Just a short while ago, Microsoft officially launched its much anticipated Unified Communications (News - Alert) products and services for the next generation communications environment.

 

The key message from Microsoft chairman Bill Gates (News - Alert) was that what is driving this initiative from Microsoft is the need to let people be more creative through software, not only through voice communication, but integrating that with video, messaging, and collaboration features.   We’re experiencing a software revolution, Gates said, building on what the communications industry has been espousing for some time now, that it’s really about the applications and the software.

 

The driving forces of this software revolution, Gates explained, are the technological enhancements that have exponentially increase the performance and capacity of our hardware. This includes the speed of networks, the processing power of computer, the integration of audio and video into hardware platforms, and the diversity and flexibility of end devices. The incredible advances we have seen in availability and performance have given rise to a new era of software-based communications.

 

Importantly, he also alluded to a fundamental business model shift that has taken place. The communications industry was traditionally a vertically oriented market, where software, applications, and hardware all were purchased through a single vendor — typically the PBX provider — to ensure compatibility throughout the system.

 

Today, however, thanks to the pervasive implementation of industry standards, that vertical approach has been turned on its side, where interoperable components of the communications platform at each layer of the network infrastructure can be added with the expectation they will be interoperable.

 

Gates talked about the evolution of communications hardware, from PCs to wireless devices, but noted that the one piece of equipment we all use on a daily basis has remained the same — the deskphone. It is still typically a black box with a lot of buttons that very few people know how to use effectively. He noted a recent Microsoft (News - Alert) survey that found that only one-third of respondents had successfully transferred a call using their deskphone, and concluded that deskphone is really the one element that still need to be changed to drive today’s communications experience to a new level. That, he said, is what Microsoft’s Unified Communications experience is about.

 

“Now is the time when communications will be revolutionized,” he said.

 

The ability to combine the various elements of business communications, including different devices, different media, and, of course, presence capabilities, is what Microsoft’s UC platform will enable. That will be the revolutionizing experience, where the endpoint is merely an endpoint, and location becomes irrelevant.

 

Jeff Raikes, president of Microsoft’s Business Division, noted that we have been working and living in an era of phone tag, voice mail jail, and disjointed communications. But, he said, that era is over, and the new era being ushered in my Microsoft will fundamentally change the communications landscape, at least as much as email once did.

 

“Phone numbers are an artifact of technological limitation,” he explained. “I don’t want to get in touch with your phone number; I want to get in touch with you”

 

With what Microsoft is now introducing, users are able to take all the various means of communicating, consolidate them into a single identity, and manage them effectively to produce a convenient and efficient communications environment.

 

“I’ll never make a blind call again,” he noted.

 

Importantly, not only does Microsoft’s UC product set unify the different communications methods available today, it also extends the communications platform to the applications people use most, including the Microsoft Office suite — communications can be initiated directly from Word, for instance, much like we’re used to doing with emails in Microsoft Outlook.

 

To demonstrate the flexibility of the Microsoft solution, and the ways it allows workers to increase their productivity, Raikes called for Eric Swift senior director, Microsoft Unified Communications Group, who put on an earpiece to show the mobility aspect of the solution.

 

What Swift demonstrated was the ease with which users can dial into the corporate network, connect to their individual extension, and access not only traditional voice services (e.g., voice mail), but also email and calendars.

 

Using simple IVR commands, users can check voice mail, including all the typical functions, but also return calls with ease. They can, switch to email, simply by saying “email,” and those messages will be dictated using text-to-speech software. If there is an urgent meeting that needs to take place, users can access their daily calendars, add appointments, or simply clear the day to make room for new engagements — again, all through voice commands any user can understand.

 

If a user needs to contact his manager, then, having heard an important email from a client, he can take his Windows Mobile powered device with Communicator Mobile installed, and can view presence information for that manager — for all of his contacts, in fact. He is then able to determine the best method for getting in touch with his manager… call the office, call the mobile, IM, etc.

 

The Microsoft platform also extends the UC features to remote workers. Without requiring a VPN connection, users can connect through their Internet connection — wired or wireless — with their laptop of PC, and have all of their communications options at their fingertips, including all of the presence information that is available while in the office. 

 

Having started a call, if a user needs to add additional callers, they are able to add them simply by dragging and dropping — something everyone knows how to do. If he then wants to add video to the call, that can be done by clicking one more button, and he has created a video conference. He can even drag and drop entire groups — sales teams, for instance — for an ad hoc conference call.

 

The mobility and presence features enables by Microsoft clearly will engender greater efficiency and productivity among workforces. But within an office environment, Microsoft also enables an immersive conference experience through its RoundTable device — an advanced video and voice conferencing endpoint.

 

RoundTable, which sells for $3,000, includes six different microphones and an integrated camera with five faces that can “look” 360 degrees around the conference room. With it, outside attendees will be able to see not only a single speaker, but also the entire group in the room. The five cameras display a flattened out image of the room, while the built-in intelligence also focuses on the current speaker and displays that speaker separately.

 

“Roundtable is a great example of how this has all come together,” prided Gates.

 

Ultimately, with its announcements now, and going forward, Microsoft is looking to address a key business need: to increase productivity through communications convergence, which really means enabling the instant availability of contacts, regardless of their location, regardless of their preferred devices.

 

The productivity gains by doing so are undeniable, but the cost savings are also significant — Microsoft’s goal is to achieve 50% cost reduction within a three-year time frame. Thos reductions are likely to even include businesses eliminating their PBXs altogether, opting, instead, for purely PC-based IP communications. By the end of that three-year period, according to Raikes, more than 100 million users will be able to click to communicate using Microsoft technology.

 

The key is not only the functionality of the platform, but also its ease of use for the end user and implementation for IT professionals. It not only brings drives business communications efficiency, but also simplifies the communications infrastructure for customers.

 

Raikes reiterated that this truly is a remarkable time in the communications space. 

 

“The technology we are building puts people at the center, and it puts people in control of their communications,” he said. “It will help millions of people be more productive in and out of the office, while bringing IT efficiency and control to communications.”

 

He was quick to point out, however, that this is only the beginning. That the innovation of today is a long-term commitment from both Microsoft and its technology partners to deliver on the potential of communications.

 

Gates added that, moving forward, “the whole office environment will be transformed, and digitized. It will be all-digital, but it will have the very same functionality we have today with paper documents and whiteboards.

 

The beginning, though, is off to a strong start.

 

“It surprises me that there have been 80,000 downloads, with 300,000 people already using the most recent version of the software. It’s really accelerating,” said Gates, speaking to the growing momentum of the software revolution.