VoIP technology is being employed by businesses to allow their employees to work from home, research has revealed.

A study conducted by Telappliant revealed that 22 per cent of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) surveyed stated that they are looking into the technology in order to “allow staff more flexibility to work from home or from another location”.

This was the second most popular reason for upgrading telecommunications systems. The primary reason listed was to “reduce overall telephony costs for our business”, which was listed by 68 per cent of firms surveyed.

However, there are still difficulties in persuading business leaders that it is worthwhile making the switch. In fact, 42 per cent of firms said that they perceived VoIP as “delivering [a] poor quality or unreliable service”, while 32 per cent said that they management team did not fully understand the benefits of making the switch.

Tan Aksoy, chief executive at Telappliant, commented: “VoIP is also extremely scalable – and is not just limited to the office.

"Staff can use a special SIM card to extend their office phone extension to any 3G mobile handset, meaning they can carry their desk phone in their pocket. This is ideal for staff that spend a lot of time on the road, home workers or any employee that does not want to be tied to their desk.”