Microsoft demonstrated its integrated communications client, Microsoft Office Communicator 2005.
Microsoft also announced updates to the award-winning Microsoft Office Live Communications Server (LCS) 2005. These include a service pack (SP) and public instant-messaging (IM) connectivity (PIC) that together deliver enterprise-grade connectivity from an LCS enterprise to the MSN, AOL and Yahoo! public IM networks. Microsoft executives demonstrated Communicator and LCS 2005 during a global Web conference event.
According to PC World,
“Gates said that in the next version of Microsoft Office, ‘a big theme will be taking real-time capabilities and building them into Office in a bigger way.’ He added: ‘We think of collaboration in a very broad way,’ ranging from an individual using the OneNote note-taking application on a tablet PC, to software for training and other group activities.
Mark Burnett, creator and executive producer of The Apprentice, who spoke from Santa Monica along with Microsoft Information Worker Group vice president Jeff Raikes, said he could benefit from the real-time communications features of the Microsoft products to track his various productions in several countries. He added that in the fourth season of The Apprentice, one of the tasks assigned to the competitors would involve Microsoft. Communicator and the Live Communications Server 2005 SP are slated to ship by midyear. Pricing will be announced at a later date. The 2005 upgrade for Live Meeting is due to become available to customers starting at the end of this week.”
“Communicator and Live Communications Server demonstrate how we are bringing integrated communications to life for our customers as rich presence and multimodal communications become an integrated part of the Microsoft Office System,” said Jeff Raikes, group vice president of the Information Worker Group at Microsoft. “Users now can view rich presence information for colleagues, partners and customers; select the most efficient mode of communication, whether it’s IM, a phone call, a Web conference or e-mail; and instantly share ideas and information.”
“With LCS and Communicator, organizations have a safe, easy way to IM and share presence information with colleagues, partners and customers,” said Gurdeep Singh Pall, corporate vice president of the Live Communications Team in the Real-Time Collaboration Group at Microsoft. “With the reach that PIC and enhanced federation provide, enterprise IM becomes a first-class business tool — as useful and ubiquitous as e-mail.”
Murdok | Breaking eBusiness News
Your source for investigative ebusiness reporting and breaking news.
