VoIP on the march

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Microsoft has predicted that software will transform business telephone systems with the number of people making calls from Microsoft Office applications reaching 100 million in the next three years.

The software giant believes software-based VoIP technology built into Microsoft Office Communications Server and Microsoft Office Communicator will, in the words of Microsoft Business Division president Jeff Raikes, “offer so much value and cost savings that it will make the standard telephone look like that old typewriter that’s gathering dust in the stockroom”.

The technology, which will be available in a public beta version at the end of the month, should appeal to businesses with between 50 and 100 employees, a segment which has been quick on the uptake in terms of adopting IP PBX systems.

Troy Zaboukos, Microsoft EMEA lead on Unified Messaging, argued many companies of that size would find it easier to make the change compared to multinationals and large enterprises which had “years and years of infrastructure in the phone system” and would find it difficult to drive change.

Due for full release in the autumn, the Communications Server and Communicator products would enable users to control their phone from the desktop and help blur the lines between VoIP and voice, he argued.

The biggest attraction for users was the integration with Office which “puts the user experience at the forefront”, enabling them to do things like make a phone call from within Outlook.

The infrastructure required would, in many cases, already be in place if customers were using Active Directory to manage Exchange for example.

Microsoft also argued companies would get more value from their existing PBX systems, networks and desk phones by using Office Communications Server to add VoIP and unified communications capabilities without having to rip out and replace their existing investments.

Raikes described Office Communications Server 2007 and Office Communicator

2007 as Microsoft’s most important communications technology since it introduced Outlook.

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