The way Australians are connecting to the internet has changed over the past decade with nbn™ becoming the main option for businesses wanting to connect. This is by no means a bad thing, as the nbn™ also represents a significant upgrade and opportunity for businesses of all sizes.
Prior to the days of the nbn™, some small businesses had to rely on ADSL and ADSL2+ copper infrastructure. ADSL was slow and inefficient, while most small businesses lacked the capital for an enterprise fibre solution. The nbn™ provides high speed internet to all Australian premises at a reasonable and affordable rate for a small business. NBN services can be much faster than ADSL2+. It's actually more secure, too. The bulk of the nbn™ network is made up of fibre, which is more robust, resilient, and secure than copper lines. With more businesses than ever relying entirely on their Internet to do business, online security has never been more important.
For most of Australia, the nbn™ has, at this point, been rolled out. Once it has been made available in the location of your business, you will get a communication from NBNCo letting you know that you've got 18 months to make the switch to the nbn™ before existing services are turned off.
Note: You must make the switch yourself. The rollover to the nbn™ is not automatic, and if you do nothing, at the end of the 18 month grace period, you will no longer have a phone system or Internet connection.
Making the switch is very easy. You simply contact the RSP of your choice, and they will facilitate the rollover to the nbn™ for you. In most cases this will involve booking a time for an NBNCo technician to attend the site and set up the connection, and this will usually occur within a few weeks of calling the RSP. For this reason, to ensure that there is no disruption to your communications, it is a good idea to make the switch well before the 18 month term.
Note: Depending on the type of nbn™ connection, the technician may need to install NBN equipment at your office. You'll need to confirm with the office landlord the best way to manage this.
Once the NBNCo technician has attended, the RSP can begin delivering service.
In most cases you will be able to retain your business phone number. The only difference is that now it will be sent over an Internet connection, and that means that you can leverage a hosted PBX system for a greater range of enterprise phone services, like call forwarding, IVR menu options, extension dialing and so on.
For most small businesses, the only thing you'll need to maintain your Internet service is an nbn™-compatible modem/router. Most business-grade examples of these have been nbn™-compatible since the beginning of the rollout, so unless your technology is particularly old, the transition here will be seamless.
What a lot of small businesses don't necessarily realise is that the nbn™ can potentially affect more than just their phone and Internet services. All of these technologies should be checked for nbn™ compatibility prior to making the switch:
Fax machines
Fire alarms
Security systems
EFTPOS/credit card machines
In all of the above cases, the vendors and suppliers of the technology and/or services – including banks with EFTPOS machines and security companies with security systems - will be able to assist you in ensuring that there's a seamless switch to the nbn™, but it is something that should be planned for ahead of time to ensure that there's no inadvertent disruption when the switch occurs.
NBNCo doesn't deal directly with the public or businesses. Rather, RSPs on-sell the available nbn™ services. Most RSPs have access to two different kinds of nbn™ services – a service designed for residential and consumer use, and Business nbn™.
Business nbn™ services can be, generally speaking, more expensive than the residential alternative. This can make them tempting for smaller businesses, but for any organisation larger than one to two people, it's still highly recommended to leverage a Business nbn™ service.
The transition to the nbn™ was designed to be seamless and painless. Your business will benefit from the improved Internet speeds, better reliability, and a better, more feature-rich telephony system.
With SpinTel, you're also able to adjust your Internet plans at will, giving your business ultimate flexibility when choosing a plan for your business. Additionally, you will be able to enjoy the comfort of 24/7 customer support. Speak to a SpinTel team member today.
