There was a press conference yesterday in New York on the Microsoft / Nortel alliance. Lot’s of things happening in the UC area. There a lot still to come this year from Microsoft and it’s partners in the Unified Communications space …
… Microsoft and Nortel Networks on Jan. 17 revealed more about their Unified Communications Alliance, announcing real deliverables and detailing a road map for further products due next year….
… Due later in the fourth quarter of 2007 are the UC Integrated Branch and a new Conferencing offering. The UC Integrated Branch will provide a single hardware device that combines routing, switching, VOIP (voice over IP) and unified communications….
… The two companies will also this year address unified communications for large enterprises and carriers by adding support in the Nortel Communications Server 2100 for a unified desktop and soft phone for VOIP, e-mail, instant messaging and presence. The Communication Server 2100 supports as many as 200,000 users on one system….
… “We’re the only company whose road map talks about a smart, unified client that largely builds on the popularity of our Windows and Office software,” Ballmer said. “We’re the only company to talk about a unified development and management platform at the server level. Other firms will talk about using standard hardware [or] standard operating systems, but making it easy to write a program that combines e-mail, voice, video, and so on—we’re unique on those dimensions as we work together.”…
… In the second integration phase, which Ballmer said he believes will start this year and will move into full swing by 2009, the two companies expect the “notion of separate PBX and server software will give way to a world in which [Microsoft’s] Office Communications Server and Nortel’s feature server [deliver] the full telephony experience on Intel [-based hardware], Windows development and management tools, and deliver a common experience,” Ballmer said …
Link to Microsoft, Nortel VOIP Alliance Gets Real
You can also check out the Microsoft Webcast of yesterday’s event :
Steve Ballmer at Microsoft-Nortel Press Conference
January 17, 2007
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Nortel CEO and President Mike Zafirovski announce the companies’ joint effort to transform voice communications and deliver the next generation of business communications to customers.
On-Demand Webcast:
• 500K
• 220K
• 100K
