Unified communications (UC) providers have turned their attention to smaller firms, having established their products among larger corporations.

Systems which link data and communications networks have been taken up by a large number of established firms due to the promised efficiency benefits.

And with major technology companies, including Microsoft, now entering the UC market, it seems the trend is towards providing solutions for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).

Best known for its mobile phone products, Siemens is hoping to attract these firms by simplifying UC into just one device and Richard Wood, Siemens' global vice president of portfolio marketing, suggested that small businesses can potentially benefit just as much as larger firms from UC.

Although he admitted that the technology has yet to take off among smaller companies, he explained that budget constraints were an issue

"SMBs have the same communication pain points as enterprises, but the SMB has fewer resources," he said.

UC streamlines communications by merging email contact books with other company documents and VoIP, allowing an employee to call a client over the web with just the click of their name in a document or view voice mails alongside their email even when away from the office.

According to a 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).