With houses of worship gradually reopening, you’ll likely be putting your network’s bandwidth and reliably to the test. The world is different now than it was before. The demands placed on your network will be different, too! Having a network setup that can adequately accommodate these new demands is vital to a smooth transition.
Service Live-Streaming
In a time where many churches can only meet in-person with a limited number of congregants, live-streaming services are an increasingly prevalent need for houses of worship. Live-streaming puts a heavy burden on your network’s bandwidth, often causing slowdowns in other areas of your network.
Having a solid network with traffic that is appropriately shaped and routed ensures that your streaming upload will run as smoothly as possible. There are also services that can aid your live-streaming. They’ll control your video upload, then buffer and restream your service to prevent watchers from experiencing issues. These could include video outages, pauses or the dreaded spinning “loading” wheel so often dealt with.
Going Contact-Free
Beyond streaming, there are plenty of other important functions the network serves. In our newly-“contactless” society, access to contact-free online giving, mobile bulletins, internet prayer chains and ministry communication are also important at church gatherings. How you manage congregants’ access to your network, as well as network resource sharing, can have a big impact on the worship service experience. We discuss the importance of a solid guest network in a previous blog post, which we recommend you check out!
Houses of Worship Network Maintenance
Besides ensuring the adequacy of your network overall, you should also factor network maintenance into the equation. As with anything, there’s the cost factor of managing and maintaining your network, whether you hire internal staff or outsource. If, for example, you chose to work with D16, you’d get access to our top-level staff with comprehensive knowledge on how networks work, plus how to set up the best network for you. We’ve worked with major ministries, both large and small, to determine the best fit for their needs. A company like D16 represents a solid balance between the consumer-grade, under-powered network systems you can buy at the store and the overpowered, unnecessarily expensive networks from a large network company. You get exactly what you’re looking for at a fraction of the cost of hiring someone to setup and manage your network.
Additionally, our managed services help you reduce overhead cost. By leasing equipment, you eliminate the need to purchase all-new equipment when it’s time for an upgrade. We’ll make sure your network is always working and up-to-date while providing adaptability as your ministry grows and needs change.
During this pandemic the importance of networks has become far more apparent than many originally thought. As we continue moving back towards meeting in-person again, the reliability of our networks is more important than ever. Got questions? Need network help? Just want to ensure you can handle everything as you reopen? Give us a call! We’re happy to be of help, no strings attached.
