Strange as it may seem, you can provide information on your website without ever owning a computer, but If you want to receive information from the Internet yourself (as well as providing it), you will also need a fairly modern computer, a modem, and a phone line.
We do not normally supply this equipment directly, but we can do so if you wish, or we can help you to choose what equipment is appropriate and cost effective.
If you choose to buy some, the initial equipment costs will run from about £600 or £700 to maybe £2,000 at the top end.
There may also be costs for a second or specialist phone line if you are planning a great deal of Web use. (You can share with your existing phone line at no additional cost if you wish).
Call charges with BT for example have, until recently, been as normal local rate business calls, currently £2.40 per hour during daytime. Evenings are about £1.00 per hour, and weekends 60p per hour.
Recent developments have resulted in a plethora of companies providing unmetered internet calls for a small subscription (much less than 'normal' call charges). The latest offering from BT, (called BT Talk and Surf Together) offers unmetered off-peak local voice calls and internet access for around £18 per month.
This will have two impacts. Firstly it makes it cheaper for you to use the internet, and secondly, it makes it cheaper for everyone else, so more people are going to be doing business online more often.
Even faster, (but more expensive) lines such as ISDN or ADSL are available if needed. Remember that you are only online when you are surfing the web and receiving information, so your phone costs are entirely controllable.
We are happy to advise on hardware and telecom options as part of our web design service to you.
