Are unified communications here at last?
<<<... Microsoft's upcoming Office Communications Server (OCS), which replaces Live Communications Server (LCS), actually includes several SIP-based VoIP calling features typically found in such IP PBXs as Cisco's Communications Manager, along with video and Web conferencing, telephony management tools, and speech recognition. All of that, plus Microsoft's trademark instant messaging has been rolled in a single package accessible from Microsoft's Office Communicator client or Outlook. In OCS shops, Office users will be able to click on a person's name in any Office document and instantly obtain presence information, including whether they are on the phone, and then launch an IM, a voice call, or an audio or Web conference.
OCS interoperates with mainstream IP PBXs, but on its own, it can even serve as a small office's VoIP system. Microsoft is betting heavily that UC, including voice, will ultimately revolve around productivity software. "The movement of all communications to software is the uber-level thing that's happening," says Greg Saint James, Microsoft's senior director of UC, "and it will benefit everyone, making it much easier to integrate communications with all your other processes." And of course, Microsoft expects Active Directory to host the corporate dial plan. Oracle's Service Delivery Platform, an extension of its fusion middleware, provides a J2EE/SOA-based platform for building and deploying multiple IP communications software services, including IP telephony, video, IMS, and presence – all of which can be integrated with standard back-end business applications. ... more >>>