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Who says a small business needs to wait until it grows larger before it can benefit from the advantages afforded through enterprise VoIP?

Patton Electronics, maker of the popular SmartNode and SmartLink VoIP solutions, and Pingtel Corp., maker of SIP-based enterprise class communications platforms, have teamed up to deliver the SIPxNano - a tiny little IP-PBX (News - Alert) designed for small businesses with under 30 extensions.

The SIPxNano is designed to deliver enterprise quality, SIP-based VoIP to small and medium sized businesses. It combines Patton’s NanoServ ultra-compact server technology with a tailored version of Pingtel’s (News - Alert) SIPxchange ECS software, and thus delivers features which one would not normally expect from such a small, low-cost device. These include integrated voice mail and email, auto attendants, interactive voice response, and Web-based configuration and management.

“Such advanced PBX attributes help small businesses make a good impression and they are essential for integrating small branch offices deploying SIP-based communications into large enterprise-wide VPNs,” a press release from Patton states. “Priced under $1,000, the SIPxNano is a compelling alternative for small and medium businesses requiring advanced PBX features.”

The device is fully compatible with all industry standard IP devices including Polycom (News - Alert) phones and Patton’s line of VoIP phones, gateways and routers.

“Most small-office IP-PBX products skimp on features,” said Scott Whittle, Patton’s VP of product management, in the release. “Really useful next-generation features usually only get built onto large PBX systems, but that’s not our style. We are giving small offices Fortune-500-functionality at a very affordable price.”

Joe Gomez, product manager for Patton, gloated that Cisco’s SPA9000 “does not even support basic voice mail - and the Linksys (News - Alert) products require you only use their VoIP phones. We think the small enterprise market is smarter than that.”

“Everyone wins from this endeavor,” said Jerry Stable, Pingtel’s senior vice president of sales and operations. “Small business customers are the big winners, but I can tell you both Patton and Pingtel channels are very excited that we are addressing this market. The SIPxchange ECS plug and play solution is the easiest to install, administer and use VoIP PBX system on the market, which makes it particularly attractive to small businesses who do not have the time to tinker with complex systems.”

The two companies first announced that they were developing the device in March.

To see a picture of the SIPxNano, click here.

For more information about Patton Electronics, visit www.patton.com.

For more information about Pingtel Corp., visit www.pingtel.com.