Smaller businesses are set to benefit from a new VoIP phone system based on hosted IP private branch exchange (PBX) technology.

According to Samuel Schneider, marketing director of US-based communications provider Bandwidth.com, hosted IP-PBX models will bring greater affordability within the VoIP for business market.

Smaller firms were previously faced with high maintenance costs when managing traditional IP-PBX technology manually, he noted.

But Bandwidth.com's hosted product, Phonebooth, allows firms to grow and pay for VoIP more effectively, Mr Schneider said.

"It is free of any license fees and it does not confine small businesses to a certain number of seats, so they are free to grow," he added.

Traditional PBX technology charged businesses monthly fees dependent on the number of employees or seats, he noted.

VoIP enables firms to make telephone calls over the internet, which can be cheaper than ordinary phone calls.

An industry survey by the Bathwick Group found that 60 per cent of smaller businesses were considering an investment in VoIP during 2007.

Only laptops and handheld computers were placed as a higher priority in business' planned investments, the study found.

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