Office Superhero Series: YK Communications is taking current and future customers on a journey to discover how they can become a superhero in their workplace when it comes to business technology. Join us as we walk through identifying and solving common frustrations surrounding business internet and office tech.

As businesses grow, IP phone lines ring more often, more employees and devices are accessing the same office network, whether it’s wired or through a wi-fi connection. “Bandwidth creep” can sneak up on any office, but it can bring a business to a dead stop if it’s not addressed.

That often leads to misplaced complaints that “the internet’s not working!” from employees, when in fact your internet service is simply under a heavy workload and likely needs an upgrade. (Contact us at 361-771-3334 to speak to a specialist that can be sure your service matches you needs, in that case!)

Here are a few tell-tale signs your internet connection is solid, but your business could be burning through the bandwidth:

Submitting forms through web browsers or desktop software powered by the internet is taking far too long or timing out altogether.

Data entry can be what greases the wheels of productivity in your business. If you can’t get things saved and submitted, we understand that pain. When your network is under a strain, form submission errors and time outs can indicate your bandwidth is not adequate.

Web pages intermittently (think “randomly”) load slowly, especially at peak business times.

When everyone’s back from lunch and getting those browser windows going again, you might notice that web pages load slowly even when your internet connection seems fine. You click again, and the site loads perfectly. This “hit or miss” style loading problem can be an indication that while you’re not having an outage, your business network is under some stress to keep all devices operational.

File downloads never complete because your request times out.

30%... 55%... 73%... Download failed.

If your downloads give up part of the way through the download process, it could mean your bandwidth is straining to keep up with the process along with other ongoing business demands. If you can verify the website and file are fine, we’d recommend auditing your network demands to be sure you’ve got the right speeds or business internet package to get the job done.

Desktop email clients like Outlook take a long time to retrieve once you click “Send/Receive Messages.”

Nothing wrong with the mail server and your router says everything’s a “go,” but there’s some real thinking time happening when you hit that inbox refresh? If your network is having a hard time retrieving emails with attachments, especially during busy work hours, it’s a good indicator that you’re reaching peak bandwidth.

Overhead or PA Music Streaming buffers anytime you download a large file from the internet.

Any time you notice that an increased volume of activity and downloads causes your connection to slow, it’s a sign your business workload is rapidly (or has already!) grown beyond the capability of your internet package. If the office streams background music through a service like Pandora, iHeartRadio, or Spotify and you notice buffering or skipping music when other computers and devices are being used, that’s a perfect example.

Time to be an office superhero!

Make the decision to call YK Communications at 361-771-3334 and discuss your office network needs. Let us know how many devices you’re running, which issues you’re currently experiencing, any we’ll be happy to recommend a product and speed to match your business goals!