Office Communications Server 2007 is the first Microsoft product to combine enterprise-ready IM, presence, video-conferencing, web-conferencing, and VoIP telephony in one solution. In addition, OCS 2007 includes real-time videoconferencing solutions running...

Cisco Unified Communications Manager (aka CallManager) version 4.2, 5.1 and 6.1 (specific version/release below) is now certified for Direct SIP connectivity with Office Communications Server.  Direct SIP allows connectivity between the OCS mediation...

At Tech.Ed Australia Ian Palangio and I did a 75 presentation that contained no PowerPoint slides. It was a complete demonstration of Unified Communications and Collaboration technologies available from Microsoft including: Office 2007 Office...

Tech.Ed 2008 has finally wrapped up... I was in Auckland for Tech.Ed NZ on Monday and Tuesday, and then in Sydney for Tech.Ed Australia from Wednesday to Friday. It was a hectic and somewhat exhausting week as I was the track/content owner for Unified...

I was interviewed yesterday at Tech.Ed New Zealand by Nic Romaniuk about my views on Unified Comms, and how it's changing the way people work. Check it out at http://www.microsoft.com/nz/teched08/office-unified-communications.aspx (click Johan...

Tech.Ed in Sydney has kicked off.  A great vibe, and everybody seems to be enjoying themselves so far.   Blurry photo of the keynote   Jonathan Lewis presenting UNC301 (How MSIT does Exchange) Share this post :

I've just got back to Sydney after two days in Auckland for Tech.Ed New Zealand.  From tomorrow morning I'll be at Tech.Ed Australia.  Here are some photos.....     Rick Anderson and Mauricio Freitas after UNC117   Behind the...

At Tech.Ed next week we're launching a new community for Unified Comms in Sydney - Sydney UC ! If you work in, are passionate about, or just enjoy Exchange, OCS, VoIP, video, or comms in general - this is the place for you to network with your peers...

After a lot of whining, begging and stalking DonK, I finally managed to get my hands on a loaner Palm Treo Pro for Tech.Ed next week.   Palm Treo Pro on the left, Palm Treo 750 on the right Great device!  Read my brief review over at the Windows...

At Tech.Ed Australia next week we are doing something new with Ask The Experts night... at Commnet you can submit questions beforehand and nominate Experts to answer them. In the panel of Experts your nominee will then answer your question, and their...

Sure is!  (but I am also happy to see you)  This beast was recently purchased on eBay and is currently sitting in Microsoft's Melbourne office.   I love seeing the old 1950s phone next to the Communicator Phone Editions (aka Tanjay). ...

Confused about Edge Server configuration and security? The best idea is to come to UNC316: Office Communications Server 2007 Security: Architecture and Edge Services with Derrick Buckley and Craig Pringle at Tech.Ed in Sydney next week :) But if you...

Two big announcements for Exchange 2007 SP1: Microsoft now supports Exchange Server 2007 SP1 running on Hyper-V or other hypervisors validated under the Microsoft Server Virtualization Validation Program (SVVP) . Microsoft is waiving its 90-day license...

Not UC-related, but this is awesome ... Jon DeVaan and Steven Sinofsky and have started a blog about the planning and development of Windows 7. Beginning with this post together we are going to start looking forward towards the “Windows 7”...

Harold Melnick, our local head of Unified Communications, has just started a blog . No doubt Harold will fill this with business and industry information that is relevant in the world of UC, so I recommend subscribing to his RSS feed if you're into that...

I've been very quiet on the blogging front recently due to a number of things: overseas travel, trying to organise a wedding (I'm getting married in October), illness, but most of all due to the amount of planning and work we're putting into Unified Comms...

This paper answers questions about Office Communications Server 2007 with specific regard to its integration into the perimeter network (also known as DMZ, demilitarized zone, or screened subnet). The first section, “Commonly Asked Questions,”...

We have released a sample toolkit that is designed to enhance the adoption of Office Communicator and Office Communications Server 2007 within organisations using IBM Lotus Notes. This toolkit focuses on the following objectives: 1. Allow Notes...

I've just posted my thoughts on the HTC Shift to the Windows Mobile Australia blog. Toy?  Tool?  Maybe a bit of both :) Share this post :

I just stumbled across a great blog post describing the first impressions of Exchange UM by an IT Pro in Canada, after his hosting provider turned it on.. My own mail domain is actually managed by an online hosting provider that has recently enabled...

In case you haven't heard the news, we have released Hyper-V into the wild. In fact did you know that 25% of microsoft.com is already running on Hyper-V VMs? So what about Exchange Server? As we recently announced at Tech.Ed USA, Microsoft will...

Here is an update to the draft I recently posted for the Unified Communications & Mobility track at Tech.Ed Australia. These sessions are still not 100% finalised - a few are missing and some names are subject to change - but this should provide...

Yesterday I caught up with Roger Lawrence and Rick Anderson and we recorded a video discussion about Mobility Smackdown! , one of the most popular sessions at TechEd Australia. Hear about the history of Smackdown! as well as what's planned for this...

Last week I caught up with Colin Lee, one of this year's presenters in the Unified Comms track at TechEd Australia and New Zealand. Deeps was around and had his video camera handy so we recorded a quick interview.  Colin discusses some of the topics...

In case you missed the post at the OCS team blog, we have described a feature currently under consideration for OCS in the future - SIP trunking. This will allow OCS to pass telephony traffic to a service provider over a purely IP connection - eliminating...