Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) makes good business sense for many firms in the UK because it can reduce costs.

That's the assessment of Paul Fegan, leader of the Billing and Information Management Forum at the Communications Management Association (CMA).

Typical VoIP services use a broadband internet connection to allow for telephone calls to be made over a PC, and Ofcom estimates that there are now in excess of one million active VoIP users in the UK.

Mr Fegan explained the benefits: "Voice over IP in small business means you can get a number of concurrent calls over a single line…So rather than having three exchange lines for three concurrent external calls, you have one broadband line.

"And because the phones are intelligent in their own right, it's all web controlled; so it's browser controlled, browser configurable, and you've got the security, the configuration, all the capability of a very large switch at your fingertips."

A spokesman from the Internet Telephony Services Providers Association noted that VoIP is growing "strongly" in the UK.

According to recent survey by Connect, the two biggest IT headaches for businesses were 'everyday hassles with IT' (37 per cent) and 'security concerns' (32 per cent)