MSR Consulting TechnoBlog

Microsoft launches its Unified Communications strategy

June 27th, 2006

Microsoft is taking on both the challenges and opportunities that
exist around the current unified communications platform and product
lineup.

To
do this, the Redmond software maker is introducing voice technologies
to its current lineup, developing new products and expanding the
unified communications features its current products provide, as well
as offering services itself and in association with its partners.

In a two-hour presentation at an event here in San Francisco on
June 26, Jeff Raikes, the president of the Microsoft Business Division,
presented his vision for Microsoft’s unified messaging strategy and product roadmap of the future.

“This new world of work has people at its core, and they are
assisted by the software we provide to simplify the way they work
together, especially across organizations and countries,” he said,
adding that communication choices have expanded, leading to
communications chaos.

“There are also just too many devices out there, and workers do
not have enough time to deal with the complexity associated with all of
this. This wealth of devices and connectivity is also putting strain on
IT administrators,” he said.

The PC environment had seen a lot more innovation from a
software perspective than the desktop phone, and PC innovation has
improved the richness of that experience, Raikes said, noting that
significant challenges and opportunities lie ahead in the unified
communications field.

The complexity of the user experience remains a big challenge,
with research showing that the average organization has 6.4 types of
different communication devices and 4.8 communications applications,
resulting in infrastructure islands, he said.

The real opportunities for unified communications lie on the
productivity front, around collaboration and better business results,
while meetings remain an area of great opportunity and challenge, he
said, noting that the virtual meeting experience “should and could” be
even better than actually being present at that meeting.

Raikes then gave a demonstration of the Microsoft Office
RoundTable, an audio-video collaboration device with a 360-degree
camera, expected to be released in the first half of 2007, that, when
combined with Office Communications Server 2007, delivers an immersive
conferencing experience that extends the meeting environment across
multiple locations.

Microsoft’s vision for Unified Communications enables a people-centric solution of rich, intuitive, and seamless communications across e-mail, IM, voice, data, video, and conferencing. Microsoft offers companies a complete software platform that unifies all communications with their business applications and processes, streamlining how people reach each other and communicate. Microsoft is delivering revolutionary economics and manageability, with a flexible, reliable, and secure infrastructure for Unified Communications.

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