Office Communications Server

Office Communicator 2007 is the client application for real-time (synchronous) communications. It is the user's primary tool for presence and directory information, instant messaging, plus telephone calls, and audio- and videoconferencing.

Its intuitive design makes it easy for users to communicate with features like click-to-call and the ability to shift conversations from instant messages to phone or videoconferences on the fly.

Plus, it helps users control incoming communications with alerts, automatic call forwarding and the ability to manually set their status light. Users can set their status to busy when they need to focus, and Office Communicator 2007 routes all incoming calls to voice mail.

Office Communicator 2007 also integrates the entire communications experience into the Microsoft Office system and beyond. Presence information appears wherever a contact's name appears: in a document workspace, on a Microsoft Office SharePoint Server site, or in an e-mail string. With Office Communicator Mobile 2007, users can have tools like presence and click-to-call on their Windows Mobile-powered devices.

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 manages all asynchronous communications and delivers unified messaging (e-mail, voice mail, faxes, and calendaring) to users' Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 inboxes.

The 2007 release includes a new voice attendant so that users can dial in to access everything in their inboxes. Users can hear and act on their calendars, listen to e-mail messages and voice mail messages, manage their personal contacts, or call anyone listed in the company directory.

Exchange Server 2007 also includes Microsoft Office Outlook Web Access, a powerful Web mail client that helps users stay connected when they are on the road. Users can also access a rich Outlook experience on their Windows Mobile-powered devices.

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Microsoft Office 2007

Microsoft Office 2007 is designed to take full advantage of Microsoft unified communications technologies. Presence technology appears throughout the Office system, from Document Workspaces inside Word 2007, Excel 2007, and PowerPoint 2007 to team sites and My Sites on SharePoint Server 2007.

Because every person who works on a file stays associated with it, presence technology can provide multiple channels for communication. If you're working on a shared budget in Excel 2007, you can launch an instant message conversation with one or all of the budget owners with a few clicks. Users can escalate the conversation to a phone call, audio or video conference at any point.

When businesses deploy Microsoft unified communications technologies, they don't just add a stand alone solution. They transform the entire Microsoft Office experience.

Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Speech Server

Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Speech Server is a comprehensive IVR platform for powerful speech-enabled self-service applications. The platform consists of a server with built-in speech recognition and speech synthesis software that can be used for speech-based solutions, plus a most comprehensive speech application toolkit available in the industry.

Speech Server is an open, software-only platform that supports .NET programming languages and voice Web standards like VoiceXML and SALT, and it leverages Visual Studio 2005, which is familiar to one of the largest developer communities in the world.

It is based on the Microsoft future-ready VoIP foundation that supports the convergence of the data and telephony worlds. Part of the strong Microsoft unified communications portfolio of products, this security-enhanced, scalable, robust, and proven platform is widely deployed across many leading enterprises that span many different applications.

Speech Server is the only platform that does not charge a premium for deploying speech technology, significantly lowering the barrier to entry for organizations that want to use speech technology in their business solutions. It offers an unparalleled return on investment through its comprehensive tool sets and low entry costs to get started. Based on the .NET platform, Speech Server applications easily integrate with various back ends using ADO.NET or Web Services.

Speech Server takes advantage of the existing Windows operations, administration, and management infrastructure, making it an ideal choice for organizations that have existing Microsoft server assets. For organizations that do not already own other Microsoft server assets, Speech Server comes with easy-to-use tools that lower the total cost of ownership. Speech Server also includes powerful reporting and business analytics tools that can give clear insight into how your solutions are performing and where to drive process improvements.

State of the art Microsoft speech technology enables you to create powerful business solutions that lead to cost savings and increased customer satisfaction and retention through better service to your customers and increased call center productivity. Innovative technology like Conversational Understanding increases speech application robustness by dealing with incorrect phrases, hesitation from callers, or even understanding when callers are correcting themselves.

Speech technology is becoming more widely adopted by enterprises, and is being used for both for inbound as well as outbound solutions in both call centers or in-house applications.

On top of all this, the rich Microsoft partner ecosystem for unified communications can help you get started today!