Keeping Customers Connected, Secure, and Mobile How Verizon is helping small and midsize businesses do more with less.

Written by: Aparna Khurjekar, President, Verizon Business Markets

Small and midsize business owners typically have to do more with less. Which is why Verizon has a dedicated division to provide businesses with a customized approach so they aren't paying for services they don't need, suggesting alternative approaches to give them a leg up. Verizon specialists evaluate individual businesses' tech requirements and determine the most appropriate solutions for every customer.

According to a recent Verizon Small Business survey, 63 percent of decision-makers said they have implemented digital tools and technologies to enhance customer experiences and create new business opportunities. They are investing in high-speed internet (Verizon Business Internet), remote collaboration tools to enhance the virtual working experience (such as BlueJeans by Verizon), unified communication tools (such as Verizon's One Talk) that assign one number to multiple employee devices, enabling work from anywhere; and finally, security solutions which are top of mind as more employees work remotely.

In 2016, when a flood hit Baton Rouge, La., Tipton Associates, a 33-employee architectural firm, lost its cellular and internet services. With building projects at universities spread across multiple states, communications between personnel was essential to keep the business viable. The flooding made it impossible, and its wireless provider at the time was unable to determine when service would be back up.

"We had people in Delaware waiting to hear from us to keep a project going," says Chris Polk, Tipton's director of IT. "People are understanding, up to a point. At the end of the day, they have to get back to work." While Tipton was not a Verizon customer at the time, Polk knew a local company representative, so he gave him a call. The next morning, Verizon was at his home, setting up a network extender, and providing many of his company colleagues with new cell phones and mobile hotspots to get the operations back up and running.

This was not the last time that Verizon came to Tipton's aid. When a landscaper accidentally cut the fiber internet connection to Tipton's office, Verizon showed up in one hour with a temporary LTE modem and router to restore uninterrupted service.

Due to the devastating Hurricane Ida this past summer, communications were knocked out once again. Tipton had no idea when service would be restored.

This time, the company turned to Verizon for long-term help. Verizon supplied Tipton with Verizon One Talk, a mobile-first phone system. With One Talk, a call into the company rings to multiple mobile phones, preventing missed customer calls. And if a natural disaster disrupts the company's fiber internet communication again, Verizon's 5G mobile technology will enable uninterrupted service.

"This is the third time Verizon has come through and saved our business," Polk says. "We depend on communication, and Verizon understands that."

At Casa Nueva Vida, a homeless shelter in Massachusetts, the 16 families that reside there depend on communications to job hunt, educate their children through remote learning, and find permanent housing.

To provide fast, reliable internet service, the shelter switched to the Verizon Fios fiber system, giving residents and staff unsurpassed speed and low latency, a particularly important feature for at-home learning.

"Getting families connected to services and education is a key part of our business, and Verizon supplies the fast connection speed that we and our residents need," says Brandon Garcia, Casa Nueva Vida's manager.

For families, it is hard to imagine when communication is more important than when a family member is nearing the end of their life. That is a time when loved ones want to be kept informed of rapidly changing health conditions, medical procedures, and be given the ability to reach out to the person who is suffering. As the largest provider of not-for-profit hospice services in the country, Chapters Health System, operating across Florida, depends on reliable and secure communications to keep its staff and the nearly 50,000 individuals it typically helps each year stay in touch and provide needed services.

Verizon supplies Chapters Health with smartphones, tablets, and hotspot devices that allow medical personnel to effectively and rapidly communicate with patients and caregivers in the field and update patient records. In addition, Verizon provides 5G internet connectivity that provides patients with a means of virtually connecting with loved ones.

"We're always able to reach our Verizon representatives whenever a problem arises," says Chapters Health Chief Information Officer Sheri Strobel. "By knowing that we can keep patients, caregivers, families and staff connected, we can provide our families with the best care possible at this most crucial time in everyone's life."

Verizon is currently offering Small Business Days, where small and midsize businesses can access discounts such as up to $1,200 in savings and waived fees from November 18th-24th.