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In a few past presentations I've noted that from a network manager's perspective, VoIP is wonderful because when there is a network problem, nobody can call you and complain. Richard Stastny found the perfect comic and posted it to his VoIP and ENUM blog.
Source: www.commissionedcomic.com
Network World has published an analysis of Microsoft's move into the VoIP/Unified Communications space featuring comments from numerous analysts and observers including myself.
I've posted my thoughts on today's Microsoft Unified Communications announcements to VoIP Loop. Several other VoIP Loop bloggers have chimed as well with some interesting thoughts and analysis.
Thank you Andy Abramson for several links back to my blog and the kind words.
If Andy's VoIP Watch blog isn't on your blogroll, it should be.
Peter O'Kelly blogged about a Microsoft Press Release this morning announcing a collaborative agreement between Microsoft and Siemens to tightly integrate Siemens' communications platforms such as the HiPath 8000 into the new Microsoft communications portfolio.
Siemens has always been out in front of the market in delivering solutions that embrace and extend Microsoft's own communications offerings. Examples include HiPath OpenScape, which sits on top of Microsoft Live Communications Server to deliver enhanced presence and communications integration capabilities.
But with the announcement that Siemens is selling off its enterprise communications business (and rumors of a 3-way joint venture with Nortel & Avaya), one has to wonder if Microsoft will be a contender for ownership of the Siemens enterprise business.
It's quite obvious the battle over the enterprise communications space is now the desktop. With Microsoft's announcements today they are firmly committed to delivering the platforms necessary to evolve Microsoft Office into a front-end for enterprise communications and collaboration services.
Now, IBM is moving to follow the same path, but instead use Microsoft's Office environment as a front-end to Sametime and other IBM communications services.
The enterprise communications landscape got a whole lot more interesting (and complicated) today.
Microsoft is making a major move into the enterprise IP telephony space. The official announcement comes at 9:30 PDT, but the press release is already available.
In addition, both the Wall Street Journal (account required) and the New York Times have covered the story (with the WSJ quoting my colleague Peter O'Kelly).
My take on the announcement should be posted on VoIP Loop at some point this morning, suffice to say the enterprise IP telephony market has just undergone a major transformation.
It's often said that the real power of the Internet is that it empowers individuals.
The other day while on my way out the door to head to the office I dropped my Treo 650 on the driveway, shattering the touch screen as if someone had dropped a rock directly on top of it. The phone still worked, but the touch screen was shot.
After about 20 minutes of reviewing posts on the discussion board at Treo Central I realized that this was a pretty easy do-it-yourself repair. I bought a brand new replacement screen on eBay for $49.95 (plus shipping), which was about half what the on-line parts stores charged and with a little help from a video on YouTube set out to make the repair. 15 minutes later I had a fully functional Treo 650 again.
Total elapsed time, three days. Total cost, $65 including a Torx driver. And, I had a working phone the entire time (even though the touch screen no longer worked). The other alternatives involved buying a used Treo on eBay for around $200, or sending it off for repair for $150 plus no phone for days.
Thank you Vint Cerf, Bob Metcalf and all the other pioneers who saved me a lot of time and money today.
Big changes at Siemens. On the heels of the announcement that Siemens is entering a joint venture with Nokia that will include Siemen's carrier group, Siemens has also announced plans to sell off its enterprise telecommunications business, thus existing the enterprise network/voip space. According to the link above, the announcement of a sale is imminent, with speculation raging around Nortel, NEC, and Avaya as potential suitors. I'll reserve comment until an announcement is made.
I have an article entitled "Integrating Telephony, IM, Video And Mobility with Presence" in the current issue of Business Communications Review The article covers emergence of real-time communications dashboards and review numerous products in the space.
Here's a PDF copy
