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As a small business owner, you have enough on your plate without having to worry about your Internet connection. While finding an Internet Service Provider and plan may seem easy to do, there is probably more to take into consideration than you had originally thought.
DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) works through digital signals that are carried over your telephone line, without interrupting or interfering with your phone calls. This is possible because telephones don’t use all of the bandwidth available on a traditional phone line, and DSL signals take advantage of the unused bandwidth. With today’s DSL, you can also get a dedicated DSL line which does not run through your existing phone line, but is always-on and always-connected to keep your business functioning at top speeds.
If you are considering DSL for your Internet needs, we have some suggestions to help you with your decision.
- Know Your Internet Needs – Choosing the right plan is a matter of matching the needs of your business with a plan that delivers those needs at the right price.
- Look For Deals On Bundled Services – Internet Service Providers offer great incentives to purchase multiple services. You can save big when you order phone and Internet from the same provider.
- Installation – Have your Internet Service Provider give you all the details involved with installing your service. This could include time frame, cost, building access, and possible modifications to the structure.
- Technical Support – Know how and when you can contact technical support, and what their response time will be in the event you require a service call.
- Training – Determine whether your Internet Service Provider will provide training to you and to any of your employees on how to use their services, if needed, as well as any cost involved.
- Cancellation Fees – You may find that your choice of an Internet Service Provider does not meet your expectations. Find out up front what an early cancellation would cost you.
Choosing a DSL Internet Service provider can require some research. Broadbandinfo.com can help get you started. Click the following link for additional DSL information and service providers: http://www.broadbandinfo.com/business/dsl/
The growth in Facebook Business Pages continues to accelerate, as the social network revealed recently that it has passed the 15 million milestone.
Dan Levy, Facebook’s director of small business, revealed the updated figure in December 2012 while speaking at the Borrell Associates’ Local Online Advertising conference in New York.
This impressive increase further adheres to the fact that Facebook is not just a service that solely benefits everyday users, but also brands, products and businesses.
Levy also used the conference to announce that the Facebook Pages Manager app has attracted more than eight million users since it first launched on iOS last May.
To read more about the news from Facebook, visit:
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/195051/facebook-reaches-15-million-smb-pages.html#ixzz2MjTR1I4n
…and don’t forget to “Like” Broadband Info’s Facebook Page!
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Broadband-Info/157215344408831
The Nielsen Company is expanding its definition of television and will introduce a comprehensive plan to capture all video viewing including broadband, Xbox and iPads.
The new definition of a “TV household,” as Nielsen explained to its clients recently, is any household with “at least one operable TV/monitor with the ability to deliver video via traditional means of antennae, cable (set top boxes) or satellite receiver and/or with broadband connection.”
“Nielsen’s objective is to measure video content however consumers access it,” Pat McDonough, Nielsen’s senior vice president of insights and analysis, said in a statement. “In the last decade, the places and ways consumers can view content have grown significantly. Over the last 12 months, Nielsen has explored expanding the current definition of a TV household to more accurately reflect media consumption and technology advancements.”
Nielsen expects to have in place new hardware and software tools in the nearly 23,000 TV homes it samples by September 2013, just in time for the beginning of the next TV season. Those measurement systems will capture viewership not just from the 75 percent of homes that rely on cable, satellite and over the air broadcasts but also viewing via devices that deliver video from streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon, from so-called over-the-top services and from TV enabled game systems like the X-Box and PlayStation.
While some use of iPads and other tablets that receive broadband in the home will be included in the first phase of measurement improvements, a second phase is expected to include viewership from any device.
Read more at:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/nielsen-agrees-expand-definition-tv-422795
and
http://www.wired.com/underwire/2013/02/nielsen-online-viewing-ratings/
Television viewers are becoming more active while watching now, according to the findings in a new report that illustrates the explosive growth in people who watch TV while connected to social media on smartphones and tablets.
The Nielsen Company said that one in three people using Twitter in June sent messages at some point about the content of television shows, an increase of 27 percent from only five months earlier.
“Twitter has become the second screen experience for television,” said Deirdre Bannon, vice president of social media at Nielsen.
An estimated 41 percent of tablet owners and 38 percent of smartphone owners used their device while also watching television at least once a day, Nielsen said.
The Nielsen study also found that 35 percent of people who used tablets while watching TV looked up information online about the program they were watching. A quarter of tablet owners said they researched coupons or deals for products they saw advertised on television.
For additional details about the Nielsen study, visit:
http://techland.time.com/2012/12/03/nielsen-study-shows-growth-in-second-screen-users/
When you look into purchasing broadband, or even if you are a current broadband customer, you may have the option of bundling your broadband service with other bills.
Many broadband providers offer other services, in addition to cable, such as phone service (digital voice), and Internet service at just one price. You would then pay for all of those services in one bill directly to your cable company rather than in three separate bills to three separate companies.
Bundling your broadband service allows you to:
- Save money when you order television, internet, and phone service together from a single cable company
- Bundling service adds convenience since you have one monthly bill for all three services
- Hand pick the features and services that you want
For more information on Bundled Services visit http://www.broadbandinfo.com/bundled-services/
HDTV stands for High Definition Television and is a digital television system that produces an incredibly clear, vivid picture quality that standard-definition cannot match. In fact, HDTV produces the best television audio and video available to consumers today. There are three major HDTV resolutions: 720p (1280 pixels x 720 lines), 1080i (1920 pixels x 1080 lines), and 1080p (1920 pixels x1080 lines). These numbers represent how many lines are embedded in the signal, and the letter indicates the type of scan the HDTV uses to display the picture. The higher the number, the higher the resolution. The “i” stands for interlaced scan and the “p” means progressive scan. With progressive scan every line is refreshed in each frame update. With interlaced scan every other line is refreshed in each frame update so it takes two frame updates to refresh the entire screen.
The increase in resolution is just one of the benefits of HDTV. Because the image is digital rather than analog, it tends to be much sharper on televisions of all sizes. Its image display technology is “progressive” rather than “interlaced”, meaning that the entire picture is continuously shown, rather than alternating between partial picture displays as in a conventional television. Interlaced pixels and low refresh rates are responsible for the flickering effect seen in older televisions.
More and more high-definition (HD) programming is being offered today through cable providers however, in order to view HD programs you must have an HDTV. Likewise, if you own an HDTV you will not automatically be watching HD programming. You must subscribe to a cable provider that offers a high-definition TV package or purchase an antenna that will allow you to receive over-the-air HD signals.
For more information about HDTV click here: http://www.broadbandinfo.com/learn-about/hdtv/
Microsoft has announced it is discontinuing its Live Messenger service and will be integrating it with the internet telephone service Skype.
The news was not a surprise considering Microsoft had already purchased the popular VoIP service last spring.
The news first came through the President of Microsoft’s Skype division, Tony Bates, who said that Messenger will be retired in all countries in the first quarter of 2013, with the exception of mainland China where Messenger will continue to be available. “We want to focus our efforts on making things simpler for our users while continuously improving the overall experience,” wrote Bates in a blog post.
Windows Live Messenger launched in 1999 with a text messaging system. Eventually, it added photo delivery, video calls and games. Messenger has about 100 million users while Skype has reached 280 million users, according to numbers sourced from Microsoft’s latest earnings report. Skype currently boasts to having 40 million users online at peak times. Skype users are also able to share screens, video call with friends on Facebook in addition to making group video calls.
Users of both services will be able to merge their accounts and contact list – only those who use the Microsoft service will be required to make the transition.
For more information click here: http://blogs.skype.com/en/2012/11/skypewlm.html
The term broadband commonly refers to high-speed Internet access that is faster than traditional dial-up access. The term broadband refers to any type of transmission technique that carries multiple voice, video or data channels simultaneously over a common wire. It is a large pipeline that brings information to your home. In this instance, broadband refers to high-speed Internet access using this transmission technique.
Broadband Internet allows you to receive more information quickly and do more on the Internet by giving you:
- An always-on connection with no busy signals and it does not block phone lines
- Blazing speed – up to 70 times faster than dial-up (speeds vary by service provider)
- Fast video and music downloads
- Less delay in transmission of content when using broadband
To read more about the different types of broadband services visit our website at http://www.broadbandinfo.com/cable/broadband/
Did you know broadbandinfo.com has broadband provider and deal information on every region in the U.S.? You can easily find the providers in your area and get access to local deals in one place on our website.
We have information on every region in the United States, from the California beaches, across Chicago and to the heart of New York City.
Find the providers in your area and get access to broadband Internet today by going to http://www.broadbandinfo.com/local-deals/
On broadbandinfo.com you can search for Broadband Offers by Cable Service Providers. Visit our Broadband Providers page to see broadband offers in all service categories, such as high-speed Internet, cable TV, digital phone, or bundled offers.
You can also use our broadband service finder, located at the top of the Deals by Broadband Providers page, to search for specific provider deals in your area or neighborhood.