Small businesses in the UK are increasingly embracing making phone calls over the internet.

Right now 25 per cent of small businesses are using Voice over Internet Protocol to make calls. This is expected to almost double to 48 per cent by this time next year.

Smaller companies seemed more enthusiastic - 57 per cent of firms with between two and 10 staff plan to use VoIP services, while only 20 per cent of companies with between 31 and 50 staff have such plans.

There are also regional differences in the popularity of VoIP. A third of London businesses are using VoIP, while Scotland with 17 per cent and the Midlands with 15 per cent brought up the rear. Wales was bottom of the list - five per cent of firms have used VoIP and only seven per cent plan to.

The research was paid for by BT but carried out by Vanson Bourne which talked to 435 companies with less than 50 staff during March 2007. ®