MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA: SMEs in Australia are deploying converged networks and paving the way for UC, according to a new report from Ovum, the global analyst and consulting company. 26 per cent of SMEs are currently using IP telephony on their premises, and an additional 15 per cent are planning to use it in the next two years.

"In addition, 12 per cent of SMEs are considering deploying IP telephony using a service provider’s hosted solution in the next two years. This will represent almost 150 per cent growth since the beginning of 2008 - albeit from a small base," said Ovum's Claudio Castelli, senior analyst and  author of this research.

However there are challenges ahead for providers. Most companies are still using conventional PBX systems, which indicates there is still a long way to go. In addition, unlike larger enterprises, SMEs are more price-sensitive and less worried about security and controlling policies.

 “As a result, they are more likely to adopt public VoIP services, such as Skype, instead of going to a telco. But we think SMEs will also consider telcos’ cloud-based communication offerings as long as they are reasonably priced and offer some level of enterprise-grade features,” explained Castelli.

According to the survey, SMEs in Australia are open to deploying software elements of UC.

Of the SMEs, 35 per cent are using IM and 33 per cent web conferencing, with a number more expecting to use them in the future.

The increasing adoption of different types of communication application would soon produce more integrated approaches, resulting in the unification of all those services traditionally offered as separate silos. This will include offerings combining hosted telephony services with applications delivered in a SaaS model.

"This suggests that the starting point in the SMEs’ UC journey is more likely to be a software collaboration platform than a voice platform,” added Castelli.