So with enterprise demand growing, where does that leave the reseller and service firms? There are many large OEMs out there with advanced systems, many service providers with bandwidth to sell and enterprises wondering how they can get VoIP set up. This means opportunities for resellers and service firms that can step in to tailor hardware systems and offer support services. Essentially, the large shops seek small shops that can procure and hone the hardware, as well as get enterprises' VoIP networks up and running, with additional after-sales technical support.

According to Neal Shact, chief executive officer for the distribution firm CommuniTech Inc., the time to jump in is now. "The corporate giants are entering VoIP through lots of different partnerships," he said. "So whether you are talking about the cable companies or the telcos, they tell their customers that they will offer the connectivity, while entrepreneur types offer the services and the hardware sales."

The large service providers thus seek channels and know-how to set VoIP systems up, Shact said. "It takes a fairly high-level skill set to give their customers a great deal of comfort, so these big guys are looking for people with these skill sets, and they don't even know how to find them."

Conclusion

Vendor and service providers' marketing hype aside, 2004 seems to be the year during which VoIP telephony will surpass traditional telephony in the U.S. Suddenly, VoIP has outgrown its affiliation with the heady dot-com days prior to the crash and has become a mainstream application. However, service providers, OEMs and smaller VoIP service and reseller firms must step up to ensure that enterprises stay happy with VoIP.

It will also be interesting to see what magic software and hardware designers will come up with for future applications as voice becomes melded with data networks. Look out for the ability to dictate messages into voice-recognition enabled PDAs and PCs that transcribe and send the message to an email account or into a voice mailbox, or both. Or having your PC use directory assistance to find your correspondent and place the call for you while you pound away at your keyboard or peruse Ebay. In the meantime, expect to see VoIP emerge into the mainstream.