Why VoIP For SMBs Is Hot

Reason No. 2: VoIP Is A One-Box Solution

VARs report that small and midsize business adoption of VoIP is largely due to recent vendor focus on those markets--often in the form of a single box that integrates VoIP with several other network functions.

Combining several functions into one box means that customers can buy a system that supports VoIP even if they don't intend to deploy it right away.

"Seventy to eighty percent of our [SMB] customers want boxes that are voice-capable, but it's only 20 percent who actually turn voice on right away; they just don't want a dead-end platform," says Juniper's Kalra, whose company partners with Avaya, adding security features to VoIP systems for SMB customers.

"We're seeing a trend for integration of multiple services into one box," Kalra says. "The cost of an integrated box is a lot lower than multiple systems."

Avaya has seen much success with its IP Office product, a scalable box that can act as either a voice-only PBX using circuit-switched lines, or as an IP-telephony server using high-speed ISDN/PRI dial-up access and/or direct leased-line connectivity. It also includes Wi-Fi connectivity, voicemail and broadband access. IP Office supports up to 360 extensions. The company has shipped some 85,000 units since the first version was introduced in 2002. "Over the years, we've worked a lot in making it channel-friendly," Scotto says.

In September, Avaya introduced a "mobile twinning" capability that enables IP calls to be forwarded to employees' cellphones, as well as Web-conferencing features. Avaya plans to unveil a new version of IP Office in the beginning of 2007. For larger installations of up to 500 customers, Avaya offers the MultiVantage Express, a server that marries Avaya's Communication Manager software with a media server; it comes preintegrated with several applications, including the ability to send VoIP calls to cellular extensions.

Some VARS say that the all-in-one box trend has actually spearheaded customer demand for VoIP.

"Cisco has been in the [VoIP] space for eight years, but the reality is that they were really focused on the enterprise for a long time," Boardwalk's Stone says. But customer interest in VoIP more than doubled, Stone says, after the 2004 introduction of Cisco's Integrated Services Router (ISR) for SMB customers, a single box that supports up to 250 T1/E1 connections for voice, data, video and wireless--with a range of built-in security features.

Most recently, Cisco added presence capabilities to the ISR--the ability to tell who is on the voice and data network at any given time. "It has become a platform for small businesses to really build on," Cisco's McCloud says, and VARs play an integral role in helping the customers to add new applications.

Meanwhile, Nortel offers similar functionality with its Business Communications Manager boxes, which support as few as three and as many as 200 users.

NEXT: Reason 3