Businesses of all sizes have switched to VoIP services because of their scalability, their cost-effectiveness and their low upfront investment. However, few businesses have IT staff members who are experts in telephony.

This creates a wide-open opportunity for managed services providers (MSPs), according to Mike Byrne, Quest Software’s (News - Alert) Director of MSP.

In particular, businesses that provide VoIP should work to offer managed services to businesses that are 100 employees and fewer in size. These businesses need top-notch VoIP operability but often do not have the IT staff necessary for managing network resources related to VoIP.

Companies that already sell to the SMB market have a distinct advantage over larger providers. In particular, Byrne cites Barracuda and Polycom (News - Alert). “These emerging vendors are traditionally known for providing different types of technology but have now added on VoIP capability,” Byrne wrote in an article for eChannelLine.

“Many of them also have strong channel programs, presenting a sustainable business opportunity for MSPs. For the larger players, while they do have direct and channel sales programs, it is the new vendors that take over a subset of the channel market that sells to the sub-100 employee businesses.”

MSPs can provide a number of services related to VoIP including remote monitoring, network traffic analysis, reporting, alert systems and quality metric monitoring. “By monitoring traffic flow, an MSP can deliver a value-added service by improving the speed and quality of the company’s VoIP system and gain extra revenue/further expand the relationship,” Byrne said.

Instead of relying on VoIP equipment vendors and their service-level agreements for maintenance, SMBs can simply hand over VoIP management to a MSP. Byrne suggests that companies simply offer managed services as a part of their clients’ ongoing monthly retainers. Doing so will not only deliver a value-added service to businesses but also will boost recurring revenue for MSPs.

“Though it may not be an obvious market for growth opportunity, as VoIP offerings have been available for years, MSPs have the chance to take advantage of this industry,” concluded Byrne. “Further VoIP penetration in the small- to mid-sized business market is expected to take off.”

Want to learn more about Managed Service Providers? Then be sure to attend MSPWorld, collocated with ITEXPO West 2012 taking place Oct. 2-5, in Austin, TX. Since its inception, MSPWorld has been the only event with a single, vendor-agnostic focus of supporting Managed Service providers and their respective ecosystems. MSPWorld in Austin will delve into the most pressing channel and end-user issues that MSPs and their customers confront every day. For more information on registering for MSPWorld click here.

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