According to a new study by Access Market International, the market for hosted VoIP solutions targeted at small and medium sized businesses is set to hit US$416 million in North America this year, up from only $165 million two years ago.

“In particular, the small business (SB, or companies with up to 99 employees) segment is forecasted to grow at a spectacular 69% on a cumulative basis for the next 5 years,” says Sanjeev Aggarwal, AMI-Partners’ New York-based 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.”

The market opportunity for hosted business-VoIP solutions for SMBs is huge and growing rapidly – and so is the competition, which is increasing with participation from traditional telecom and cable companies, equipment vendors, and focused complimentary service providers.

There are many drivers that are influencing SMBs to adopt hosted business-VoIP, including predictable monthly voice communications expenses with no up-front capital expense, toll savings for intra- and inter-company long-distance and local calling. “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 says. “Helping SBs appear more professional and larger, especially SBs that have a store presence and web presence.”

Source: AMI Partners