Office Communications Server

Jun 5 2008   2:42PM GMT

Planning Capacity and Bandwidth for OCS 2007

Posted by: Tony Bradley
Director of Professional Services, Evangelyze, Mike Stacy, VoIP, Unified Communications, UCC, UC, OCS 2007, Office Communications Server, Microsoft, calculator, capacity, bandwidth

One of the most important factors in a successful VoIP or unified communications implementation is ensuring that adequate server processing horsepower and network bandwidth exist to handle the load. Streaming audio and video are less tolerant of latency and packet fragmentation, and the infrastructure has to be capable of meeting the demands of unified communications. Mike Stacy, Director of Professional Services for Evangelyze, has created an OCS Capacity and Bandwidth Calculator. The calculations to determine the number of users a given server can support, or the bandwidth capacity necessary for those users to use unified communications technologies are contained in an Excel spreadsheet which Stacy makes available for free.

May 31 2008   12:47PM GMT

Microsoft Brings UC to Mac

Posted by: Tony Bradley
OCS, Mac Messenger 7.0, Unified Communications, UCC, UC, Mac, Microsoft, Evangelyze, Office Communications Server 2007, Joe Schurman, OCS 2007, Office Communications Server

If you are a Mac user, as an ever-increasing percentage of you seem to be, you may be feeling left out of the unified communications revolution. As Microsoft, Cisco, Avaya, IBM, and a host of smaller players all vie to establish their share of the UC pie, the Mac operating system has been largely ignored. According to Evangelyze Founder and Executive Director Joe Schurman, Microsoft has changed that with the introduction of Mac Messenger 7.0. This initial step at integrating Macs with Office Communications Server 2007 does not include Live Meeting or enterprise voice support, but it does enable Mac users to benefit from video, audio, presence, and instant messaging with other users in an OCS 2007 / UCC infrastructure.

May 12 2008   3:33PM GMT

OCS 2007 R2

Posted by: Tony Bradley
Unified Communications, UCC, release, update, Q4, R2, Office Communications Server, OCS 2009, OCS 2007, Microsoft

There is a rumor in the blogosphere that Microsoft may release an update to Office Communications Server 2007 this fall. The next major release of Office Communications Server is expected to be OCS 2009. However, according to at least one blog, Microsoft may release OCS 2007 R2 in Q4 of this year to update OCS 2007. As quickly as the unified communications landscape changes, an R2 of OCS 2007 would make sense. There are a variety of features and functions that customers want and need, and if Microsoft makes them wait until 2009 or later for the next major OCS release, those customers might invest in alternative solutions that meet their needs now. There is no confirmation of the rumor from Microsoft, and no details currently available regarding what updates or features might be included in R2.