In the last few years, video has become an essential part of business growth. It’s been used not only as an engaging marketing technique, but also as inspiration, as motivation, and as an overall guide for successful day-to-day operations. Reports show that three quarters of business executives watch work-related videos at least once a week, and that more than half plan to increase their video budget, highlighting the need for a fast, reliable business broadband service that meets modern requirements.
Video in the Workplace
As a marketing technique, product videos and instructional videos posted to business Youtube accounts have become hugely popular, aiding the decision making process of buyers and helping to improve product visibility. However, the use of video in a business setting has expanded way beyond advertising. From business-related documentaries on Netflix such as Inside:LEGO and Something Ventured to online TED talks from the world’s biggest knowledge-sharing convention, video really is a hot topic right now.
The Speed Concern
If you look at speed requirements for streaming videos, you’ll usually see that you need a minimum of 1Mbps to watch without interruptions. Great – most business broadband services provide speeds of around 17Mbps. However, there’s a growing issue here: quality. ‘Ultra HD’ is one of the latest digital buzzwords, and everyone is jumping on the bandwagon. According to Netflix, in order to stream an ultra HD video without interruptions, businesses really need to have download speeds of 25Mbps or more.
So what are the best business broadband upgrade options?
Superfast
Internet service providers such as BT offer superfast business broadband with download speeds of around 76Mbps, which is more that enough to stream video, and conduct other tasks simultaneously, so this can be a good upgrade option. The downside to superfast business broadband is, of course, that it’s unable to match the upload speeds with the download speeds. If you wanted to upload your own videos, this could prove to be slow and frustrating.
Leased Line
Many businesses would be advised to upgrade to a leased line. With a leased line, it’s possible to get speeds of up to 100Mbps, not only in terms of download but in terms of upload, too. That’s 100Mbps up, and 100Mbps down. The advantage of this symmetrical connection is that it’s as fast to stream and download videos as it is to upload videos, so this is a great choice for businesses planning to create their own promotional videos to share online.
Leased lines are becoming more popular, more affordable, and more convenient to install, especially with Ofcom’s new regulations on price increases and installation targets. Websites such as leasedlinecomparison.com make it quick and easy to find a good leased line provider with great rates.
James Ward is CEO & Founder of Leased Line Comparison, a website founded in 2013 and has since helped over 10,000 customers. James gained his expertise in the leased line world by joining a telecoms company called Exponential-e back in 2011 which taught him everything he needed to know to set up this website today. James’ interests include horse racing, skiing, rugby, hiking, boxing and riding. He spends his time between family and friend, socialising and sport.