If you're a small- to mid-sized business, you may still be looking for proof that the technology heavyweights are interested in giving you access to solutions scaled to your needs and not just force-feeding you something from the consumer or large enterprise portfolio.  Proof is mounting.  Take Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

Update: February 27—I should have clarified that this service is available to customers in the United States. Sorry for the inconvenience. Lionel

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is finally becoming a viable integrated solution for small and medium businesses looking to save time and money. Last summer Dell and the International Council for Small Business (ICSB) surveyed small business owners worldwide to better understand their biggest IT pain points, and respondents ranked VoIP among the top five technology breakthroughs that will transform their businesses.

To help deliver the benefits of VoIP to Dell customers, we've partnered with both Nortel, a worldwide leader in delivering VoIP and Unified Communications solutions to the small and medium businesses, and Fonality, a leader in open source, Asterisk-based IP telephony systems. The Nortel based offerings are best suited to medium-size businesses with more sophisticated requirements and/or multiple locations. The Fonality offering matches the needs of the small business that can manage their own system.

Both Nortel and Fonality solutions offer savings over traditional phone systems through lower infrastructure and installation expenses, lower service and maintenance costs, and lower phone bills by eliminating intra- and inter-office phone charges.  And, both partners offer solutions powered by Dell OptiPlex computers.

With VoIP, businesses can lower long distance bills by up to 70 percent, integrate the phone system with the rest of their information technology for easier management, and now turn to Dell as a single point of contact for all their technology needs. For businesses that rely on solution providers to manage their IT, these VoIP solutions are also available through Dell partners.

The solution is initially available in the United States, and will be offered in other regions in the coming months.  An enhanced online experience will also launch in late February.  You can learn more at www.dell.com/voip or by reading Fonality CEO and Founder, Chris Lyman's blog post from this morning.  Chris, this is a big day for Dell and our customers, too.  We look forward to working with you.