p2pnet - rss feed: Microsoft: seamless comms?
p2p news / p2pnet: Like a, "webcam on steroids" is the way the Guardian Unlimited outlines a component in Microsoft’s Unified Communications strategy, which shows, "the bells and whistles that will be added with Office Communicator 2007 (which comes as a desktop client, a browser-based client and a mobile phone/PDA client), Office Communications Server 2007 and Exchange Server 2007," as the Guardian describes things.
With Office 2007, "you can go seamlessly from email to IM to video conferencing to VoIP and mobile telephony, with only one client program and a single directory," states the story. "Big companies are already doing most of this stuff, of course, but typically with three or more incompatible servicess, and several incompatible directory systems.
"Microsoft claimed to be supporting open standards and announced several IP phone partners such as LG-Nortel, Thomson and Polycom. In response to a question from the floor, Microsoft said it was llicensing technologies to Symbian, Palm, RIM etc so users would not necessarily be limited to Windows Mobile phones. In the switching business, the main partner is Siemens. HP and Motorola were also featured."
The "cutest" part of a demo conference, says the Guardian, was, "Microsoft Office RoundTable" a sort of, "recording super-webcam that switches automatically between speakers and can handle a 360 degree view".
Companies such as Motorola, Samsung, and others will manufacture peripherals such as phones, USB headsets, and USB webcams, says Ars Technica, going on:
"Microsoft is facing what some would describe as uncertain growth prospects in enterprise IT. While the company has Vista and Office 2007 coming out early next year, the corporate world is notoriously cautious when it comes to upgrading. A polished, easy-to-administer and use suite of communications applications could be exactly what the doctor ordered for Microsoft, as there is a growing need for the kind of unified communications architecture the software giant is planning to launch.
"Microsoft is also counting on the initiative to increase its groupware market share lead. As of July 2005, about 32 percent of groupware users were on Microsoft Exchange, with IBM’s Notes taking second place with 24 percent. Exchange has seen its market share growing at the expense of Notes, and rolling a unified suite of communications tools into its groupware is another way for the company to promote its groupware solution."
Bill and the Boyz may be counting on "unified communications" to be a big growth area for their business unit, says BusinessWeek Online, but partners are counting on Microsoft to continue to act as a partner that will expand the workplace communications market-not take it over".
Meanwhile, "If there’s any lesson from the PC era, partners will have to keep a close eye to make sure Microsoft doesn’t become too powerful," observes the story.
Also See:
Guardian Unlimited - Microsoft RoundTable — like a webcam on steroids, June 26, 2006
Ars Technica - Microsoft pushes unified communications, June 26, 2006
BusinessWeek Online - Microsoft’s Stepped-up Call to Business, June 27, 2006
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