Microsoft Touts New Hardware Friends For Office Communications Server
For the Los Angeles event it has lined up new hardware partners including NEC, Vitelix, and ASUS to join existing handset makers in creating devices that plug into Microsoft's upcoming Office Communications Server 2007. Existing hardware partners include 3Com, Samsung and LG-Nortel.
Office Communications Server 2007, in public beta since March, is due in the second quarter, and promises to bring VoIP telephony, instant messaging, conferencing and presence under one PC-oriented umbrella.
Beta testers of the software can order these new devices, including handsets, now to run with their beta software. The availability of these new devices shows momentum, said Paul Duffy, group product manager. "These devices are not vaporware. You can order them today."
Office Communications Server 2007 went to public beta in March.
Unified communications is a concept that the big platform vendors— IBM, Cisco and Microsoft—have glommed onto with a vengeance.
It remains unclear how many customers are really ready to run their entire communications infrastructure on PC-based technology so none of these vendors publicly advocates a "rip-and-replace" strategy. Many PBXes may be old and expensive, but they are also very reliable.
But brisk sales of VoIP-based PBXes do show that there is some UC momentum, analysts have said.