Jeff Raikes, president of the Microsoft Business Division, (quote - news - alert) recently unveiled the company’s vision, technology road map, and partner framework for unified communications.
“Unified communications (news - alert) will drive the next major advancement in individual, team, and organizational productivity in today’s 24x7, always-connected and increasingly mobile work environment,” Raikes said. “We believe that through software, we can transform business communications (bringing down both its cost and complexity) by now integrating voice communications with the familiar and powerful communications and collaboration experiences provided by Microsoft.”
Now, I’ve been hearing about the fact that Unified Messaging (later expanded to Unified Communications) is the “next big thing” for nearly 10 years straight. I’m not exaggerating! If you’ve been following the industry at all, you know it’s true. Maybe SIP is finally robust enough and ubiquitous enough to make this long-standing potential a reality. Time will tell.
At the heart of Microsoft’s vision is the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, a SIP-based real-time communication platform designed to enable presence-based VoIP call management; audio, video, and Web conferencing; and instant messaging communication within and across existing software applications, services, and devices.
Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 is a unified communications client that works in tandem with Office Communications Server 2007 designed to deliver a presencebased, enterprise VoIP softphone as well as secure, enterprise-grade instant messaging that allows for inter-company federation and connectivity to public instant messaging networks such as MSN, AOL, and Yahoo!
The new initiative also calls for partnering. The reliance on SIP enables a whole universe of innovative devices and opens the door for Microsoft to engage in partnerships with a range of companies such as GN Netcom, Logitech, Motorola, Plantronics, Samsung, and Tatung for PC peripheral devices, such as USB handsets, wireless USB headsets, USB Webcams, and PC monitors with built-in audio and video components. Other partners will include Polycom, LG-Nortel, and Thomson Telecom.
Microsoft also announced new business alliances with HP, Motorola, and Siemens to deliver on its vision for unified communications. HP will provide hardware devices and systems integration services. Motorola will deliver mobile devices and network hardware. Siemens will advance the transformation of telephony, audio, video and Web conferencing, instant messaging, and e-mail into a single unified communications platform.
Microsoft also announced it had selected Quintum Technologies as a hardware partner. The Quintum Tenor line of VoIP switches and gateways support the voice, presence awareness, and instant messaging capabilities of Office Communications Server 2007 and allow it to be integrated into the existing PSTN/PBX voice network infrastructure.
While it will take some time for all of these initiatives to become real products, (expect general availability of most of the portfolio by mid 2007) the fact is that standards-based solutions, primarily based on SIP, are leading the wave of products that will be adopted by enterprises going forward. And when a company of Microsoft’s stature makes this kind of a bet on SIP, it can only be seen as a positive sign.
Greg Galitizine
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