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Microsoft has put its stake in the ground concerning unified communications, saying it plans to integrate e-mail, instant messaging, voice and video into a single platform stretching across corporate applications and services.
The company recently laid out upgrades and a road map for its software lineup and introduced a hardware product called Office RoundTable (formerly code-named Ring Cam), a room phone for audioconferencing with a 360degree camera for online meetings. The software, hardware and a Web conferencing service belong to a family of products built for Office 2007, which is slated to ship to corporate clients in November.
Microsoft did not announce any software but changed the name of its IM and presence software from Live Communications Server to Office Communications Server 2007.
Microsoft says Exchange Server 2007; the Office Communicator 2007 client, with a version for phones; and the Office Live Meeting 2007 Web conferencing service will be available in the second quarter of 2007. The company plans to have betas of the software by year-end.
Earlier this year, Microsoft merged its Exchange and real-time collaboration groups to form a unified communications group.The company intends to give users a single platform for reakime communications that can be integrated with traditional desktop and network applications, mobile devices and the business processes running across all three.
"This is a bold move," says Mike Gotta, an analyst with the Burton Group. "Microsoft is focusing on the bigger game rather than cherry-pick a few features.They are talking about one big architectural domain. Microsoft is trying to change the nature of the argument. Why compete when you can change the rules?"
Gotta says that...