Jun 30 2008 3:29AM GMT
Posted by: Tony Bradley
VoIP,
OCS 2007,
SIP,
Virtualization,
hyper-v,
new global telecom,
ngt,
Unified Communications,
UCC,
UC,
Microsoft
Microsoft has put a fair amount of marketing muscle into their Unified Communications offering. Many organizations are busy architecting, deploying, and implementing the various components- Exchange Server 2007, Office Communications Server 2007, the OCS 2007 Mediation Server, etc. The standard, supported configuration involves separate server hardware for most of the components, and an on-site PBX solution. Evangelyze Communications however, working with VoIP provider NGT (New Global Telecom) has built a fully functional Microsoft Unified Communications deployment running almost entirely virtualized in Hyper-V, and connected remotely to a hosted VoIP service. You can learn more from Mike Stacy’s blog: Hosted Gateway/SIP Trunk with OCS. The result is a Microsoft Unified Communications deployment with significant cost savings in terms of hardware and infrastructure.
Jun 5 2008 2:42PM GMT
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.
Jun 5 2008 2:33AM GMT
Posted by: Tony Bradley
VoIP,
UCC,
UC,
Unified Communications,
D-Link,
Syspine,
Quanta,
Aastra,
SIP,
Response Point,
Microsoft,
Allen Miller
Microsoft’s Response Point phone system will have a third hardware provider very soon. Quanta (Syspine) and D-Link have already been providing Response Point base units and phones, and now the long awaited Aastra phone system is nearly ready for prime time. The Microsoft Response Point system offers small and medium businesses many of the features and functions of larger enterprise-level unified communications voice solutions, in a cost-effective and exceptionally simple system. Aastra, aside from just being the third vendor on the block to offer Response Point equipment, is also the first to provide a cordless phone handset option that works with Response Point. Ohio-based consultant Allen Miller shows off some pictures of his beta system and talks a little about the Aastra equipment on his blog. Miller also talks in another post about his experience using the Aastra Response Point phones to conduct a call over VoIP while also loading his network down with additional activity. Overall, Miller gives the Aastra system high marks and says that his call was crystal clear even with the extra network traffic.
May 31 2008 1:28PM GMT
Posted by: Tony Bradley
Switches,
Unified Communications,
UCC,
UC,
Response Point,
Microsoft,
Cisco,
D-Link
D-Link, an established name in consumer wired and wireless networking, is targeting rival Cisco to deliver switching solutions for unified communications. D-Link is one of the primary partners with Microsoft for their Response Point communications package, a simple, cost-effective product for small and medium businesses (SMB) which provides many of the benefits of an enterprise unified communications implementation without the cost or complexity. D-Link plans to deliver a range of products aimed at providing unified communications for the SMB market, and they envision being able to achieve 50 percent profit margins in this hot, cutting edge arena.
May 31 2008 12:47PM GMT
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 31 2008 12:24PM GMT
Posted by: Tony Bradley
UCC,
UC,
Unified Communications,
Mike Stacy,
Evangelyze,
certificate,
OCS,
Office Communications Server 2007
Certificates are a key component of enabling communications between the various components of Microsoft UCC implementation. The OCS server maintains certificates with the various servers in order to facilitate secure communications. Having the certificates expire unexpectedly means losing communications unexpectedly, so admins need to be proactive about ensuring certificates are renewed or replaced before they expire. Mike Stacy, a Director at Evangelyze, discusses how to monitor OCS for certificate expiration.
May 22 2008 8:57PM GMT
Posted by: Tony Bradley
International Trade Commission,
ITC,
Alcatel-Lucent,
patent,
lawsuit,
UCC,
UC,
unified communication,
Microsoft
Microsoft is heavily invested in unified communications and they have developed a fair amount of proprietary tools and technologies- many of which they hold patents for. They filed a lawsuit against Alcatel-Lucent for infringing on 4 of their unified communications patents, and originally Alcatel-Lucent was found guilty of violating one of the four patents. This week the ITC overturned that ruling and found in favor of Alcatel-Lucent. This is following the April decision by the ITC in a related countersuit that found Microsoft guilty of violating two Alcatel-Lucent patents in which Microsoft was ordered to pay almost $370 million in damages. The war is not over though between these two. Maybe Microsoft should just buy Alcatel-Lucent and then there won’t be any further allegations of patent infringement?
May 12 2008 3:33PM GMT
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.
May 10 2008 12:38PM GMT
Posted by: Tony Bradley
Mobile,
BlackBerry,
UCC,
UC,
Unified Communications,
Office Commmunications Server,
OCS,
Microsoft
The Palm Pilot started the handheld PIM (Personal Information Manager) trend, but the RIM (Research In Motion) Blackberry handheld is the device that revolutionized information management by merging it with a mobile phone and incorporating enterprise email on the go. Unified communications seeks to bring that type of on-the-go communications to a whole new level, but the Blackberry was left sitting on the bench…until now. WebMessenger has introduced WebMessenger Mobile for Microsoft OCS, an application for Microsoft OCS which delivers some of the unified communications capabilities of OCS to the Blackberry handheld device. This first generation version essentially only provides IM and IM presence. WebMessenger is working with telecommunications switch vendors to incorporate presence on the phone side as well.
