A new survey of Web conferencing users claims they are accepting Skype’s peer-to-peer VoIP product for business calls, even though most of them aren’t using the service.

Wainhouse Research, which conducts quarterly WebMetrics research using a regular panel of consumers, said 70% of panelists recently surveyed found Skype to be acceptable for business calls, although only 17% of those surveyed actually used the service often.

Of the remaining panelists, 27% used Skype occasionally for business, and another 27% don’t use the service at all but consider it acceptable for business use. Five percent of panelists said it was not acceptable for business or personal use.

“While these results may be astounding to some, they are a strong indication that Skype is routinely delivering excellent VoIP service and helping to drive acceptance of VoIP in the business community,” said Andy Nilssen, Senior Analyst and Partner, Wainhouse Research. “While we're not likely to see enterprises adopt Skype per se, Skype will lead to VoIP adoption among both enterprise and small-medium business markets sooner rather than later.”

The online survey was conducted in October 2005 and polled 155 people who buy and use Web conferencing on their brand awareness, feature preference and deployment to date.