Over on the Ferris blog I ran into something on softphones.
I think it is a natural thing that “pureplay softphone vendors start scaling out to broader RTC propositions just as RTC platform vendors move into VOIP / IP Telephony. What I always find funniy is the way IP Teplephony vendors such as Nortel / Cisco and the likes have devloped softphones; they just created a software version of a hardphone.
For those who have seen or better worked with Microsoft Office Communicator have seen that the way Microsoft is approaching telephony is totally different. Making a phonecall is just another for of communication; what combined all these forms is Presence. My guiess is that this platform approach driven by presence is the best way forward.
Some collaborative tools, such as those from Yahoo, MSN, and AOL, have added softphones over the last couple of years.
Conversely, softphone vendors are adding more and more collaborative capabilities. One example is CounterPath. This SIP-based software supports voice, video, and instant messaging.
Future plans include whiteboarding, file transfer, and file sharing. ..
[Via Ferris Research Weblog]
http://www.voip-upgrade.blogspot.com