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Rumors are swirling that Microsoft is evaluating a number of wide-ranging
strategies to position itself as the provider of the "platform of
choice" for net-based communications solutions, including exploring ways to
make NetMeeting the e-cornerstone of galactic Web-based telephonic domination.
Microsoft's New Communications-Centric World View
According to my top-secret Redmond source, the company is embarking on a
wholesale change in its vision statement to a communications centric point of
view -- in part driven by its recent "Dot Net" initiative. Microsoft
is considering SIP-enabling the next version of NetMeeting, and employing the
massively downloaded client to launch a variety of new communications
ASP-related services, initially revolving around the company's bCentral
Web site serving small to medium-sized businesses.
Microsoft recently submitted a bunch of draft RFCs (Request for
Consideration) to the IETF on SIP, including "SIP Extensions for
Presence" and "SIP Extensions for Instant Messaging." Read into
this what you will. Microsoft is also looking to leverage its Clearlead lead
management system (used as the backend for the Carpoint.com site) to beef up its
eCRM app framework offerings. My guess is we'll soon be seeing unified
messaging, eCRM services, and "Click-to-Talk" applications popping up
on bCentral in the near future.
In related news, Microsoft is also pinning big plans on its Web Telephony
Engine, an important new addition to the Windows 2000 Microsoft Platform SDK.
The Web Telephony Engine serves as an open environment for the development of
telephony applications using standard Web resources, with voice portals chief
among them. The Web Telephony Engine allows developers to use HTML, Active
Server Pages (ASP), and other Web authoring tools to develop telephony
applications. The Web Engine runs on Web servers and integrates with TAPI 3.0
and Microsoft Speech API (SAPI). Based on five simple extensions to HTML that
enable rich voice processing capabilities. Microsoft has submitted these
extensions, as well as the Web Telephony Engine itself, to the World Wide Web
Consortium (W3C) Voice Browser Group for consideration as an industry standard.
MORE "SIP-PY" STUFF
Ubiquity Software Corporation has launched a new Web site dedicated to the
commercial and technical development of SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) called
"The SIP Center." The SIP
Center focuses on the interoperability and deployment of SIP products, networks,
and services. A very cool feature of the site is a high-availability server for
interoperability testing of partners' SIP products around the clock, 365-days a
year. The hope is that this interoperability facility will help accelerate the
development and marketing of SIP-based products and software. For more info,
e-mail Ubiquity.
AN INTERESTING TIDBIT
eVoice, Inc., a leading provider of
Internet-enabled voice mail services to consumers, struck a deal with RealNetworks,
a leader in media delivery on the Internet, to integrate an eVoice add-in that
will allow users to check their voice mail from within the RealPlayer -- making
entertainment and personal communications accessible from a single central
location. Users can add an eVoice button to their RealPlayer by clicking
"Check for update" in the Help menu of their RealPlayer.
By clicking the eVoice icon on the RealPlayer, users are transported directly
to the eVoice Web site, where they can either sign-up for the service or check
messages if they are already a subscriber. RealPlayer users will now have direct
access to eVoice's home and small business voice mail, while eVoice subscribers
now have the convenience of retrieving and listening to their voice mail
messages directly via RealPlayer. The agreement marks the first time an online
media player has provided one-click access to home and small business voice
mail, offering users a convenient, easy way to retrieve voice mail over the
Internet.
Marc Robins is Associate Group Publisher for INTERNET TELEPHONY and
Communications Solutions (formerly CTI) magazines. Marc looks forward to
your feedback at mrobins@tmcnet.com.
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