My Business Voice, an Australian VoIP provider, has announced that it is offering a way to make phone calls in Microsoft (News - Alert) Outlook, according to WhaTech.

While phone systems are the backbone of many businesses, email is still one of the most important communication tools. Even though many people have long since moved to webmail providers like Gmail, desktop clients like Outlook are still popular. A lot of the company’s customers are already using Microsoft Small Business Server (SBS), which means they’re likely using Outlook already.

My Business Voice offers a Telephony API (TAPI) that connects to a VoIP PBX (News - Alert) from Outlook. Users will then be able to call their contacts right through the program without having to reach for a phone and manually dial the number.

Users will also get Caller ID to see who’s calling them, and the company has other desktop integration tools available.

“Using a desktop console, or operator panel, you can transfer calls, put callers on hold, access voicemail, view people waiting in a call queue, and so on. Another option is to indicate other peoples’ presence: if they are on the phone, you can see that on your console,” My Business Voice director Leigh Schmid said.

It’s possible to see which handsets are in use or who’s available, making it useful for call centers. Other available features include call recording, billing, a hotel module for billing and room service.

Using a computer is less cumbersome than just using the phone. For example, a receptionist can simply take the next call in the call queue just by clicking the entry in the call queue.

My Business Voice’s solution is similar to unified communications and shows off the integration between computers and telephony that VoIP offers. It’s ideal for workflows where people have to refer email messages and then make phone calls.