Microsoft to Muscle Deeper into VOIP?
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While Microsoft&#39;s Live Communications Server (LCS) is first and foremost an enterprise instant-messaging server, Microsoft is expected to position its 2005 version as its entrÃ©e into the telephony market.
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The auto giant is planning one of the largest VoIP installations to date by any corporation.
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Microsoft is on the move again. As it has in the past, the software giant is trying to elbow aside rivals who have pioneered new markets.
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TechCrunch is reporting that voice services and automated directory assistance (DA) provider TellMe, which I&#8217;ve written about several times recently, is being acquired by Microsoft. If that&#8217;s true it would be both strange and a potentially big deal. Why strange? It would be strange because Microsoft already has its own considerable speech processing assets. But it would [...]
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Cisco Systems and Microsoft&#39;s partnership in the small- and midsized-business market is bearing fruit. On Monday, Cisco announced a new software product that will link its voice over Internet protocol products
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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft's goal to provide a unified communications infrastructure for the enterprise moved forward Tuesday with the release of a private beta of software it sees as its communications hub. The company released Office Communications Server 2007 to about 2,500 IT professionals in a private beta, said Paul Duffy, a group product manager at Microsoft. It's the first time Microsoft has offered software for making voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) part of integrated communications services alongside corporate instant messaging, e-mail, and video conferencing all running on one IP network, he said. Office Communications Server 2007 runs in conjunction with Office Communicator 2007, which is the accompanying desktop software. In July, Microsoft announced aÂ strategic alliance with Nortel NetworksÂ calling for interoperability between Microsoft communications software and networking infrastructure from Nortel. Office Communications Server 2007 also will interoperate with products from Avaya, NEC Phillips, and Siemens CommunicationsÂ through partnerships Microsoft has with those vendors, Duffy said. "Customers can deploy Office Communications Server and Communicator with infrastructure they have -- with IP telephony that they might have from one of those vendors -- or they can deploy it in conjunction with an IP PSTN (public switched telephone network) gateway," he said. Though Microsoft is working with vendors on VOIP, there is some belief in the industry that the company eventually will look to provide the entire software infrastructure for VOIP and other communications offerings. Such a move would hardly be a stretch, as Microsoft's strategy for entering new markets has often been to partner with companies that specialize in certain software until it is able to build out its own portfolio. Microsoft does not just aim to enter the VOIP-enablement market with Office Communications Server 2007, but rather provide a software hub that will allow the various facets of network communication to interoperate, Duffy said. For instance, by using Office Communications Server with Microsoft's Exchange Server messaging software and Outlook e-mail client, a user can respond to an e-mail received in Exchange with a VOIP call using Communications Server and Communicator, he said. Office Communications Server and Office Communicator 2007 are expected to be available in the second calendar quarter of 2007.
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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft plans to offer a few more details Tuesday on the upcoming version of its hosted Web conferencing offering, Microsoft Office Live Meeting 2007. The updated software will have a new user interface and allow users to share media files. In addition, users will be able to participate in conferences over either VOIP (voice over IP Internet Protocol) or regular telephones. In Live Meeting 2005, the meeting presenter could choose to either let participants call in using landline phones or listen only via Internet audio. Live Meeting 2007 users conducting training events will also have access to expanded testing and grading functions. The updated service will hit the market in the third quarter, around the same time that theÂ Office Communications Server 2007, with its Web conferencing capabilities, will also become widely available. That's a bit behind schedule. Last year, Microsoft said it was hoping to ship these products in the second quarter of 2007. When the products are both out, users of Live Meeting and the Office Communications Server can participate in the same conference. Both types of users will see the same Web interface and have the same experience, said Roger Muff, director of marketing for Microsoft's unified communications group. "The fact that we're making Web conferencing available... through a server as well as Live Meeting is a good example of software plus services in action," he said. Customers choose the service or the server-based offerings for different reasons, he said. An IT manager might decide to use Live Meeting because it's a service that includes support. "IT pros are spread ever more thin," he noted. Because Live Meeting is hosted and includes support, it's one less service an IT professional has to manage. Other companies may choose the Communications Server because they'd prefer to keep sensitive company documents internal within the corporate firewall, rather than out on the Internet. Enterprises may instead choose Live Meeting for the opposite reason--because keeping documents on an Internet-based service may satisfy certain regulations around publicly sharing documents, he said. In addition, meeting size may determine which product a company wants. Live Meeting can support thousands of participants while Communications Server supports hundreds.
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Cisco Systems&#39; Linksys division is set to enter the consumer VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) space this week through a deal with Vonage Holdings to provide customer equipment for that company&#39;s Internet-based telephone service.
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Enterprise network managers are implementing VoIP, but how are they managing these installations? Here are four tools to simplify the task.
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Company veteran Jeff Raikes talks about how Microsoft plans to make its big investment in telephone technology pay off.
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It's ironic that Microsoft could help further cement its dominance in the browser market by joining its largest rival in an effort to support web standards. &nbsp;At the same time, that act would go a long way towards improving the web in general for developers and users alike.
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Low cost and flexibility are selling points for the open-source VoIP software, but is it right for your shop?
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InfoWorld - A Microsoft partner has become the first to offer Microsoft's new unified communications software as a hosted service.
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Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is adding its considerable weight to the growing Internet-based communications market, introducing an addition to the Office Live Communications Server (LCS) that promises to integrate messaging, telephony and PC-based voice and video applications.
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They are slick and gaining popularity, but voice over internet protocol and AJAX have some big security problems that will probably get worse before they get better. Quinn Norton reports from San Diego.
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Still not clear on the convergence advantage though Small companies are keen to embrace VoIP, but still arenât seeing the real advantages of convergence.â¦
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SAN FRANCISCO--The next battle between top Internet phone service providers Vonage and AT&amp;T will involve features like voice mail, according to key executives at both companies.