Response Point Team Blog

Response Point Product Announcement

sprague — Fri, 14 May 2010 15:00:00 GMT

Since 2008, we’ve worked to bring you news and updates about Response Point and we’ve appreciated your engagement as we’ve worked to support and deploy this product for small businesses in North America. If you’ve been following, you probably know by now that last year we made the decision to transition Response Point to engineering maintenance status in May of 2009.

After taking a good look at the Microsoft Response Point offering and the needs of small businesses, we’ve decided to discontinue the sale, support, and development of the Response Point phone system for small businesses, effective August 31, 2010. If you’re a current customer, you’ll be able to keep using your Response Point system per the terms of your equipment manufacturer’s purchase agreement.

I’m sure that many of you are asking why we decided to make this decision. We’ve been encouraged since the launch of Response Point by the positive response we’ve seen from our customers and channel partners who have been using the solution. However, even given this progress, we’ve determined that the demand that has materialized in the time since launch isn’t enough to sustain Response Point as a healthy, viable standalone business moving forward.

So, what does this mean for our current customers and partners?

§ As I mentioned before, all current Response Point customers will be able to use their system after August 31, 2010 according to the terms of their equipment manufacturer purchase agreement.

§ In support of our partners and current customers, we’ll continue to maintain the current web pages at www.microsoft.com/responsepoint until November 1, 2011.

§ For any return policy questions, you’ll need to contact the retailer or equipment reseller the system was purchased from directly.

To continue to support the needs of the small business community, we expect to consolidate our efforts and offerings in this space around Microsoft Office Communications Server (OCS).

In the end, we’re thankful for all of the support we have received from our partners to date, and we’re committed to continuing our support of current OEMs, Service Providers and resellers through the end of August.

Thank you,

John Frederiksen

2 Free VOIP Training Webcasts for Partners from TechEd's Top Speaker!

sprague — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 18:45:00 GMT

Introduction to Response Point Analysis with Wireshark (Part 1 of 2)
October 6th, 2009, 9:00 - 10:00am PDT
MRP01PAL

Registration URL: https://training.partner.microsoft.com/learning/app/management/LMS_ActDetails.aspx?UserMode=0&ActivityId=552695

This online seminar provides the foundation for troubleshooting Response Point communications with Wireshark, the open source analyzer, or other analyzer products. Beginning with the troubleshooting methodology and the tips/tricks to locating the cause of network problems related to VoIP communications, Laura demonstrates the visible evidence of the most common network infrastructure problems. If the infrastructure isn't performing properly - no network-based applications will perform properly. That includes Response Point.

Response Point Analysis and Troubleshooting (Part 2 of 2)
October 28th, 2009 9:00 - 10:00am PDT
MRP02PAL

Registration URL: https://training.partner.microsoft.com/learning/app/management/LMS_ActDetails.aspx?UserMode=0&ActivityId=552698

This online seminar follows the Introduction to Response Point Analysis with Wireshark event with a focus on issues that affect Response Point communications. Beginning with the overview of telephony protocols and typical communication processes, Laura delves into the numerous issues that affect the visibility and performance of Response Point systems, walks through a series of Response Point trace files and demonstrates how to use Wireshark's telephony-specific troubleshooting features. Finishing up this event is a summary of problems that may be caused by firewall issues and add-on service problems.

My New Role

Xuedong David Huang — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 21:10:00 GMT

For the past three years I have had the opportunity to lead three startup efforts at Microsoft. Response Point is the earliest one that we brought to market. One of my other startups is Mobile Search & Advertising, which is also a critically important area for Microsoft. I’d like to announce that I will be taking a new job in Microsoft’s Online Services Division to help our new mobile search and advertising efforts.

This has been a difficult decision for me. I have really enjoyed working with so many talented people in the RP community. I deeply appreciate all the support and advice you provided for me and my team. Moving forward, I am pleased John Frederiksen will continue to provide his leadership for RP.

If there is anything I can be of assistance in the future, please don’t hesitate to contact me at xdh@microsoft.com.

Regards,

Xuedong Huang

Response Point Town Hall Meeting

sprague — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 02:01:00 GMT

Response Point Town Hall Meeting - Update on Recent Changes
Microsoft has made some changes to the Response Point business. I am not expecting impact on current customers as we will maintain the current version of the product. We want to take a good look at the next version of Response Point and ensure it addresses the needs of Small Businesses. We are thankful for the support we have received from our partners to date.

We will continue to support our current OEMs, Service Providers and resellers that are selling Response Point v1.0. We will also continue to promote the product and our partners on-line. We believe there is a plenty of room for delivering breakthrough products in the communication space and will continue to investigate the opportunity in the small business segment.
John Frederiksen, General Manager of the Response Point Product, will update partners and answer questions during this live meeting.

Please monitor the official Response Point blog for updates and information. http://blogs.technet.com/rp/

Date: June 30th, 2009 (Tuesday)
Time: 1:00 - 2:30pm PDT (Redmond Time)

Note: This session will be recording and you can find it in the PLC. If you register and can't make it, you will be sent the location where you can find the PLC on demand URL.

Here is the URL from the event if you missed it:

https://training.partner.microsoft.com/plc/details.aspx?publisher=12&delivery=269038

Next chapter for Response Point

sprague — Fri, 08 May 2009 04:01:00 GMT

This week we made some changes to the Response Point business. I am not expecting impact on current customers as we will maintain the current version of the product. We want to take a good look at the next version of Response Point and ensure it addresses the needs of Small Businesses. We are thankful for the support we have received from our partners to date. We will continue to support our current OEMs, Service Providers and resellers that are selling Response Point v1.0. We will also continue to promote the product and our partners on-line. We believe there is a plenty of room for delivering breakthrough products in the communication space and will continue to investigate the opportunity in the small business segment.

If you have questions or concerns please feel free to contact me (johnfre@microsoft.com , GM for Response Point).

VPNs and Remote Workers

sprague — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 00:46:44 GMT

Erik Lagerway at the SMBPhone blog has a nice overview of how he installed a VPN to support a remote worker. It includes specifics like exactly which router he used, which Response Point hardware, and how he configured everything. He concludes:

The Response Point phone and Assistant worked as expected and the VPN provided other benefits related to file sharing etc.

We know that remote workers are an important scenario asked for regularly by customers, so Erik’s piece is a good read if you want to learn how to get one working for you.

New Aastra firmware available immediately

sprague — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 19:07:18 GMT

From our friends at Response Point OEM Aastra:

Aastra Telecom is pleased to announce the availability of software maintenance release 2.4.1_RP.1014. Available for download from the AastraLink RP website, this release offers a fix to the Call Park issues customers experienced when attempting to park a call on phones with multiple Lines/Users.

Please visit www.aastralinkrp.com and click on Software Downloads Area to obtain the new firmware

Call Manager and Analytics from RiteTech LLC

sprague — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 16:05:00 GMT

Our friends at RiteTech LLC have been busy with some of the new features in SP2. They just announced a limited public Beta test of their RPCalls Call Manager and RPTrends Call Analytics Web-based applications. Definitely worth checking out.

RPCalls is an easy to use, customizable “lightweight CRM” and contact-tracking application that integrates with Service Pack 2’s URL-launching feature.

RPTrends provides analysis and enhanced reporting for Microsoft Response Point call logs.

For more information, please visit http://www.rpconnect.net. To sign up for the Beta, complete the request form at http://www.rpconnect.net/public/request.cfm.

NEW! Syspine 6 Phone Promo Packages Boost Partner Margins!

TechNet Archive — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 23:09:22 GMT

News from our OEM partner Syspine today:

Introducing Syspine P406 and P806 promotional packages. These custom packages have six (6) 310M IP phones and include a award winning Syspine 4 or 8 line All-In-One A50 server. While supplies last, the packages will also ship with the integrated Security Gateway at no extra charge.

The Syspine promo packages are simple to order. Just one part number gets you started with Syspine's All-In-One Solution... and all in one carton!

SYS - P406 package: 4 line DOS-A50 Base w/ 6ea. 310M IP Phones
SYS - P806 package: 8 line DOS-A50 Base w/ 6ea. 310M IP Phones

Get in the door and lead with the Microsoft RP brand, features, and applications. Follow the presentation with a Syspine value proposition that will close the deal. Walk out the door with the higher sales margin your company deserves. You now have the winning combination. Product, price, and support packaged with a higher margin opportunity to truly make the Syspine Microsoft RP system an important part of your business model.

Contact Tom Burgess, Syspine National Sales Manager at 480-528-3040, or Tom.Burgess@Syspine.com for pricing details and additional information.

April 30th Webinar. A VAR’s View: Successful Tips for Selling Response Point

TechNet Archive — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 21:51:43 GMT

Want to hear the best practices from 3 top Response Point VARs? What are their secrets for generating revenue ? Finding new customers ? Closing the deal? How to leverage demos ? Then please join us for this April 30th webinar.

Registration information on the Microsoft Partner Learning Center is HERE.

The ‘VAR Guy’ speaks to Response Point Partner SMB Phone

TechNet Archive — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 19:27:38 GMT

The VAR Guy, a web site focused on the day-to-day happenings of partners recently published a story on Response Point VAR and Service Provider SMB Phone. The article describes the journey Erik Lagerway and Trent Johnsen were on as they established SMB Phone. Here is the link to the article.

Updated RP site for Microsoft Partners

sprague — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 00:36:14 GMT

The Response Point world is centered around our business partners and Microsoft Specialists who help customers choose and deploy their phone systems. Our partners often ask us for marketing, sales, and technical information to make it easier for them to present Response Point, and there are many ways to get that information, but if you’re a serious partner the best way is through the Microsoft Partner Portal (MSPP).

Today we’re pleased to announce a major upgrade to the Response Point section on MSPP: get all the Response Point sales, marketing and training tools you’ll need to increase awareness and drive sales to your small business customers. The newly redesigned Response Point product page has relocated to the Global Microsoft Partner Portal site, and is now located under “Products and Solutions” with easier navigation and on-stop access to technical, product and selling resources. In addition to updated SP2 feature and benefit content, you’ll find NEW website, email, event and co-promotional templates.

You can find all of this and more at: https://partner.microsoft.com/global/40104201

Please note: the MSPP site is limited to Microsoft Partners only. If you’re interested in becoming one, please follow the instructions for how to become a Response Point specialist and join us!

Use the Small Business Summit Video on your site

sprague — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 15:28:00 GMT

Response Point has many great videos you can use on your own web site to show customers how Response Point can help them. One of our favorites is this one that was produced last year for the Microsoft Small Business Summit, and summarizes in a few minutes the basic talking points about RP:
Small Business Summit: Phone It In

If you click on the “share” icon above, you’ll see some simple HTML code that you can use to place the video on your site as well. Every small business should watch this simple 7-minute introduction to see how easy it is to upgrade to Response Point.

April 17th Webinar : Response Point SP2 Technical Briefing

TechNet Archive — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 21:00:06 GMT

Robert Brown, Principal Group Program Manager of the Response Point Development team, will lead this April 17th webinar. It is part of Microsoft’s 5W/50 webinar series for SMB Partners. Robert and his team of Program Managers will offer technical discussions on SP2, the Response Point architecture.

Registration information is available here.

Ask Anna to speak for your company

sprague — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 01:19:35 GMT

When you add a person’s name to your Response Point directory, there is a pleasant voice inside RP that speaks the name back to you. It’s a computerized voice, usually referred to as TTS ( text-to-speech), and the one inside RP is world-class. In fact, it’s the same voice used by Windows Vista, and referred to as “Anna” in the TTS applications out there. TTS can make a nice prompt for your names on RP, but it’s never as good as a real recorded voice, especially for longer utterances like the greetings that you use for your Automated Receptionist.

Well here’s some good news: “Anna” is actually the voice of Melanie Granfors, a real live person who lives in Seattle, Washington and made the recordings that formed the basis for the sound waves now included in both Response Point and Vista. And you can hire Anna, I mean Melanie, to record your company’s directory greeting.

Melanie is one of the voice talents signed up with Voices.com, an internet web site that sells introductions to people who record their voices. Here’s the description on her voices.com site:

Melanie Granfors is a Radio/TV personality, spokeswoman, narrator and voiceover artist. Melanie's styles include smooth or energetic, reassuring and friendly, corporate, confident, motherly, sexy, sassy, elegant, raucous. She can sound like a doctor or a diva! Melanie is an excellent cold reader, and adept at technical reading with scientific, medical or technological terms. She promises quick turnaround on all voiceover projects from her home studio.

Reasonable rates, quick turnaround – and a voice that perfectly matches the one inside RP. Check it out!

More Aastralink SIP Trunking Bundle Details

sprague — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 20:05:02 GMT

Aastra has published more details about their new “SIP Trunking Bundle" we mentioned previously.

The AastraLink RP SIP Trunking Bundle, available in the U.S. market only, is priced at just $1,799.99 MSRP and includes the Aastra designed Base Unit containing the Microsoft® Response Point™ software, and three Aastra Response Point 6753i RP phones.

This is a great deal, especially for RP customers who want the quality and convenience of VOIP and don’t need an analog line. Full systems, including the analog telephony adapter (gateway) and a selection of additional phones are still available at $2400.

Answers on Telephonation.com

sprague — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 20:59:20 GMT

Response Point is designed to be easy to use and manage, but that doesn’t mean you won’t have any questions. We try to cover as many of the basics as we can on our web site (and our blogs), but often it’s easier to ask those questions from people in the community, other users like yourself who may be able to offer an in-the-trenches perspective.

That’s what you’ll find at Telephonation.com, an independent web site devoted to all things RP, and if you’re not already a member, you’ll definitely want to check it out. They have nearly 700 active users, who in just a few months have posted 1500 messages on more than 600 subjects. At any given time, there are often dozens of live users active on the site, and most questions get responses pretty quickly, often within hours. You’ll also see members of the RP team there too – we like to answer questions!

Of course, you are also encouraged to contact us directly, and we try to give responses as quickly as we can. But sometimes it’s nice to hear from other users and resellers too, so please take a look at Telephonation.

Books We Are Reading … :)

TechNet Archive — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 02:55:07 GMT

Well sort of… Actually we are working on some small projects here in Redmond with Ray Horak. Ray’s a very savvy technologist with a focus on the telecom space. He is the author of some popular and well respected telecom books – a dictionary and a handbook on telecom and data communications. If you want to refresh your technical skills check out Ray’s books at your favorite book-buying location.

FYI : Small Business VoIP Requirements List

TechNet Archive — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 02:39:10 GMT

Our good friend at www.voipsupply.comm , Garret Smith posted this list on what a SMB should consider when looking at a system. Garret writes crisply and cleanly – it is a good read. Here is the LINK. These steps are useful to consider when working with your clients and their Response Point needs.

New : AastraLinkRP "SIP Trunking Bundle"

TechNet Archive — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 00:01:05 GMT

News from Aastra today: “…Aastra, a company specializing in enterprise communications, has announced the availability of AastraLink RP, which is based on Microsoft (News - Alert) Response Point software along with a new bundle which is suitable for small businesses looking to use SIP Trunking….”

Read about the bundle HERE.

FYI : 2009 Microsoft SMB Insight Report…

TechNet Archive — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 22:20:52 GMT

Here is an interesting research article on SMB’s pulled off of the publicly available Microsoft PressPass site. Some findings below. Link is HERE.

1. Strategic IT Investments Bolster the Bottom Line. Smaller businesses will continue to view IT as a strategic asset, a cost cutter and a means of increasing employee productivity. Lower spending does not imply lower value or reliance.

2. Lower Budgets Mean Less Has to Be More. Streamlining IT through virtualization or server consolidation will increasingly be viewed as reliable means of adding business capabilities while reducing management and overhead costs.

3. Service and Responsiveness Are Key to Customer Retention. The parallel objectives of improving employee productivity and delivering a better customer experience will drive SMBs to look at how they can better leverage the collaboration, mobility and business insight tools they already have, followed by strategic investments in these areas as incremental return on investment is achieved.

4. Smaller Companies Will Increasingly Adopt Cloud Computing. More smaller businesses will adopt cloud-based solutions as the economic climate drives demand for solutions that are affordable and flexible and offer financially backed service-level agreements. Smaller businesses will remain cautious, however, and will closely evaluate the security, reliability and interoperability of cloud-based offerings. On-premise solutions continue to offer familiarity and a predictable return on investment and will therefore increasingly be complemented with hosted and online services offerings to create hybrid solutions that bring together the best of both delivery models.

5. Better Together: SMBs Rely on Trusted Partners. Small and midsize customers will turn more to vendors and value-added resellers (VARs) to help improve their bottom lines. Expect VARs to work harder to show that they understand SMBs and deliver more personalized communication and greater depth of expertise as they compete for business.

“Selling Response Point” Webinar Link

TechNet Archive — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 21:50:26 GMT

A bit over a week ago Microsoft Canada hosted the Response Point team, SMB Phone, and SBS MVP Jeff Loucks for a “Selling Response Point” webcast. They recorded the webcast and the link for the handouts and to listen to the recording are up and can be found HERE.

Stuart Crawford is contagious

sprague — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 21:29:14 GMT

Well, contagious in a good way. Nice words from RP user and MVP in Canada Stuart Crawford:

I have to admit that I was skeptical of Microsoft Response Point in the beginning, however I am sold now. It is a really good small business phone system. This is something that I use every day in my work, so I am drinking my own champagne when it comes to a phone system that will meet the needs of business in Calgary.

I guess the one thing that I truly admire about this solution is the commitment from the Response Point team in Redmond and Bulletproof works with this team very closely. Once again, a great advantage over many other phone systems in the same price range or feature set. Having a great, strong partner like Microsoft in our corner is crucial to our ability to support this solutions.

I can’t forget about the awesome team at Aastra. This is the hardware platform we have decided on for Response Point. Aastra allows for many different types of connections from SIP (Internet) to traditional telephone lines that Telus would provide to us.

Our team is very small and sometimes so buried in the work of building the Response Point business that we can’t respond to everyone as quickly as we’d like, but we do appreciate all your feedback. Thanks, Stuart!

March 18th Microsoft Canada Response Point Webinar

TechNet Archive — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 04:20:00 GMT

Hear from SBS MVP Jeff Loucks, Trent Johnsen of SMB Phone and the Response Point team on the opportunities in selling Response Point to your customers.

We will also have some SPECIAL OFFERS from our Response Point Partners for those who attend the webinar.

To register go HERE.