Microsoft Showcases Integrated Communications Vision and Unveils New Microsoft Office Real-Time Collaboration Offerings
Integration of Rich Presence and Real-Time Capabilities Into Microsoft Office System Improves Individual and Team Collaboration, Helps Businesses Make Better Decisions More Quickly
MISSISSAUGA, ON - March 8, 2005 - Today, in an national Web conference and launch event, Microsoft Canada Co. outlined the company's vision for Integrated Communications. Integrated Communications is a key component of Microsoft's overall collaboration strategy to provide software and services that deliver pervasive capabilities, enabling people to work together more effectively. Microsoft executives also demonstrated new versions of Microsoft Office real-time collaboration offerings.
The goal of integrated communications is to help information workers easily and effectively communicate with colleagues, customers and partners in real time. Microsoft will deliver on integrated communications by building presence awareness into all its software applications, integrating various modes of communication (e-mail, phone, instant messaging (IM), short message service (SMS), videoconferencing and Web conferencing) to allow seamless transition from one mode to another, and delivering intelligent software that can manage communications with the context of a person's availability and preferences.
"By using Microsoft real-time collaboration solutions, we are making important enhancements to how we communicate with internal teams as well as external stakeholders," said Doug Michaelides, Senior Vice President Marketing, Allstream. "The benefits these products deliver to our business are quite substantial, providing us with an innovative way of driving productivity and efficiencies. More importantly, we have developed the first hosted Live Communications Server 2005 solution and collaborative suite based on Microsoft's real-time collaboration technology to make this value widely available to our customers."
Integrated communications solutions will deliver functionality such as the following:
| • | Rich presence. With presence awareness built into Microsoft software, information workers can view the context and availability of a person before initiating communication with her or him. |
| • | Unified experience. Integration among modes of real-time communication (e-mail, phone, IM, SMS, videoconferencing and Web conferencing) allows information workers to choose the most appropriate mode of communication based on the situation at hand, and enables them to seamlessly transition from one mode to another or use them together. |
| • | Built-in intelligence. With integrated communications, software can automatically handle communications based on knowledge of people's preferences, physical location, organizational relationship and topic of communication. Software intelligence allows users to control how incoming communications are routed to them based on their context and preferences, and who is calling. |
"Better collaboration tools can help Canadian organizations work with customers and partners more effectively, make informed business decisions faster, and ensure long-term profitability and growth," said Greg Saint James, International Director, Real-Time Collaboration Business Group, Microsoft Corp. "By providing Canadian organizations with access to unified communications solutions, we are enabling Canadian businesses to break down information silos to improve information flow and knowledge sharing."
Microsoft Announces New Microsoft Office Real-Time Collaboration Offerings
As part of today's event, Microsoft introduced and demonstrated new Microsoft Office System real-time collaboration products and services that begin to significantly deliver on the company's integrated communications vision, including these:
| • | Microsoft Office Communicator 2005 (previously code-named "Istanbul") is the new integrated communications application, and is the best client for Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2005. Communicator provides rich presence and unifies real-time communications modes - such as IM, voice, video and access to voiceconferencing and Web conferencing - into a single application. It also enables PC-to-phone integration. |
| • | Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2005 Service Pack is an update to Microsoft's award-winning real-time communications platform. The service pack includes support for Communicator, enhanced "spim" (spam over IM) controls, and enterprise-grade connectivity from an LCS enterprise to the MSN®, AOL and Yahoo! public IM networks. Live Communications Server provides enterprise IM and an enterprisewide presence engine. |
| • | Microsoft Office Live Meeting 2005, a major update to Microsoft's popular Web conferencing service, helps users conduct effective online meetings and collaborative sessions without having to be in the same place at the same time. Key enhancements include the industry's first integrated conference call controls for leading audioconferencing service providers, the ability to have a Live Meeting session from Office applications, and availability in seven new language versions. |
"Canadian companies have expressed significant interest in simplifying IT infrastructures, reducing information overload challenges, and creating a more flexible way to work with colleagues, customers and partners using real-time collaboration technology," said Aisha Umar, Director of Unified Communications, Microsoft Canada Co. "With Microsoft Integrated Communications, Canadian organizations of all sizes can efficiently and cost-effectively collaborate and share information in real-time."
Launch Promotion
Through the delivery of technologies such as Live Communications Server, Communicator, and Live Meeting, Microsoft is delivering on its Integrated Communications vision. Customers who qualify for Select and Enterprise Agreement programs will have an opportunity to save by purchasing these solutions at a discount through a promotional bundle being offered between now and June 30, 2005. This promotion gives IT managers an extensible standards-based platform for all enterprise real-time communications that integrates with back-end and desktop systems. For more details go to www.microsoft.ca/collaboration or contact your local Microsoft sales representative.
About Microsoft Canada Co.
Established in 1985, Microsoft Canada Co. is the Canadian subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation (Nasdaq "MSFT") the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. Microsoft Canada provides nationwide sales, marketing, consulting and local support services in both French and English. Headquartered in Mississauga, Microsoft Canada has 10 regional offices across the country dedicated to empowering people through great software - any time, any place and on any device. Visit Microsoft Canada's web site at www.microsoft.ca
About Allstream
Allstream is a leading communication solutions provider with a world-class portfolio of Connectivity, Managed Services and Professional Services. Focused on the business market, Allstream collaborates with customers to create tailored solutions that meet their unique needs and help them compete more effectively. Allstream is a division of Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. (MTS), Canada's third largest communications provider with 7,000 dedicated employees focused on delivering outstanding value to its customers. MTS has an extensive broadband fibre-optic network spanning more than 24,300 kilometres, and provides international connections through strategic partnerships and interconnection agreements with other international service providers. MTS's shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (trading symbol: MBT). For more information, please visit: www.mts.ca and www.allstream.com
©2005 Microsoft Corporation.
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