The UK's small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are moving surprisingly rapidly to fully converged voice and data networks. According to new research from BT, 37% of SMEs have migrated to fully converged voice and data networks – almost two-thirds making the switch in the past 12 months. At the same time, a quarter of those that have yet to migrate said they intended to do so within the next two years.

In terms of payback, half of these adopters reported significantly reduced infrastructure costs, 52% said they have seen productivity increases and 39% recorded improved organisational agility.

However, perceptions of converged networks vary widely. Nearly a third of the SMEs surveyed admitted to having limited or no understanding of what a converged network actually is. Budgetary constraints is also limiting convergence of networks in some cases.