The long awaited launch of Microsoft’s unified communications software platform will usher in a new era of business communication, free of phone tag, voice mail hell and asynchronous e-mail pileup in favor of real-time click-to-communicate experience within familiar Office and business applications, company chairman Bill Gates said.
That’s the theory, anyway.
On stage for what will be one of his last product rollouts, chairman Gates announced availability of Office Communications Server 2007, Office Communicator 2007 client, Microsoft Office Live Meeting advanced conferencing services and Microsoft RoundTable, a camera –enabled videoconferencing platform that provides an immersive experience: a panoramic view of meeting participants in a room, live video of remote participants, who collaborate real-time on documents and within business applications.
Gates and Jeff Raikes, a 26-year Microsoft employee and president of Microsoft’s Business Division, pointed to identity and presence as two foundational services in Office Communications Server 2007 that allows for seamless interactive communications among iWorkers.
For instance, the server gives a busy CEO a quick way to schedule communications and select appropriate method for each meeting, while a group of iWorkers harness identity, presence and VoIP services along with Office Live Meeting and RoundTable to meet in real-time online and together view and resolve an inventory glitch within an ERP application. Microsoft SharePoint Server 2007 is already enabled for the task.
As part of the rollout, Microsoft also announced plans to integrate its next version of Dynamics ERP and Microsoft CRM with Office Communications Server (OCS) 2007 while ISV partner SAP AG announced its intent to integrate Duet with OCS’ Voice-Over-IP, video, instant messaging, conferencing and presence services. Duet, jointly developed with Microsoft, exposes SAP business processes within Office.
Gates called the platform’s delivery a significant milestone that will put an end to the PBX era, much the way the PC replaced the mainframe and word processors replaced typewriters.
“Software is being brought to the business phone experience,” Gates said, chiding the ineffectiveness and user unfriendliness of business telephones. "Consider the business phone in your office. It still looks pretty much the same, with a fairly small display. They do have a lot of buttons and you look and say, ‘Wow I wonder who uses those buttons. It’s so opaque what’s going on so people don’t use the features there … it jumps out as the thing that needs to be changed.”
Surely, UC’s click to communicate features will no doubt make it easier for millions of Office users worldwide to integrate their data and communications and begin moving beyond their voice silos.
And it is a solid first step on the path to PC–telephony convergence, which has been a twinkle in Bill’s eye for more than a decade.
But it's only a first step. Even as the technology may save customers millions of dollars in communications and travel costs, implementing the software and training users will also cost.
Microsoft was wise to point out that it will take a village to make his dream come true. During today’s announcement, Microsoft identified systems integrators, telephony providers, ISVs and telephony vendors as essential members of its ecosystem.
Citing telephony giants Nortel Networks, Ericsson and Mitel Networks, Gates emphasized that the path to UC is an evolution and pointed out that his platform can be deployed alongside traditional PBX systems.
While pointing out that customers don't have to rip and replace their existing infrastructure to use Communications Server, Microsoft failed to address testing and training requirements for its new software.
When it comes to business communications, reliability always outstrips ease-of-use. Dropped calls, blue screens and mistaken identity won’t play well. In spite of the increase in dropped calls over cellular networks, and less-than-ideal directory services proferred by carriers, UC must prove itself rock solid reliable or corporate users will hang up in a hurry. Ensuring this quality of service through extensive testing will cost customers but is well worth the investment.
Investing in technology training -- and corporate training -- must also be considered. It may not be necessary to invoke a quick telephone call from Outlook but giving iWorkers the confidence to exploit advanced communications services within the context of a CRM application will be even more difficult than asking them to transfer a phone call.
Gates maintains that business workers are mystified by the numerous buttons on a telephone keypad, but I would submit that the same is true of Word and Excel, which are very feature rich, and perhaps user friendly, but fall under the 80:20 rule that governs software use – that users typically employ fewer than 20 percent of all product features.
Corporate training is another investment to consider. We've all heard of inappropriate text finding its way into an IM. Who wants to find themselves in the electronic presence of an angry CEO who's just been woken up by your wayward IM. RoundTable technology is here today but i Workers won't likely take to it unless they are trained how to use it.
