By some estimations, a new era in the IP communications age will start next Tuesday when Microsoft (News - Alert) officially launches Office Communications Server 2007. There’s been buzz surrounding the new software, and its companion Office Communicator 2007 messaging client, for months now. With the launch now imminent, the excitement is palpable.
What exactly is Office Communications Server 2007 (OCS 2007)? That seems like a good question to answer as the software’s launch approaches. Microsoft defines the product as a solution that “delivers streamlined communications for your users so they can find and communicate with the right person, right now, from the applications they use most.”
That is a somewhat vague definition, or maybe it’s just broad without talking about the technology under the hood. One could say, without too much opposition, that OCS 2007 represents Microsoft’s push into the IP communications market—which includes unified communications,VoIP , and messaging.
OCS 2007, as TMCnet blogger Tom Keating (News - Alert) pointed out in a June 26 post, “uses Session Initiation Protocol (News - Alert) (SIP) standards-based protocol to enable presence-based VoIP call management, as well as VoIP communication.” In his post, Keating also noted that Microsoft is marketing OCS 2007 to the enterprise (big business) market.
Readers of this article probably are familiar with the term ‘presence,’ which Keating referenced in his post. Just in case, though, ‘presence’ in the communications market refers to technology that lets users see the status of other users—something along the lines of an instant messaging client “buddy list” that shows if a person is ‘available’ or ‘away,’ but more advanced in its functionality and applications.
Unified communication, another term that doesn’t always have a clear definition, generally is understood to include the concept of presence as a way to make communications more efficient and useful. For the most part, OCS 2007 is being talked about as a unified communications product, as well it should, although some analysts (like Keating) are also looking at its impact on the VoIP market.
Wikipedia describes OCS 2007 as the latest incarnation of Live Communications Server, specifying that the new solution is “an enterprise real-time communications server, providing instant messaging and collaboration functionality. It is originally a spin-off from the then new feature in Exchange Server 2000.”
The Wikipedia entry for OCS 2007 goes on to specify that the main use of the solution is “instant messaging within a single network, including presence information, application sharing, file transfer and voice and video communication.” Further, the entry points out that Office Communicator is now being promoted by Microsoft as the recommended messaging client.
In his June blog post, Keating described Communicator 2007 as a unified communications client that work in conjunction with OCS 2007.
“This solution delivers a presence-based, enterprise VoIP “softphone” for secure, enterprise-grade instant messaging that allows for intercompany federation and connectivity to public instant messaging networks such as MSN,AOL ( News - Alert) and Yahoo!,” Keating said.
So there you have it—OCS 2007 touches on presence messaging, UC, VoIP and various other aspects of IP-based communications. Its full impact is yet to be fully understood, but the response of companies like NEC and Unisys, partnering on or developing forward-thinking UC strategies, provides an indication of how significant Microsoft’s new product is perceived to be.
Stay tuned.
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