There’s a huge amount for small businesses to contend
with in the current economic climate, particularly when it comes to the world
of technology. Many small and medium-sized are struggling to get to grips with
the Internet of Things (IoT), for example, with 60% of companies admitting that
they’ve been slow to
integrate this into their ventures.
In fact, a more pressing concern for businesses is securing more
affordable and effective Internet service. This is where “Ethernet First Mile”
(EFM) comes into play, as this is a low-cost, leased line technology that
delivers huge potential savings to SMEs.
In this post, we’ll explore the concept of EFM in further detail
whilst asking what benefits it can deliver to your business.
What is EFM and how Does it Work?
From a practical perspective, EFM provides symmetrical bandwidth
at impressive speeds of up to 35 Mbps with no contention. In this context, the
use of the word symmetrical refers to the delivery of identical upload and
download speeds, which also remain consistent during a company’s day-to-day
operations.
To achieve this, EFM utilises multiple copper cables to connect
you directly to the Internet, bridging the cavernous gap that exists between
broadband and leased lines.
This is an extremely effective combination, and one that
delivers increased speeds, higher bandwidth and far greater levels of
resilience.
The latter point is particularly important, as EFM cables
operate in multiple pairs that will continue to deliver a consistent and
reliable service even as one pair fails.
How can EFM Benefit your Business?
Despite being relatively obscure from the perspective of small
businesses, EFM is available to an estimated 80% of firms throughout the UK and
can provide considerable cost advantages.
Aside from this and the additional benefits we’ve already
discussed, EFM can also add value to your venture in a number of different
ways. It’s extremely accessible and can be deployed quickly, for example, as
EFM leverages copper connections that are already available at your premises
and minimises the amount of disruption caused by digging and extended downtime.
With suppliers like Redcentric,
an EFM also comes with 24/7 support that spans 365 days each year, whilst each
associated circuit operates independently and delivers genuine continuity to
users.
So, if you operate an online venture that relies on connectivity
in order to drive sales, you can use a secure EFM to minimise downtime and
optimise turnover in the process.
This technology is also suitable for providing reliable VPN and
VoIP services, replacing traditional leased lines and SDSL alternatives.
On a fundamental level, it’s also a resilient service that’s
reliable, secure and capable of simplifying your router configuration choices. This
should definitely prick up the ear of business-owners, who can finally rely on
a secure and accessible Ethernet connection that helps them to reduce their
operational costs.
