VoIP is growing even more quickly than expected, according to Info-Tech research analyst George Goodall. The study found that 23% of small- to mid-sized enterprises are already using VoIP technology and the firm expects the number to grow to 50% by 2008. For all the promise of converged networks, however, the speed of the technology changeover has put a strain on IT managers, who are, Goodall notes, scrambling to implement the technology."

Goodall expects the majority of small to medium-sized enterprises to have switched at least part of their networks to VoIP within the next five years. That could spell disaster for traditional telephony equipment vendors, and whether they can keep up with the market is anyone's guess.

"Companies like Nortel and Avaya are aggressively introducing new VoIP products to the SME market. It may be too late," Goodall said in a statement. "They're racing against a group of young companies with products that specifically address the infrastructure limitations of SMEs. These products aren't just scaled down version of large-enterprise systems. Potentially, they're category killers."