CUCM

Connecting Cisco to Microsoft OCS

According to a recent Gartner Magic Quadrant report for Unified Communications, Microsoft, Cisco, and Nortel are the industry leaders in terms of both innovation and the ability to actually deliver that innovation to customers. Nortel and Microsoft have an intimate partnership through their ICA (Innovative Communications Alliance) relationship with Microsoft, and they work very closely together to ensure seamless interoperability of their unified communications products.

Cisco is another story. At one point Microsoft and Cisco made a very public showing of burying the proverbial hatchet and vowing to cooperate in the best interests of corporate customers and unified communications in general. That cooperation lasted right up until they started rolling out products at which time the mud-slinging began. Each declared their approach and solution superior and slammed the other.

Whether they want to admit it or not though, they are sort of forced to play nicely together (sort of like the nerd and the playground bully while the teacher is actually monitoring recess activities). Cisco is a dominant player in network infrastructure and VoIP communications. Microsoft has a virtual monopoly on the PC desktop and a significant share of the enterprise server market. There is a high probability that a prospective customer is already using Cisco networking in conjunction with  their Microsoft Windows network, so that prospective customer may very well wish to continue that balance as they move forward into unified communications.

Thankfully for the prospective customer, Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) does integrate with the Microsoft Office Communications Server environment. It isn’t always pretty, but it works. Mike Stacy, a Director with Evangelyze Communications, provides an illustrated step-by-step guide to configuring direct SIP connectivity between the Cisco and Microsoft communications products.

Cisco Patches CUCM Security Flaw

Cisco is preparing to launch the next release of their Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) product - CUCM 7.0. But, last week they released an update for the current CUCM release. Actually, they released a total of 12 security updates or patches, but 11 of them deal with Cisco’s IOS and only 1 of them is related to CUCM.

The CUCM threats have been rated by Secunia as ‘moderately critical’. Vulnerable systems may be exposed to denial-of-service (DoS) attacks from a successful exploit. You can get more information from the Cisco Security Advisory and download the appropriate updates directly from Cisco.

Video Conference Via SmartPhone

Throw away your excuses. You won’t be missing any more meetings. As long as you have your mobile phone, you will only be a click away. CallWave is rolling out the Beta version of FUZE which, according to a Network World article, “delivers high-definition synchronized video, document collaboration and audioconferencing from any Web browser-, 3G- or Wi-Fi-enabled device.”

That sounds pretty impressive. What is more impressive is that CallWave has also integrated this application with Microsoft Office Communications Server (OCS) 2007, enabling expanded unified communications functionality including the ability to invite / add users to a meeting with a simple click of the mouse. FUZE also works with the Cisco Unified Communication Manager (CUCM) IP PBX. In addition, CallWave has announced imminent support for the Apple iPhone, as well as support coming soon for Avaya, Mitel, Nortel, and other IP PBX platforms.

Cisco Buys Jabber

With the speed of computers and networks today, email is virtually instant. But, many corporations consider instant messaging to be a valuable complement to email communications and a vital component of efficient communications. When 10 seconds is just too long to wait for an email to be delivered, you can rely on instant messaging to get your message there even faster.

When instant messaging first emerged, it was primarily consumer oriented and handicapped by its own proprietary nature. AOL users could only communicate with AOL users. ICQ users could only communicate with ICQ users. Etc. Jabber came onto the scene as one of the first products to legitimize instant messaging for corporate use. Jabber enabled companies to house the instant messaging server on the internal network where they could monitor, maintain, log, and secure the communications. It also provided cross-platform support, allowing users of Jabber to communicate with AOL, ICQ, Yahoo, and other instant messaging platforms.

I used Jabber at a former employer. It seemed like a solid and functional tool and I liked the ability to communicate with disparate instant messaging systems. Cisco apparently has seen the value in Jabber as well. They are purchasing the instant messaging company to add the functionality and capabilities to their line of unified communications products. You can learn more from this Information Week article.