Businesses Rely on Broadband

I don’t think most folks understand the extent to which businesses are adapting to broadband. One of the best examples I can give you is to talk about a specific business. It’s a casual bar/restaurant that attracts customers by offering good food and arcade games for customers. Consider the following ways this one local business uses broadband:

• Customers make reservations using a service that is hosted in the cloud. The reservation service provides updates to the owner so that he is aware of heavily-booked days and can ensure there are enough employees on hand.
• Most of the food and drinks to supply the kitchen and the bar are ordered using online vendor portals.
• The merchant services software that accepts and processes credit cards is hosted in the cloud. The business uses touchscreen terminals for customers to pay their bills and enter tips.
• Payroll is totally in the cloud. Employees log in when they come and go for the day, and payroll is calculated automatically. 
• Accounting for sales is in the cloud. All food, bar, and game sales are automatically added to the accounting books.
• The restaurant is active on social media and posts comments and pictures throughout the day.

The business owner fully understands the degree to which the business relies on broadband. To protect against outages, the owner bought a broadband connection from two broadband providers. I’m not highlighting this business because it is extraordinary – just the opposite. This is a business that is using the tools that are available to any business with broadband. There are now millions of businesses that are fully reliant on broadband to function, and that’s something we don’t talk about enough.