Small and medium sized businesses can no longer operate 'normal office hours' if they wish to compete for new clients and keep existing ones satisfied, claims new research.

“The 9am-5pm business has gone the same way as typewriters, telex machines and old fashioned tape machines,” said Gordon Mowat of Aspire Management Services, leading business improvement specialists.

“Increasingly, firms have to be contactable 24 hours a day, seven days a week as the technology revolution in the workplace has altered working patterns for ever.

“People are now used to working unsociable hours, doing their personal shopping on the internet at all hours, accessing and replying to emails 24 hours a day.”

According to new research by IT and telecoms specialists voxclever the popularity of mobile email via smart phones and the ease of internet connectivity has meant that companies cannot afford to rely on a single point of communication during their operating hours for customers to reach them.

In addition many SMEs are discovering there are savings to be made in swapping to VoIP (Voice over internet Protocol) technology.

It is estimated that more than 60 per cent of small and medium firms in the UK spend more than £300 a month on fixed-line calls and £400 a month on mobile phones.

However, it has been claimed that on average SMEs which switched to VoIP, which can be used anywhere there is an internet connection, were rewarded with a 23 per cent fall in overheads and 13 per cent savings in IT expenses.

“The days of only a static landline telephone number to contact during working hours are truly behind us. With email, online contact forms and the benefits of internet telephony - small companies especially have to make sure they’re keeping up with the vast range of communication tools and channels in order not to miss potential business,” said Scott Goodwin, CEO of voxclever.