How Essential Is The Internet To Your Business?
How Essential Is The Internet To Your Business?
A Funny Thing Happened On Sunday Morning...
The Sedona fall selling season is underway. In Arizona, our spring season is the most active. This is followed by our fall season. I have 4 buyers that I am currently working with and 3 coming soon listings. So, I was working on the MLS this past Sunday morning looking at luxury Sedona listings that I could show a prospective client.
A Four Day Complete Service Disruption
Approximately 150 homes in Soldiers Pass were affected. I spoke with 6 neighbors who were all affected by this outage. Even though it was only one company, Suddenlink is the most reliable in our area. This is actually the first service disruption we have had.
All of a sudden, there was no internet connection, so I restarted the modem and my iMac and nothing changed. To make a very, very long story short, the Soldiers Pass area of Sedona was affected. Suddenlink is upgrading the lines on Soldiers Pass and those lines were cut, affecting at least 2 entire communities. We had no TV reception, landline, and even more important no internet service. YIKES!
Of course, this was Labor Day weekend! By the time that the crew determined the problem and "fixed" it, Tuesday was over! That is 3 days without service. The crew sent out an SMS that it had been fixed. What they didn't realize was that at least 2 different nodes were affected. They fixed one. But my community didn't get fixed. It wasn't until Wednesday evening that service was restored.
I didn't realize how critical the internet was until I didn't have access to my high-speed service. At that time, I was able to get two buyers in 2 separate contracts because I had a backup plan. This includes writing 2 additional contracts that were rejected.
What Is Your Backup Plan?
Not having a backup plan for running your business is like playing chicken with a rattlesnake! What would you do without the internet? Of course, you could go to a coffee shop or some other area that has "free" internet service. This is the last resort for me.
- Purchase a cellular unlimited data package.
- This gives you the option to use a hotspot with your computer if you need the MLS or write a contract on the spot.
- I can be 20-30 minutes from easy access to the internet so having this plan works for me. Fortunately, it was my "Plan B".
- Is your brokerage nearby?
- This is a great option unless you burn the midnight oil or need to react to a client when you are not in the office.
- Lastly, go to a business that offers "free" internet.
- Just remember to have a VPN to protect your connection.
Are there any other "Plan B" ideas that might work?
Other Areas To Consider...
- Do you depend on the "Cloud"?
- If so, without internet service it may be difficult to access your files even with a "hotspot" connection. Generally, I found it to be much slower.
- Consider storing your files on a USB drive. USB drives go with you everywhere. This is how I access most of my files. I have a 128 G USB.
- Consider having a Sync program to keep your USB and hard drive up to date.
- Use a portable hard drive. This is another tool I use. All my files are backed up on the drive and the USB.
- Does your printer connect to the WiFi?
- This was another issue for me. Even though my printer is connected to the iMac, it was set up for WiFi and I had to go through extra steps sending the docs to my phone and using the iPhone to connect to the printer. This is an area to look at.
- Research can only be done on the iPhone.
Can you think of other areas of modern tech that might affect your business?
I am Thankful For Our Service!
The more we can be prepared for in advance of problems like this, the better we all are in the ActiveRain community.
Sometimes, we don't realize how much we depend on our services until they are not available. I am thankful to be up and running again. Four days without any 21st century services other than my cellphone was very demanding on my time and my patience.
~ ~ ~
With the world's human population now at seven billion and growing, and the demand for technology and modern conveniences increasing, we can't control all our negative impacts. But we have to find better ways to live within the limits nature and its cycles impose.
David Suzuki
Increase Your Business! ---> Sign Up For ActiveRainContact Sheri Sperry (click here)Cell (928) 274-7355Website - SellSedona.com
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