Do you need 24/7 connectivity? Multi-network SIMs could be the mobile connectivity solution your organisation needs to stay online and in touch.
As more and more companies prepare to move away from 100% working from home, many will still be working from remote locations from time to time.
But this ‘new’ working world increasingly requires us to be seamlessly connected. The problem when it comes to 24/7 connectivity, working from anywhere and at any time, is that no single network is guaranteed to provide flawless coverage or service all of the time. Mixed mobile estates can assist with this.
“Network downtime last year cost UK businesses 60 million hours and £742m through unplanned outages”. Source: Pangea
For many organisations, multi-network SIMs will be the cost-effective solution you’re looking for. Read on to find out all about multi-network SIMs and how they could help you to solve your immediate business challenges and future-proof your mobile connectivity needs.
Maximise your mobile coverage anywhere, anytime
In today’s 24/7 world, there is nothing more frustrating than losing mobile coverage. Until recently, dealing with the issue of lost connectivity has often been resolved by contracting with several different networks so that if connectivity is lost with one, then switching to another will resolve this.
The problem with this is that as well as adding complexity, using several different network providers means purchasing more data than you actually need, adding in unnecessary cost and fortunately, there is now a solution in the form of a multi-network SIM.
What is a multi-network SIM?
Multi-network SIMs are designed for applications where it’s vital to have an internet connection available 24/7, even in busy locations or in coverage black spots.
With 4G now widely available across all the major networks, multi-network SIMs are perfect for keeping mission-critical business applications online — no matter the local coverage, bandwidth capacity or risk of outage.
How does a multi-network SIM work?
Un-steered multi-network SIMs find the strongest network, any time and every time. Unlike their steered counterparts, they don’t have a preferred network. The devices they power will search for the strongest signal with the highest capacity, giving employees the best connectivity possible — no matter what the location.
A great example of this is when Liverpool FC had the challenge of keeping retailers online through match days.
Multi-network SIMs example
On match days, it became increasingly difficult for Liverpool FC to take payments over 4G due to the congested network. An un-steered multi-network SIM was exactly the mobile connectivity solution needed.
Stadium retailers now enjoy seamless roaming across all networks — if there’s a brief outage or they set up in a network dead-zone, they don’t even notice; the SIMs simply migrate until they find the strongest connection. On top of that, each kiosk is now equipped with a static IP to process card payments, hosted voice handsets, and a private APN to reduce congestion issues.
The benefits of multi-network SIMs are many. Multi-network SIMs offer exceptional reliability and coverage, are easy to manage and can often be the most cost-effective solution. Other benefits that our customers leverage include the following:
Naturally resilient
An un-steered multi-network SIM has no preferred network and will always connect to the strongest 4G signal whatever the location.
Our customer JC Decaux chose this solution when deploying its new digital phone kiosks that have been equipped with defibrillators that can be used by the public to potentially save lives. They wanted to be sure that wherever the defibrillator was it would be connected to the internet at all times with no risk of a network outage.
Monitor and control your data usage
Data can be pooled across all SIMs and with a range of usage tiers available you’ll never pay for out-of-bundle data.
Manage your estate to ensure business as usual
Managing your estate of SIMs is all done through a single, easy-to-use portal where you can view real-time usage and connection status 24/7.
Questions to ask when considering mobile connectivity solutions
Concerns about mobile bandwidth, network coverage and network outage are three of the top questions we get asked about when helping IT leaders to choose the right connectivity solution for their organisation.
There are three key areas that a business needs to assess when evaluating its needs
1. How resilient do I need my network coverage to be, even when there’s network congestion?
2. How much data am I likely to use? And will this change once we switch to 5G?
3. Can I easily manage my estate to ensure business as usual at all times?
Talk to Opus about your connectivity requirements
Mobile coverage in the UK is patchy in some areas and it’s difficult to rely on one network to provide you with connectivity across the whole country. As part of our Opus Communicate range, we offer un-steered multi-network data SIM’s with self-optimising data bundles to help you to overcome those ‘not’ spots.
And because every organisation is different, we always take the time to carry out analysis of your corporate strategy and technology landscape. So whether it’s multi-network SIMs or another mobile connectivity solution you receive recommendations tailored to your business.
Our SIMs might be multi-network, but you’ll only ever need to go through us to unlock greater connectivity and all the continued support you could need to keep your whole organisation online and in touch — wherever their work takes them.
