By Leo Blanco
TMCnet Contributing Writer

From a minor market worth $200 million in 2006, the Yankee Group (News - Alert) market research firm projects the VoIP market for small and medium-sized business to dramatically expand and reach $1.3 billion in 2009.

Small and medium-sized businesses are companies with 5 to 100 employees. Industry experts believe this will result to a massive consolidation among emerging VoIP companies and hype competition against incumbent carriers like Qwest (News - Alert).

Based on the approximation of business consulting firm Franklin Court Partners, more than 200 VoIP companies are catering to the growing needs of small and medium-sized businesses nationwide. However, many of these companies do not have a national presence, but thrive regionally.

“A lot of companies have sprouted out around the country. You’ll see that stopping (this) year as the consolidation happens,” said Scott Chandler, managing partner of Franklin Court Partners, in a press release.

These companies aspire to duplicate the success of Vonage (News - Alert), a leading broadband telephone services company based in New Jersey, in the residential industry with about 2 million subscribers to date.

Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, simply pertains to routing of voice conversation using the Internet or other IP-based network. This emerging technology is one of the leading growth drivers in the voice communications industry. Aside from its inherent cost advantage, it also offers portability and added features similar to your regular phones like call waiting, call forwarding, and caller ID.

In an article authored by Kevin Werbach, founder of consulting firm SuperNova Group, entitled “Dialing in the VoIP Strategic Advantage,” he said, “VoIP will serve as the unifying platform for applications, supporting ever more customized, intelligent, and strategic uses of voice communications.”

What’s the number one VoIP conference in terms of attendance? What’s the leading VoIP expo for exhibitors in terms of lead generation? And which VoIP industry event will feature special attractions for service providers, resellers, and the enterprise and SMB market, as well as an overview on the future of IP Telephony? Answer: INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference & EXPO EAST, January 23–26, 2007. See you in sunny Ft. Lauderdale!

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Leo Blanco is a contributing writer for TMCnet.