| With almost every company or business wanting to | | | | since it is basically cable with a thyroid condition and still |
| gain that competitive edge in this very aggressive | | | | has all the inherent problems and disadvantages of |
| business world, when is a T1 line is necessity instead | | | | DSL and cable. |
| of just a luxury? The answer to that question very | | | | By stark contrast, a T1 line is DEDICATED, not shared, |
| much depends on what you want to accomplish and | | | | and you have a written contractual agreement with |
| what kind of impression you want to leave with your | | | | the carrier, who has an obligation to provide you with a |
| customers and prospects. | | | | reliable and dedicated connection. You have |
| For example, if you are using DSL or cable, that is a | | | | guaranteed and dedicated bandwidth with a T1 line, |
| very loud message that says "I am cheap" and your | | | | you have a stated and written uptime guarantee via |
| customers will wonder where else you may be cutting | | | | the SLA (Service Level Agreement), and if there are |
| corners to "make do", such as with key aspects of | | | | problems, you have a written statement as far as long |
| your product or service offering in your core market. | | | | it will take to fix the problem. You have none of those |
| Do I hear you laughing at that? Maybe, but then again, | | | | guarantees with DSL, cable, or FIOS. |
| your competitors are laughing all the way to the bank | | | | Now with the basics out of the way, keep in mind that |
| as customers that you could have had are now | | | | not all T1 lines are created equally. If you get your T1 |
| customers of theirs. Remember, in this electronic age, | | | | line from a second or third tier carrier, that is like |
| you only have one chance to make a first impression, | | | | shopping for fine crystal at Kmart, or in other words, it |
| and if the impression you give says "cheap" or "lack of | | | | does not make sense. Some of the second and third |
| quality" or "lack of reliability", that impression is going to | | | | tier carriers, in my experience, have actually sold a |
| be carried forward in their view of your product or | | | | DSL line to a customer, telling them it was a T1. The |
| service offering. | | | | lesson to be learned here is that you want to go with |
| DSL and cable solutions for Internet access absolutely | | | | a reliable carrier. There are many reliable first tier |
| scream "cheap" as loudly as possible. Why? Because | | | | carriers out there, and chances are better than |
| they are basically your marginally acceptable, just | | | | excellent that they can service your location, and they |
| barely meeting the minimums, type of Internet | | | | don't play those kinds of bait and switch games with |
| connectivity solution. With DSL and cable, you have no | | | | their customers. |
| guarantees since they are provided on a "best efforts" | | | | Definitely take time to evaluate your decision and |
| basis. You are also SHARING that DSL or cable circuit | | | | decide what is best for you and your business. But |
| with 50-100 or more other businesses and residences | | | | also keep in mind that in most cases, you get what |
| in your area -- yes, even if it is sold and marketed as | | | | you pay for, and saving $50-$100 a month from Kmart |
| "business class". DSL and cable were designed to be | | | | Telecom may actually cost you $500-$1000 a month |
| over-subscribed which is the only way they achieve | | | | in terms of the time that your IT department needs to |
| the price points that they do. FIOS is really no better, | | | | spend trying to get that circuit to work. |