Ask IW UK Blog : Unified Communication

OCS 2007 Beta Now Available

IW UK Partner Team — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 11:14:51 GMT

Download the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 and Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 Public Beta today:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/beta/ocs/default.mspx

Office Communications Server 2007, the next evolution of Live Communications Server, delivers streamlined communications for your users so they can find and communicate with the right person, right now, from the applications they use most—like Microsoft Outlook. And when you download the beta software, you're automatically registered to access valuable beta resources assembled in one convenient Beta Central location.

Please review Office Communications Server 2007 system requirements before you proceed. Actual requirements and product functionality may vary based on your system configuration.

Jeff Raikes Pre-Announces OCS 2007 Public Beta

IW UK Partner Team — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 15:08:58 GMT

Jeff Raikes Pre-Announces OCS 2007 Public Beta at VoiceCon (March 7, 2007)

In the keynote address at VoiceCon Spring 2007, Jeff Raikes (our President of the Microsoft Business Division) announced the imminent release of Office Communications Server 2007 public beta and outlined Microsoft's move to unify communications through software while eliminating VoIP barriers with enhanced VoIP solutions.

What does that mean? Well, Jeff has some cool quotes and statistics that really frame the opportunity for the future... I like these three:

"Microsoft announced that for the first time it is making the interoperability specifications for Office Communications Server 2007 and Office Communicator 2007 available to partners, enabling them to deliver a unified experience with Session Initiation Protocol interoperability between their PBX and Office Communications Server 2007 and Office Communicator 2007. As a result, customers can avoid the costs of ripping and replacing their existing telephony system. They can also gain productivity benefits from less complexity and better management of their telephony systems", Raikes said.
“We’re embarking on a software transformation similar to what we saw from the mainframe to the PC,” Raikes said. “With a shift of this magnitude, there will be tremendous opportunities for our industry partners worldwide.”
“Software is set to transform business phone systems as profoundly as it has transformed virtually every other form of workplace communication,” Raikes said. “Over time, the software-based VoIP technology built into Microsoft Office Communications Server and Microsoft Office Communicator will 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.”

For more information, check out the video, register for the beta and subscribe to the blog:

New Unified Communications Specialistation

IW UK Partner Team — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 21:06:49 GMT

Later this year, we will have a new Unified Communications Specialisation, as part of the Information Worker Competency.

What is it?

Early Start is for partners who are interested in joining the Unified Communications Specialization within the Information Worker (IW) Competency of the Microsoft Partner Programne. Partners will receive a monthly newsletter specific to UC with the inside scoop on special offers, information on training resources, and more.

Why should partners care about joining the UC Specialisation?

Partner to Partner: It is the best way to connect with other MS partners.
Customer to Partner: It provides tools that allow customers to find your company among the thousands of others out there.
Microsoft to Partner: It will be a key way for MS to objectively identify key UC partners for event participation, training offerings, case studies, etc.

ACTION:

Sign up for the Early Start initiative.
Learn more about the upcoming UC Specialisation and the Microsoft Partner Programme.

UK Unified Communication Workshop

IW UK Partner Team — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 21:03:34 GMT

The Partner Readiness Team is pleased to announce the release of classroom courses for 2007 Microsoft Office System Unified Communication Workshop

What is it?

This one day course focuses on the knowledge transfer of critical elements of Unified Communications, including: Unified Messaging, Real-time Collaboration (including Office Live Communications Server, Office Communicator and Office Live Meeting), Speech Server, Office System, Windows and the telephony piece of UC.

Where? (see details below)

Hinckley
London
Leeds

How do I enrol?

For more information and to enrol, visit: https://training.partner.microsoft.com/plc/search_adv.aspx?ssid=8D23C3E9907C45B999CAC86F052463EF.

Partner Sales/Presales Readiness Workshop

IW UK Partner Team — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 17:07:18 GMT

The Business Productivity Infrastructure Optimization (BPIO) Partner Sales/Presales Readiness Workshop is a 2-day in-depth, instructor-led sales readiness workshop for SI and ISV partners.

This training will help partners understand:

how to develop customer conversations around the new 2007 Microsoft Office system
how to sell using the BPIO customer campaign tools
Unified Communications & Collaboration, Enterprise Content Management and Business Intelligence
Microsoft marketing strategies, field priorities, and technology capability training
how to execute their own customer campaigns and selling activities independently

Currently there is availability on 22 Jan; 25 Jan; 29 Jan and 1 Feb.

To register, click here or visit the Partner Learning Centre and search for course ID 44Wk001 or ‘BPIO’. Let me know if you have any issues enrolling by emailing AskIW@microsoft.com.

UK Unified Communications Partner Briefing via LiveMeeting

IW UK Partner Team — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 19:20:00 GMT

During this LiveMeeting, we will discuss our vision for Unified Communications, the Partner opportunity and how to take advantage of the Microsoft Partner Programme to help drive your business.

If you would like to attend, please click here to register.

When? 8 February 2007
Where? Via LiveMeeting
What time? 11am for 45 minutes

Agenda:

Welcome and Introductions
The Microsoft Unified Communication vision and solution overview
The Partner Opportunity
Becoming a Microsoft Partner
Microsoft resources to help drive our joint business
Call to action and next steps

To register please visit http://msevents.microsoft.com/cui/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032324234&EventCategory=4&culture=en-GB&CountryCode=GB

Technorati tags: Unified Collaboration, Microsoft Partners

Unified Collaboration Early Start for Partners

IW UK Partner Team — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 21:46:55 GMT

Early Start is for Partners interested in joining the Unified Communications (UC) Specialisation within the Information Worker (IW) Competency of the Microsoft Partner Program. Partners will receive a monthly newsletter specific to UC with the inside scoop on special offers, information on training resources and more. Don’t miss out!

Why should Partners care about joining the UC Specialisation?

Partner to Partner: It is the best way to connect with other Microsoft partners.
Customer to Partner: It provides tools that allow customers to find your company
Microsoft to Partner: It will help Microsoft to identify key UC partners for event participation, training offerings, case studies, etc.

ACTION: sign up today for the Early Start initiative.

Learn more about the upcoming UC Specialization and the Microsoft Partner Program.

Please email me at AskIW@microsoft.com with any questions.

Christian.

Technorati tags: Unified Collaboration, Partners, Information Worker

Office system Training for SI/VAR Partners

IW UK Partner Team — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 00:49:13 GMT

The Partner Readiness Team is pleased to announce the release of five classroom courses for the 2007 Office system. Deliveries for most of these courses start in December, so please sign up as soon as possible. The courses are:

2007 Microsoft Office System Core Training: This two day technical course explores the core of the 2007 Microsoft Office System. Students will interact with the client-side technologies that drive information worker productivity locally and the server-side components that extend productivity to teams, divisions, and partners. For more details and to enrol, click here: www.microsoft.com/uk/partner/readiness/2007OfficeCore

2007 Microsoft Office System ECM and Forms Workshop: In this one day course you will learn how to use Office SharePoint® Server 2007, SharePoint Designer 2007 and Visual Studio 2005 to customize and extend solutions for the Web site of a fictional company called Litware Incorporated, an enterprise chain of retail tennis gear and apparel store with an online presence. For more details and to enrol, click here: www.microsoft.com/uk/partner/readiness/2007ECM

2007 Microsoft Office System Performance Management Workshop: The goal of this two day training course is to give you an in-depth look and hands-on experience of the capabilities of both ProClarity and Business Scorecard Manager. you will explore how both of these technologies to provide a unified solution that address BI challenges, including the need to help businesses effectively communicate and analyze performance. For more information and to enrol, click here: www.microsoft.com/uk/partner/readiness/2007PerfManagement

2007 Microsoft Office System Portals and Collaboration Workshop: This course utilizes new and improved features for Microsoft Office SharePoint® Portal Server 2007. With the practical application of these new features, attendees will be able to see a portal site implemented post-installation to production. For more information and to enrol, click here: www.microsoft.com/uk/partner/readiness/2007Portals

2007 Microsoft Office System Unified Communication Workshop: This one day course focuses on the knowledge transfer of critical elements of Unified Communications, including: Unified Messaging, Real-time Collaboration (including Microsoft® Office Live Communications Server, Microsoft® Office Communicator and Microsoft® Office Live Meeting), Microsoft® Speech Server, Microsoft® Office System, Windows Mobile®, and the telephony piece of UC. For more information and to enrol, click here: www.microsoft.com/uk/partner/readiness/2007UnifiedComms. (Please note – at the moment only December, January and early February dates have been scheduled. More will follow.)

Exchange Server 2007 Ignite Technical Training Workshop – a two day course that covers the architecture, installation and configuration of Exchange, as well as providing information on security, compliance, archiving and remote access. http://www.microsoft.com/uk/partner/readiness/exchange2007ignite

Office for Developers Training – This three-day course with Hands-On Labs will take you through the process of building solutions on the Microsoft Office 2007 platform and services. The course will focus on the growing service opportunities and the new features of the Microsoft Office 2007 suite of applications. http://www.microsoft.com/uk/partner/readiness/officedevelopers

Coming soon: 2007 Microsoft Office System Enterprise Search Workshop: This course will train Microsoft partners about Microsoft’s Search strategies and solutions—Windows Live™ Search center, a single application from which to search—consolidating their favorite Microsoft Search technologies (Desktop, SharePoint®, and MSN/Windows Live search on the Web). Live Search gives you the tools needed to easily and consistently harness the explosion of information in your organization, right from your desktop.

Technorati tags: Microsoft Partners, 2007 Office system, Partner sTraining

Microsoft Office Roundtable

IW UK Partner Team — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 19:09:41 GMT

I'm currently at a Unified Communication & Collaboration briefing where I learnt more about the Office Roundtable. It's an amazing bit of kit... in a nutshell, if you need to do some video conferencing and you have a meeting room with all the video conferencing equipment, chances are it'll be busy when you want to use it. So this new device plugs into the USB port of your PC and uses the VoIP capability via your laptop or a phone line via our Office Communications Server 2007 or Office LiveMeeting services. And then it creates a panoramic picture of the people in the room (see left)... on the recipients PC, you would see the 'current active speaker'... very cool. If someone misses the call, it can be recorded for people to see later.

To actually see it in action, check out this site: http://on10.net/Blogs/jesse/office-roundtable-part-four-the-fashion-event-of-the-winter-season/.

For more information, visit http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2006/oct06/10-20officeroundtable.mspx.