Ensuring High-Speed, Rock-Solid Connectivity

The Challenge

Keep Business Moving, Rain or Shine

Heath Barrett’s staff consists of a sales manager, two customer service representatives and an administrative assistant, all of whom rely heavily on internet connectivity to perform their daily tasks. Agency operations are conducted almost exclusively over the internet via desktop computers and VoIP phones, which are leased to them as part of Allstate’s franchise package.

When Barrett took over Cornelia’s Allstate agency in 2015, the office was utilizing an old limited-bandwidth connection through Kinetic. A year after moving to a satellite broadband service provider that promised internet speeds twice as fast as what he had, it became painfully obvious that the weather would have a constant effect on connectivity. Business would come to a screeching halt every time cloudy skies kept the satellite signal from reaching their office, and Barrett and his agency couldn’t afford the frequent downtime they were experiencing as a result of these weather-related outages.

Heath Barrett has deep roots in his community, and with Kinetic Business’s store located right down the road, he decided to reach out to his old provider to discuss his situation and see if they had anything new to help. One meeting with his Kinetic Business representative detailing their new business offerings and higher broadband speeds was enough to convince Barrett that it was time to give them another chance.

The Solution

Optimized Bandwidth and Uptime

After consulting with Kinetic Business, Barrett decided to go with a 50 Mbps Business-Class Internet connection at his agency. This would be enough bandwidth to facilitate all of the web-based functionality required by his staff on their desktop computers and phone lines while avoiding weather-related service interruptions and expensive business downtime.

The agency’s existing VoIP phone system seamlessly integrated with the new internet service, allowing employees to enjoy clear and consistent phone connections and continuous access to Allstate’s web-based CRM system.

Once Barrett and his staff settled into their new network solution, they experienced a significant improvement in internet speed and reliability. The few times there were service interruptions, Kinetic Business responded right away and had internet back up and running with little downtime for Barrett and his staff.

“Now that Kinetic Business was able to deliver us higher speeds over a direct connection, I knew it was going to be a win-win for my agency. Making the switch has allowed us to stay ahead of the curve for speed and continue to do what we do best on a daily basis.”

Things were running smoothly when one day, Barrett’s Kinetic Business representative contacted him to advise that the business was eligible for a service upgrade to 100 Mbps at no additional cost. Barrett was thrilled and has seen enhanced productivity due to the higher connection speeds. In fact, he’s considering an investment in more advanced computers with greater processing speeds in order to keep up with the faster internet speeds. With Kinetic Business’s latest network enhancements, offering speeds up to 300 Mbps, Barrett may just want to do that sooner rather than later!

Future Benefits

Scalable Connectivity

Allstate is a technologically innovative corporation and encourages each individual agency to follow suit. So the fact that the network has room for future growth is extremely important to the Barrett Agency.

“Kinetic Business is looking out for my company’s best interests. My rep reached out to tell me we were eligible to upgrade to 100 Mbps at no extra cost. I wouldn’t have known about it otherwise. I appreciate that. They could have just let me keep going, keep paying—but that’s not how they work.”

As operations and communications are increasingly becoming web-based, the Barrett Agency expects that bandwidth will become even more of a priority. Staff members now have a powerful network on which to multitask and meet the ever-growing demands on their time. Video conferencing is one tool that the agency expects to start utilizing soon as a means to provide more convenient and personalized customer service. The ability to meet face-to-face with customers located a hundred miles away to educate them on ways to improve their insurance coverage would be very beneficial to the agency and its customers. The advanced levels of connectivity they’re enjoying with Kinetic Business will make that a possibility.