Microsoft Launches New Real-Time Communications Tools
Bill Gates presides over multi-city demos, including Communicator desktop client with universal instant messaging support.Yardena Arar, PC World
Bill Gates, several of his top lieutenants, and the producer and some cast members of the reality TV show The Apprentice joined forces Tuesday to launch three Microsoft real-time communications tools, including a desktop client called Communicator.
The event, with Gates in San Francisco and other participants conferenced in from Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York, included demos of Microsoft Office Communicator 2005, a Service Pack for Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2005, and an updated version of Microsoft Office Live Meeting.
Communicator 2005, the new desktop client for Live Communications Server 2005, integrates instant messaging (IM), telephony (including standard land-line, VoIP and mobile phone services), video, and other conferencing capabilities. When used with a Live Communications Server that has the Live Communications Server 2005 Service Pack installed, Communicator 2005 is also the first IM software from Microsoft that supports other popular IM services--specifically, America Online Instant Messenger and Yahoo Messenger.
Live Communications Server 2005, released in December, still supports Microsoft Windows Messenger 5.1, but Communicator now becomes the preferred desktop client. The Live Communications Server 2005 Service Pack unveiled today enables advanced features such as the ability to forward calls and initiate conference calls or Live Meeting Web conferences. The Live Communications Server 2005 Service Pack upgrade will be free for existing Live Communications Server 2005 customers and will be included in new sales of Live Communications Server 2005.
The new version of Live Meeting, Microsoft's Web conferencing service, makes it easier to initiate a meeting from other Office applications, such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Visio, Project, and Communicator. Live Meeting also includes new VoIP and presenter controls (such as an upgraded PowerPoint Viewer), plus tools for recording and replaying a meeting.
Major Initiative
Gates said Microsoft views real-time communications tools as key to reaching the company's overarching goal of allowing businesspeople access to information wherever and whenever they need it.
"We see the opportunity to do this as very, very dramatic," he told the San Francisco audience of several hundred customers, partners, Microsoft employees, and reporters.
He said the products would make it easier for colleagues to find each other (thanks to "presence" technology that makes others aware of your availability) and to communicate using existing Office applications. For example, Communicator allows you to perform keyword searches to identify individuals or groups of contacts. Communicator can also provide alerts based on a contact's status; for example, you can have the software notify you when a person becomes available for instant messaging.
Product Placement
Gates said that in the next version of Microsoft Office, "a big theme will be taking real-time capabilities and building them into Office in a bigger way." He added: "We think of collaboration in a very broad way," ranging from an individual using the OneNote note-taking application on a tablet PC, to software for training and other group activities.
Mark Burnett, creator and executive producer of The Apprentice, who spoke from Santa Monica along with Microsoft Information Worker Group vice president Jeff Raikes, said he could benefit from the real-time communications features of the Microsoft products to track his various productions in several countries. He added that in the fourth season of The Apprentice, one of the tasks assigned to the competitors would involve Microsoft. Communicator and the Live Communications Server 2005 SP are slated to ship by midyear. Pricing will be announced at a later date. The 2005 upgrade for Live Meeting is due to become available to customers starting at the end of this week.