Southwest Unified Now : industry perspective

What is Software + Services? in Plain English

Chandler Bootchk — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 00:59:00 GMT

This is not your typical Unified Communications content, but I do like the simplicity of this video I came across. Enjoy…

Gartner’s MQ for Corporate Telephony sparks industry buzz

Chandler Bootchk — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 22:32:41 GMT

Last week Gartner published its Magic Quadrant for Corporate Telephony, 2008. For the first time, this report includes Microsoft in addition to the traditional PBX vendors. By affirming OCS 2007 as a viable telephony solution—at least for nomadic or highly collaborative users—in large enterprises, Gartner is deliberately signaling the shift from hardware-bound to software-powered voice. Microsoft’s debut in this report has sparked commentary by other industry observers:

· Marty Parker of UniComm Consulting blogged on both UC Strategies.com and NoJitter.com (formerly Business Communications Review), alluding to Clayton Christensen’s The Innovator’s Dilemma in his analysis of Microsoft’s entry into enterprise telephony:

“…disruptive technologies are always seen as ‘not sufficient’ to meet the established industry standard. But since the new entrants enable new approaches and address un-served markets, the disrupters carve out an ever-expanding niche, until they are the new leaders. Now, we see Microsoft in exactly that position in the Gartner MQ for Corporate Telephony.”
“I’ve argued before that Microsoft does not want to win as a leader in the PBX market, they want to win as a leader in the ‘communications’ market, where their software can make major improvements in business operations, not just simply replace a phone.”

· At Information Week Erik Krapf also noted Gartner’s UC-centric stance by stating that change is part of the very nature of corporate telephony. “The bottom line is that corporate telephony always has evolved,” he writes, “and its continued evolution will take it in the direction of Unified Communications.”

· Brian Riggs of NoJitter.com takes issue with the assertion, by some commenters, that OCS lacks basic telephony capabilities:

“Last time I checked the Office Communications Server documentation, basic core telephony were in no way lacking from the software. Though typically deployed as an adjunct to a PBX, OCS can just as easily be set up as a standalone voice platform. The problem is not that Microsoft’s unified communications solution lacks the most basic core telephony functions. The problem is that basic telephony functions are all that OCS can presently provide, at least when it comes to voice features. I fully expect this to change going forward … and, frankly, so should you.”

Many analyst firms, including Gartner, have emphasized that today’s telephony purchasing decisions should only be made in the context of a UC strategy. You already know Microsoft as a leader in the broader, more strategic category of unified communications. Now Gartner wants you to know Microsoft as a visionary in corporate telephony, too.

Many of our customers are finding OCS and Office Communicator easily meet the telephony needs of their mobile and nomadic workers, while laying a foundation for unified communications across the enterprise.

Southwest Unified Now Radio: EPISODE #4

Chandler Bootchk — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 01:00:00 GMT

Content

Return from vacation and business travel
New Plantronics Devices
Gartner's Magic Quandrant for Corporate Telephony
Virtualization Support for Exchange
Interview: "Ben Hur" from LG Nortel
TNG: Exchange 2007 & IPv6 and OCS 2007 Audio Conferencing

LISTEN HERE WITH SILVERLIGHT:

Show Links

Microsoft Makes the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Corporate Telephony
http://www.nojitter.com/blog/archives/2008/08/microsoft_makes_1.html

Microsoft Virtualization and Licensing Announcements
http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2008/08/19/449621.aspx

Plantronics Devices
Audio 615: http://www.plantronics.com/MicrosoftUCLaunch/product_detail_audio615m.jhtml
Audio 630: http://www.plantronics.com/MicrosoftUCLaunch/product_detail_audio630m.jhtml

LG Nortel
http://www.lg-nortel.com/
Microsoft UC Devices: http://www.lg-nortel.com:8140/jsp/lgnortel/global/global.product.retrieveProduct.laf?mid=2&openId=1&sid=4&level=2&ca_id1=20040&ca_id2=20052

Exchange and IPv6
IPv6 in Windows Server 2008 cannot be uninstalled. However, we can disable IPv6 in Windows Server 2008 by doing one of the following:

• In the Network Connections folder, obtain properties on all of your connections and adapters and clear the check box next to the Internet Protocol version 6 (TCP/IPv6) component in the list under This connection uses the following items.

This method disables IPv6 on your LAN interfaces and connections, but does not disable IPv6 on tunnel interfaces or the IPv6 loopback interface.

• Add the following registry value (DWORD type) set to 0xFF:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip6\Parameters\DisabledComponents

This method disables IPv6 on all your LAN interfaces, connections, and tunnel interfaces but does not disable the IPv6 loopback interface. You must restart the computer for this registry value to take effect.

But no where it is mentioned that if we disable IPV6 then we will not be able to install E2k7 SP1. Also we are able to reproduce the issue i.e. if we disable IPV6 from the Network Adapter properties then the E2k7 SP1 installation fails on the Hub Transport Role.

And if we disable IPV6 from registry following the second method we are able to install E2k7 SP1, but it is not documented anywhere.

Zoom H2 Handy Recorder
http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=1916&brandID=4

The Flip Video
http://www.theflip.com/

Jim Burton took the words right out of my mouth

Chandler Bootchk — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 03:53:00 GMT

Obviously, this article is favorable to our position in the industry, but the fact is, this is the approach we are offering customers; an incredible development platform in .Net and a long history of enabling customers and partners with powerful software solutions. Take a gander...

UC: It's Not About Buying a New IP-PBX

Posted by Jim Burton, CT-Link/UCStrategies | Aug 8, 2008

I've observed lots of discussions about Unified Communications on the web this summer, and am convinced that the reason this dialogue continues after several years comes down to one thing: Positioning. To be perceived as thought leaders in the UC space, some consultants and analysts are providing revised, updated or alternative definitions of UC in an effort to appear as leaders of the UC parade.

Meanwhile, the vendors do what they always do--(more)