Today’s VoIP resellers can rest assured that there’s no shortage of business opportunities being presented by VoIP. The Radicati Group (News - Alert) recently forecast that nearly 75% of corporate phone lines will use VoIP within the next two years. Jumping on board are businesses ranging from mom-and-pop shops to blue chip companies such as Bank of America and The New York Times Co. But as competition heats up, and PBX prices decline, many VARs are seeking new ways to win customers -- and revenue.

 

Topping the list of fresh opportunities is VoIP software. “In the past, telephony solutions consisted of actual PBX (News - Alert) hardware,” said Jayanth Angl, a research analyst at Info-Tech Research Group. “But today, things are becoming more software-based. So it’s a different model where VARs are selling system hardware but also selling software licenses, plus additional services.”

It’s a trend currently being played out among today’s top vendors. Take, for example, Microsoft (News - Alert). The Redmond giant expects 100 million business users to make VoIP calls on its Office Communications software within three years. That is more than double the size of the current VoIP market. Two versions of Microsoft's Office Communications software are now in beta testing. Jeff Raikes, president of Microsoft's business division, says, "Software is set to transform business phone systems as profoundly as it has transformed virtually every other form of workplace communication."

Eager to ride the software wave, Nortel partnered with Microsoft last year to form the Innovative Communications Alliance (News - Alert). As part of this initiative, Nortel and Microsoft will transition traditional business phone systems into software, with a Microsoft unified communications software platform and Nortel (News - Alert) software products to provide further advanced telephony functionality. According to Nortel, this software-centric approach will provide the easiest transition path for businesses, helping them reduce the total cost of ownership and better protect current investments.