

Lastly, how are your staff at your new site going to access your server? If your server isn’t in the cloud, then maybe you need to consider setting up some infrastructure so that your new site can operate just the same as your existing site does. Is the Internet at both sites stable enough to support a VPN link so that both sites can talk to each other? Is it time to review a new solution altogether, that being a cloud hosted server, especially if you think you’re going to out-grow your server, maybe a cloud solution will be more flexible as you up-scale.  

One thing you don’t want to do, is leave all the above until the last minute, because if you do find there is a better scenario for your office/s, there may not be enough time for implementation as to what you desire. Anything in relation to your network, is a big job, it’s the keys to your kingdom, so you want to ensure you choose the right business to do the job, and that they have enough time to complete the tasks in a high and thorough standard.  

Want to learn more? 
BITS Technology Group: 1300 248 748