This article is written by Brendan Donohoe, nbn's Executive General Manager, Sales.
Australia’s businesses rely on their broadband connections more than ever. nbn is making changes to meet their evolving needs.
Despite the challenges of the last few years, Australian businesses have continued to show their strength, resilience, and capacity for change as the need for digital capability has increased.
The pace of change shows no signs of slowing. Businesses increasingly need fast broadband connections with minimal downtime, and we’re evolving to meet these requirements with services designed to supercharge Australian businesses.
This starts with an enhancement and simplification of our suite of business nbn service and support options.◊
The growing demands on business internet
At nbn, we’re always listening to businesses – exploring how they’re using technology so we can give them the speed and support they need*. I enjoy speaking to business owners and managers, and regularly hear about how transformation plans, which kicked off in response to COVID-19, are evolving.
The pandemic was a true catalyst for change. More firms are now using cloud-based systems for email, accounting, customer relationship management (CRM), payments and e-commerce, to name just a few.1
For example, the phone call that used to generate a sales lead can now be a web inquiry form that feeds your CRM. The follow-up meeting can happen on Zoom, and invoicing can be processed through an accounting platform like Xero or MYOB. These changes have lifted the demands on business internet connections. Those connections have become mission-critical, so our increasingly digital organisations need fast services they can count on.
Simplifying support for businesses
Available through a growing network of resellers and service providers, business nbn focuses on three wholesale service and support levels to meet different companies’ needs and minimise downtime.
Ongoing support is offered at two levels: Service Pro and Service Essentials. Designed for businesses that need to be back up and running as quickly as possible, Service Pro allows service providers to offer their customers four-hour fault restoration target# and 24/7 business nbn Service Centre support from business-grade technicians. For businesses that need to prioritise their time online, Service Essentials offers a 12-hour service restoration target# and the same support options as Service Pro.
To help get businesses off to a great start, business nbn is also offering Service Starter – a new 90-day service plan designed specifically to make sure new connections work right, first time. business nbn provides this higher level of support to providers, who in turn, may offer a better level of support for businesses.^
Minimising downtime
Network faults can have a significant impact on sales, operations, and communications. For small businesses, the financial impact of faults can be very significant, and that’s before adding in the less-tangible, long-term costs that can come from frustrated customers and employees.
Sydney-based global software company Atlassian recommends small businesses use a figure of $US427 ($618) per minute2 to calculate the cost of unplanned downtime.
Recently, I spoke to a real estate agent whose internet connection was disrupted by a storm on a Thursday. They hadn’t realised they were using a residential plan, which meant restoration probably wouldn’t happen until Monday. However, if they were on a business-grade plan with the relevant priority service levels, this could have improved their prospects of being up and running again by the weekend – the agency’s most crucial trading period.
Making business-grade services even better
To be considered business-grade according to nbn, an internet service needs to have more than just fast download speeds. Yes, download speeds are important, but business-grade services also include enhanced support to providers, options with high upload speeds, prioritised data options over the nbn network and more convenient set-up and installation.
These features help businesses do more with their connection, like managing their security remotely with the help of a specialist provider or moving financial systems into the cloud to simplify payments, invoicing, and reporting.
business nbn is working constantly to make sure the small business internet solutions we offer to providers are truly business-grade. We're working on improving connection time averages and ensuring the network is secure so that businesses have the platform they need today and into the future.
We are also expanding our relationships with resellers and service providers, helping to ensure that businesses of all types and sizes can access services, offers, and support that suit their needs.
We are always listening to the needs of Australian businesses to improve the wholesale services we offer providers. business nbn Services is the first of several changes that we expect to make during 2023 ensuring we are meeting the evolving needs of Australia’s businesses.
Stay tuned.