Answer: More than you think.
Contact: DeAnne Boegli
National Public Relations Manager, TDS
608-664-4428
deanne.boegli@tdstelecom.com
MADISON, Wis. (March 10, 2010) –Analysts reported in 2009, that college basketball tournaments cost employers $3.8 billion or more in lost productivity. With more than 6 million hours of streaming video expected to be watched during the March tournament season alone, the impact could be substantial to business owners.
If you run a company or oversee an IT department you may be curious about just how much time bandwidth events like this cost your company. TDS Telecommunications Corp. (TDS®) is offering an introductory, 30-day free promotion in March for a product called Content Defender. The goal of Content Defender is to help businesses quantify the ultimate question: How much will events like the college basketball tourney cost my business?
“Content Defender is a game-changer for IT managers. It provides valuable data and allows companies to see which sites employees are using and then take action to protect your bandwidth availability,” says Tom Canfield, vice president, Commercial Marketing and Product Development at TDS.
According to TDS, in a few clicks, the IT department from your company can identify traffic congestion on specific Web sites, restrict employee’s access from these specific sites and prevent employees from looking for vacation hot spots, a new job, or researching baby names.
If blocking sites seems too harsh, business owners can consider establishing parameters that allow employees to use company bandwidth to update their Facebook or Twitter accounts or watch a basketball tournament at agreed upon time periods.
For companies that want to allow personal use and access to broadband, Content Defender helps them better understand the amount of bandwidth being used and also enables them to put a monetary valuation to the perk.
Why would you want to monitor bandwidth usage?
1. 72% of firms worried workers behavior on social networks is putting their business at risk.
2. You could be held liable if employees are doing illegal activities.
3. You’re paying employees to work.
4. 70% rise in malware and spam on social networks in 2009. Though you trust your employees, their “non-work” activities can expose corporate networks to malware and botnets.
5. Bandwidth is critical to your business operations and you pay for it.
“Monitoring bandwidth usage with a product like Content Defender is about maximizing productivity and knowing what’s happening on your broadband pipes,” states Canfield. “Be prepared to be surprised by what you discover, it really is amazing to see the data.”
More information on TDS’ Content Defender product and free trial can be found at http://www.tdstelecom.com/portal/cd/
TDS Telecommunications Corp. markets communication services to business and residential customers in 30 states through its brands TDS Telecom® and TDS Metrocom®. With 1.1 million access line equivalents in service, TDS Telecommunications Corp. connects customers to phone, broadband, and digital television service in hundreds of rural, suburban, and metropolitan communities. TDS Telecommunications Corp. is the eighth-largest wire line company in the nation; employing approximately 2,600 people. The company is headquartered in Madison, Wis. Visit http://www.tdstelecom.com and http://www.tdsbusiness.com for more information. Connect on Twitter @tdstelecom and Facebook.
TDS Telecommunications Corp. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. A Fortune 500® company, Telephone and Data Systems provides wireless, local and long-distance telephone and broadband services to 7.3 million customers in 36 states through TDS Telecommunications Corp. and U.S. Cellular, its 82-percent owned wireless subsidiary. Founded in 1969 and headquartered in Chicago, Telephone and Data Systems had 12,400 employees as of Dec. 31, 2009. Visit http://www.teldta.com for more information.
