Companies offer a variety of options to meet the equipment needs of small businesses in Alaska: Shared office space one way small businesses keep equipment costs down.

• Author: Barbour, Tracy
• Position: SMALL BUSINESS

Small business owners in Alaska have an assortment of options and resources when it comes to acquiring office equipment. National and Alaska-based companies offer everything from telephone equipment and copiers to computers and full-scale security solutions.

Clearly, the telephone is one of the most basic pieces of equipment needed by an office or other commercial space. Alaska businesses have access to a bevy of suppliers who provide the equipment and services needed to connect with customers, vendors, and employees. Matanuska Telephone Association (MTA) offers AVAYA PBX (private branch exchange) systems for purchase or lease. AVAYA PBX gives customers access to an affordable multiline phone system that is easy to upgrade and expand, allowing users to connect multiple locations and work remotely.

With AVAYA PBX, customers don't have to purchase, set up, or manage their own phone system; MTA provides and maintains the equipment for them. This can help reduce business communication costs while increasing employee productivity. MTA also offers a Hosted IP Business Supreme option that gives small businesses the opportunity to take advantage of Voice over IP (VoIP) technology. VoIP equipment, servers, and services are hosted by MTA, which manages calls and routes them to and from the existing telephony system and equipment providing a flexible solution for small business owners, says Carolyn Hanson, MTA's director of sales and community development.

MTA says it has seen growth in the healthcare and educational markets, particularly when it comes to the use of wireless devices. They are also increasingly relying on Internet services, Hanson notes. "We were the first provider to offer unlimited broadband Internet packages to our members," she says.

MTA recently received approval for its Alaska Plan from the Federal Communications Commission. The plan restores $8 million in federal high-cost support that MTA needs to continue investing in its service area, Hanson says. This enables MTA to embark on a long-term construction program to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in fiber optic infrastructure in Alaska communities, with the goal of creating a state-of-the-art network that rivals any comparable network in the country, the company says. "Through our AlasConnect subsidiary, which we acquired in 2016, MTA is now the state's leading provider of data center. future-focused managed IT, and cyber-security services," Hanson says.

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