Recent IBM surveys consisting of over 1200 companies have shown that more than 60% of small and medium businesses (SMBs) consider collaboration tools vital to their business success and growth.

Improved and simplified collaboration tools such as video conferencing will allow everyone in the company to teleconference with anyone in the world. These new tools will put the power and control of IT in the hands of the business owner without the need for specialized skills or excessive IT staff.

SMBs will use audio and video teleconference technology to collaborate more easily far beyond their physical location, and will create extended communities built on the Web. These communities will allow them to function as “secure virtual enterprises” on the same scale as much larger companies.

While the cost of professional-grade software may have hindered SMB investment in conferencing technology previously, more online web conference tools are breaking down that barrier. Many of these tools such as InstantPresenter require no software or hardware to buy, install, maintain or upgrade. By running programs from these subscription-based websites, SMBs can focus on their core competencies without incurring the high IT maintenance costs.