… Microsoft will fold its Speech Server software into the upcoming Office Communications server, thus integrating speech with instant messaging and e-mail communication. This will mark the end of Speech Server, which was updated this year. Going forward, it will be a part of the Office Communications Server 2007, a new product planned for release next year. Office Communications Server in turn is a replacement for another Microsoft product; in this case, it will replace Live Communications Server. This server uses Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) to enable presence-based VoIP (define) call management and VoIP communication. …
… The plan for Office Communications Server will allow for inter-communication between IM and voice. A phone call can be routed to an instant messenger, so a person who perhaps can’t take a phone call can get the word via a pop-up window instead, explained Clint Patterson, Microsoft director of product management for Microsoft Speech Server, in a briefing with internetnews.com. Likewise, it would be possible to fire off a phone call from Outlook, so you can call a person in response to their e-mail by a mouse click. By adding Speech Server to Office, people using speech, IM and e-mail all benefit from the integration, he said. "Each respective customer situation gets a more complete solution." …
… In addition to Office integration, Microsoft will expose a series of application programming interfaces (API) so developers can build voice-, IM- and e-mail-driven applications for Office Communications Server 2007. …
Source: Internetnews.com
More pieces of the puzzle are falling into place. So shortly after the introduction of Windows Vista and Office 2007 (including the Server platform) and Exchange 2007 you can expect Office Communications Server 2007. This will include speech as you can conclude from this article and many more new features.
