Small business attracted to VoIP as a service

The concept of voice communications as a service is becoming very appealing to the small businesses sector, and the market for such services will reach $416 million this year - up from about $165 million in 2005, AMI Partners reports.

The research firm said that between 2005 and 2010, the cumulative growth rate will cross 56.9 per cent in the United States.

"In particular, the small business segment is forecasted to grow at a spectacular 69 per cent on a cumulative basis for the next five years," said Sanjeev Aggarwal, AMI-Partners' vice president for SMB Infrastructure Solutions.

"The concept of hosted VoIP is analogous to software-as-a-service (SaaS) where upstarts like Salesforce.com and NetSuite are gaining rapid adoption. Similarly, the concept of voice communications as a service is becoming very appealing as these small businesses have almost no IT/voice communications expertise and resources."

Predictable monthly voice communications expenses with no up-front capital expense, toll savings for intra- and inter-company long-distance and local calling are all features attracting SMBs to VoIP said AMI.

"Simple, secure, very reliable, easy-to-use solutions supporting unified messaging and mobility are key for small businesses that never want to miss a customer call," Mr Aggarwal said.

"Helping small businesses appear more professional and larger, especially small businesses that have a store presence and web presence."