Johann's Unified Communications : news

Exchange 2010 has left the building

jkruse — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 01:19:06 GMT

The Exchange PG has declared RTM, so Exchange 2010 has been signed off and is now officially completed.

This is an exciting release and provides great value to business of all sizes.

HP and Microsoft Expand Alliance in Unified Communications and Collaboration

jkruse — Wed, 20 May 2009 01:42:30 GMT

At Interop Las Vegas 2009, HP and Microsoft Corp. today announced a four-year strategic global initiative to deliver an end-to-end unified communications and collaboration solution. As part of their Frontline Partnership, the two companies expect to invest up to an additional $180 million in product development, professional services, as well as joint sales and marketing, to help organizations lower cost and improve productivity.

The end-to-end solution, which is planned to span software, hardware, networking and services would enable customers to improve business output and reduce travel, telecom and IT operating costs. This would be accomplished by streamlining communications across messaging, video and voice with connected applications and devices. HP and Microsoft also plan to provide the flexibility and control customers need to manage their communications infrastructure efficiently.

Product development and integration

The two companies will form joint teams to collaborate on products and services development across Microsoft Office SharePoint Server, Microsoft Exchange Server and Microsoft Office Communications Server, as well as HP ProCurve networking products.
HP will obtain Microsoft Unified Communications qualification for the HP dx9000 TouchSmart Business PC and select smartphones.
HP will obtain Microsoft Unified Communications qualification for new IP desk phones.
HP Business Technology Optimization (BTO) software will provide additional support for Microsoft Office Communications Server, including the ability to provide real-time quality of service metrics for the voice and video network over the IP infrastructure.
The two companies will provide end point interoperability with HP Halo Telepresence Solutions and Microsoft Office Communications Server-based unified conferencing, enabling remote participants at any Microsoft Office Communication Server-enabled PC to join telepresence conferences.

Professional services

Microsoft and HP will offer a full set of business productivity services ranging from assessment, architecture planning and design to implementation, monitoring, management and support for software, hardware, network, server, storage and infrastructure components in the shared portfolio.
HP will dedicate a global team of service professionals to support the joint solutions, helping customers achieve improved levels of network availability and response times.
HP and Microsoft will also target communications service providers, offering them the same technologies and services to enable hosted unified communications and collaboration services for small to medium-sized businesses.
HP and Microsoft will provide services for customers who seek to run their technology on-premise, fully outsource, or who opt for a combination of both.
Microsoft and HP will work together to address customers’ real-time collaboration needs using HP Halo Managed Services and HP ProCurve products.

Read the press release at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2009/may09/05-19HPUCGPR.mspx

RoundTable to become Polycom CX5000 Unified Conference Station

jkruse — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 01:21:53 GMT

PLEASANTON, Calif., REDMOND, Wash., and VoiceCon Orlando 2009, Booth No. 309 ― March 30, 2009 ― Polycom, Inc. [Nasdaq: PLCM], and Microsoft Corp. [Nasdaq: MSFT] today announced that the two companies are deepening their strategic relationship to deliver one of the broadest and most powerful sets of voice and video solutions for unified communications and collaboration. As part of Microsoft’s vision to broaden the availability of Microsoft RoundTable, Polycom has licensed the right to distribute RoundTable, effective April 13, 2009. The product, renamed the Polycom CX5000 Unified Conference Station, will be available through Polycom and its extensive channel network.

Read the full press release at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2009/mar09/03-30MSPolycomPR.mspx?rss_fdn=Press%20Releases, and see Polycom’s CX5000 page at http://www.polycom.com/products/voice/conferencing_solutions/microsoft_optimized_conferencing/cx5000.html

100,000 staffers to use online Exchange, SharePoint, OCS

jkruse — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 01:33:00 GMT

From ComputerWorld….

Microsoft Corp. officially launched its Business Productivity Online Suite outside of the U.S. today, headlined by a deal with GlaxoSmithKline PLC as its first major customer for the hosted communications software suite.

The London-based drug maker is migrating 100,000 employees from IBM's Lotus Notes to Microsoft's hosted suite, which includes Exchange for e-mail, SharePoint, Office Communications Online and Office Live Meeting, all managed from Microsoft's own data centers.

More at http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9128760

Microsoft, IBM Announce Inter-Domain Presence Federation

jkruse — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 05:39:08 GMT

News from VoiceCon San Francisco, over at No Jitter…

http://www.nojitter.com/blog/archives/2008/11/microsoft_ibm_a.html

Microsoft and Telstra strategic alliance

jkruse — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 07:40:34 GMT

You may have heard today’s announcement regarding the alliance between Microsoft and Telstra.

What does this mean for Unified Comms?

Hosted business applications: through Telstra's T Suite portal, it is contemplated that businesses will have access to Microsoft Online Services (e.g. Exchange, LiveMeeting), which will be hosted by Microsoft in the cloud and delivered as a subscription service.
Mobile services and devices: an all-in-one mobile email, calendar, contacts, web browser, business software and phone solution including security features, automatic software upgrades, support and data plan is envisaged. Advanced mobile phone fleet management and a new user-interface developed by Telstra giving users one-click access to their frequently used business applications on Windows Mobile phones is contemplated.
Unified Communications & VoIP: Integrating Telstra's premium hosted IP Telephony service (TIPT) with Microsoft Office applications, including Office Communicator, creating a set of solutions that makes it easier to control the way businesses communicate.

Read Telstra’s press release here, ZDNet’s coverage here, and Gizmodo’s thoughts here.

VoiceCon update

jkruse — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 00:16:33 GMT

We have made some huge announcements at VoiceCon over the last few days...

Microsoft and Aspect Form Global Strategic Alliance - Microsoft makes equity investment in Aspect to bring Microsoft’s unified communications and voice platform to contact centers worldwide - http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2008/mar08/03-18StandAloneContactCenterPR.mspx
Microsoft Brings Software-Powered Videoconferencing to Desktops Everywhere - As of today, Office Communications Server 2007 and Office Communicator 2007 now work with conferencing systems from Polycom and TANDBERG - http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2008/mar08/03-17VoiceCon08PR.mspx

And there have been some great articles around some of our announcements...

Microsoft calls $300 high-def cam videoconferencing for masses - Microsoft is working with Tandberg to deliver a $300 high-definition video camera by next year that it said will bring high-quality video conferencing to the masses - http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/031808-voicecon-microsoft-keynote.html?fsrc=rss-convergence
Aspect and Microsoft’s One-Two Punch - http://www.nojitter.com/blog/archives/2008/03/aspect_and_micr_1.html
Microsoft Boosts Unified Communications With Videoconferencing Links - http://www.informationweek.com/management/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=206904391
Lab Test: Microsoft OCS 2007--Voice Communication for the Next Generation? - http://www.nojitter.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=205602869&pgno=1&queryText=

Also check out Gurdeep's keynote (click the image below)...

And if you're interested in catching up with what else is going on at VoiceCon, they have a bunch of podcasts available.

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