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Posted:=20
5/10/2007 | By: Adam Turner
Unified Communications guide Part 4: Only for big business?
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Unified Communications sounds like an exciting prospect for large = corporates,=20 but you don't have to be a heavy hitter to enjoy its benefits.
Many Unified Communications features are set to available as part of = hosted=20 services targeted at small to medium businesses, says Oscar Trimboli - = Director=20 of Microsoft's Unified Communications group in Australia.
Microsoft is working with telco Telstra, as well as hosting providers = WebCentral and Emantra, to provide hosted Unified Communications = offerings,=20 Trimboli says.
"Unified Communications is a bit pointless if only a small segment of = enterprise organisations get the benefit of it. It needs to be broadly = adopted=20 and that's why we've been putting these building blocks in place with = the=20 partners like Telstra, WebCentral and Emantra for a good couple of = years," he=20 says.
The upcoming release of Microsoft's Office Communication Server = (OCS)
2007 will further unify voice and data communications, says Emantra = managing=20 director Ross Dewar.
"Microsoft has paid a lot of attention to making this new technology = work=20 with legacy phone systems and to understanding exactly how real users = work,"=20 Dewar says.
"For example, with OCS 2007 a simple phone call can become a = conference call=20 or a video conference on the fly. Voice-mail and faxes move over the = network=20 like email and will arrive in the Microsoft Office Outlook
2007 inbox where users can sort, prioritise, and forward them, just = like any=20 piece of email. Users on the road can dial in over any telephone to hear = their=20 emails and appointments."
Dewar sees strong potential for pay-by-the-month managed services = around OCS=20 in combination with Emantra's existing Hosted Exchange 2007, Windows = Sharepoint=20 3.0 and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 services.
"Smaller companies will like the hosted model because the traditional = ownership and operation of this new technology may well be out of their=20 technical and financial reach. Larger corporate and government entities = will be=20 attracted because of the speed in which the hosted model can be = implemented, as=20 well as the reduced distractions and risk of having the service = externally=20 managed. Even very large organisations will look at utilising a hosted = model to=20 prove the concept before making a major investment in an in-house = capability,"=20 he says.
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