Webtone Trumps Dialtone in Business Productivity for SMBs, According to New Yankee Group Survey; Internet Access and E-Mail Outrank Both Traditional Wireline and Mobile Voice

Business Wire, March 18, 2002

Business/Technology Editors

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 18, 2002

Recent results from the Yankee Group's 2002 E-Business and Web Hosting Survey show that online SMBs--particularly those with broadband access--view Internet access and e-mail as more important than wireline and mobile voice to overall functioning and productivity of their business:

- Seventy percent of Small Businesses (20 to 99 employees) with broadband
assert that Internet access is "Very important to the functioning and
productivity of their business." In comparison, voice lags behind with only 49%
and 43% of broadband SBs indicating that their wireline and mobile lines,
respectively, are very strategic to the functioning and productivity of their
business.

- For both dial-up and broadband Very Small Businesses (2 to 19 employees),
e-mail surpasses voice by at least a margin of 11 percentage points for
business efficiency.

"SMBs have learned to effectively use the Internet in a myriad of different ways, making it overall a more useful business tool than the phone. In particular, SMBs have succeeded in using the Internet for customer service and building brand awareness," said Helen Chan, analyst with Yankee Group's Small & Medium Business Technologies research and consulting practice. "While voice currently beats e-mail in adding a personal touch to exhanges that do not take place in person, broadband users are increasingly finding more IP-based ways to efficiently conduct and run their day-to-day business," Chan said.

For broadband SMBs, Internet access and e-mail have replaced traditional wireline and mobile voice as the most business-productive forms of communication.

Note to Editors

For an interview, contact Helen Chan at hchan@yankeegroup.com.

The Yankee Group (www.yankeegroup.com)

The Yankee Group is a global leader in technology research and consulting. Our customers, which include technology vendors and users, benefit from our accurate, reliable, and trusted research, consulting, and personalized one-to-one client interaction covering communications and IT products and services. Now in our fourth decade, the company is headquartered in Boston and maintains offices throughout North America, Europe, Latin America, and the Pacific Rim.