Entrepreneurs still wary of the communication technology’s quality and the complexity of using it

VoIP providers are targeting small and medium-sized businesses, a market segment that has remained the most skeptical of the technology.

VoIP (voice-over-Internet protocol) is becoming popular among residential users, but it has gained less traction with small and medium-sized business, who are wary of the technology’s quality and the challenges of adopting it.

“The consumer market evolved much more quickly than the enterprise market,” said Jason Fischl, CTO of CounterPath Corp.

The Vancouver company makes softphones, software-based phone programs that allow VoIP users to exchange video, data and audio.

“That being said, we think the real growth over the next few years will be in the enterprise space.”

Fischl made the remarks during a panel discussion about VoIP’s suitability for the small and medium-sized-business owners at the Massive Technology Show, which was held earlier this month in Vancouver.

VoIP users can make phone calls via their Internet connection, which eliminates the need for land line phones.

Residences have been the first to adopt VoIP, because they typically don’t have more than one or two computers to link together. That makes VoIP implementation easy.

In December 2006, StatsCan reported that about 10.6% of Canadian households use a cable telephone or VoIP service.

In B.C., the number of VoIP users was slightly below the national average at 8.7%.

Large enterprises can have less difficulty adopting VoIP than smaller businesses because they typically have a dedicated IT specialist for network troubleshooting.

But Fischl said smaller businesses usually don’t have the resources to employ a dedicated IT specialist.

“The solutions to the problems are not always obvious to the people deploying this stuff. I think it acts as a major hindrance,” said Fischl.

“You buy this expensive system and you drop it in and you realize, ‘Oh my god, I don’t have a clue how to make this work.’”

Fischl said customers often have trouble making VoIP compatible with their IT – which can include firewalls that might block VoIP.

VoIP has also faced quality issues. In the past, it was not unusual for VoIP connections to sound distorted and to cut out in mid-conversation.

Fischl noted that until the technology is improved, there are stop-gap solutions for managing VoIP.

They include hiring a consultant to solve VoIP system problems.

Alternatively, VoIP users can hire a hosting company to manage their VoIP network remotely.

According to Laura Eaton, director of product management for Primus Business Services, both solutions have advantages, depending on the customer.

She said Primus’ hosted option is ideal for small businesses that are uncertain of their future growth.

“It’s hard to anticipate exactly how much you need to scale, so with a hosted solution you don’t need to worry about that. It grows with you,” she said during the VoIP panel discussion.

Eaton said that, since launching its hosted VoIP technology a year ago, Primus has seen a large demand for VoIP services from businesses with between four and 12 employees.

Peter Baker, CTO of Burnaby’s Sutus Inc. and another panel member, noted that the cost of IP phones has fallen to the point where they can be as affordable as a quality analogue phone.

Sutus’ lead product, the Business Central 200, manages voice, data and networking applications for businesses in a single tabletop unit.

It’s made for the small- business market, which Sutus estimates is worth $3.5 billion.

“The last segment that’s really being addressed now is the small-business segment, which, because they have typically had unmanaged networks … have been the hardest to reach,” said Baker.

“I think the tipping point has been passed.” •

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