By Jenna Bunnell - Senior Manager, Content Marketing, Dialpad

Nothing's ever perfect. Take the internet. You want the free-flow of information and ideas that the internet supplies. You want to take advantage of the freedom to collaborate, both at work and at play. However, you don't want the content limitations or the security issues that tend to go along with it.

What you need is a Virtual Private Network (VPN), integrated into your browsing and operating on all your devices. And here's why.

1.    Security

This is the big one as far as a lot of users are concerned. We've all become used to massive transformations in our work behaviour, being enabled by advances in cloud communications platform technology.

The spread of COVID has booted this change up a gear, with remote work gatherings becoming ever more commonplace. This has of course resulted in all manner of security and usage concerns.

These concerns go from the basic, e.g. making sure your staff know how to unmute microphone and mute it again when necessary, to more complex issues of data encryption and IP privacy. As a result, the spread of COVID has seen a concomitant rise in the use of VPN:

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VPNs deliver security by keeping IP addresses private and by encrypting.

Keeping your IP address private makes a lot of sense. If your IP address is public, it makes it easier for hackers to gain entry and access your data. A VPN operates by obscuring the user's real IP address and using instead a virtual IP address linked to a server in another city or country.

This means that even on public wi-fi networks, you can browse with assured security and enhanced anonymity. Your entire session will be encrypted and your experience will be your own and only your own. 

2. Geo-Restrictions

The growth in business travel, COVID-restrictions notwithstanding, has been phenomenal. Accordingly, there are a huge number of great tools the business traveller can use, from neck pillows to visual voicemail.

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VPNs are one of the biggest helps a traveler could hope to have. They deliver a major advantage: you can pretend to be where you're not. If there are internet disadvantages to being wherever you've travelled to, that's no problem.

You can avail yourself of a whole world of content that you might otherwise be barred from accessing, depending on your location. Netflix, for instance, is not available in its entirety outside the US. But, should you be elsewhere in the world, a VPN can make it look like you're very much Stateside.

Certain countries adopt a greater degree of censorship on internet use. A VPN can widen one's access to content in these territories. Quite often, the same countries will apply greater scrutiny to internet use. A VPN will, to some extent, protect you from this unwanted attention.

An added plus here for the travelling business user is that, no matter where you are in the world, you can opt to stick with the same IP address. Quite often, an unknown IP address will mean that your outgoing mails end up in a client's junk folder. By using this aspect of a VPN you can avoid this misfortune.

3. Speed

From individuals enjoying film-watching to professionals involved in endeavors such as contact center management, your connection speed is of the essence.

You can actually improve speed with the use of a VPN. This is not a well-known benefit. Most people will think of a VPN tending to add latency and decrease upload and download speeds. However, there is evidence that using a VPN can improve overall speed by routing traffic through connections that have greater reliability.

VPNs help tackle speed-throttling too, by preventing the ISP from seeing your device's internet traffic and disguising its destination.

Before you decide on which VPN to get, it's a good idea to check on the implications for speed, with some systems giving far more latency than others. Thankfully, there are speed check comparison tools available online.

4. Protected file sharing

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A very popular aspect of VPN use is the potential it gives for P2P file sharing. Those involved can set up sharing relationships while enjoying a degree of confidence that the data will not be hacked.

And leaving considerations of ethicality at the door for the moment, media files can be shared beyond the purview of some authorities, e.g. copyright infringement watchdogs. Not that we're suggesting you might want to do this. Some people seem to, though.

5. Savings

This is a nice bonus. A lot of businesses utilize pricing structures that take into account customer location. Change your apparent location and you might be able to access a whole bunch of savings. Plane tickets and car rentals are great examples of this, so do your homework and watch those savings roll in.

On the subject of savings, VPNs are enormously good value for money. Just like with so many avenues of internet activity, from website designer to online video maker, you'll find free ones out there. It has to be said though that quality will improve the moment you start putting money into it. It needn't be much-for around $10 a month, you can start enjoying the benefits a VPN will deliver.

Summary

There are certain communication staples that a modern workplace is very much in need of. But to get the most out of these, you need to think VPN. Integrated VPNs are great for individual users and organizations, whether you're a company interested in the flexibility and security a VPN gives you or just somebody wanting to watch something your location would otherwise bar you from.

But do consider carefully which VPN is right for you. The spread of COVID has thrown up issues in this area and highlighted the relative strengths and weaknesses in different VPN packages. It's well worth taking the time to survey your operation and decide where your needs lie. You may want to check out the range of assessment tools available for this purpose.

VPNs keep you safe and can save you money. They're as close to a no-brainer as things get.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jenna Bunnell - Senior Manager, Content Marketing, Dialpad

Jenna Bunnell is the Senior Manager for Content Marketing at Dialpad, an AI-incorporated cloud-hosted call monitoring and unified communications system that provides valuable call details for business owners and sales representatives. She is driven and passionate about communicating a brand's design sensibility and visualizing how content can be presented in creative and comprehensive ways. Here is her LinkedIn.