Microsoft Voice and Unified Communications

Microsoft's vision of voice products and services for consumer, small/medium businesses, and enterprise organizations including a foreword by Gurdeep Singh Pall, Microsoft Corporate Vice President, Unified Communications Group, and commentary by Xuedong Huang, General Manager of the Microsoft Research Communications Innovation Center.
* Technical guidance and information related to Microsoft Windows Live, Microsoft Response Point, and the Microsoft Unified Communications platform, including the newly released Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2.
* Sales guidance for selling Microsoft voice solutions in the SMB and Enterprise markets.
* Examples of customized Microsoft voice and unified communications applications.
* Overview of Microsoft voice and unified communications security.
* Latest Microsoft voice and unified communications research and development.
* Understanding of voice, unified communications, and telephony concepts and terms as well as the history and evolution of communications technology.

Foreword
xiii
Preface
xv
Acknowledgments
xvii
About the Author
xx
Chapter 1: The Communications Renaissance
1
Telephony Revolution
1
Telephony Evolution
5
SIP'ing VoIP
8
The Presence of SIP
10
The Battle for Voice Quality
12
Voice Protocols and Codecs
15
Securing Voice Communications
16
The Microsoft Vision of Software-Powered Voice
17
Chapter 2: Consumer Voice Communications with Windows Live
19
Setting Up a Windows Live Messenger Account
21
Signing Up for VoIP Service
23
Adding Contacts
25
Communicating with a Contact
27
Collaborating Using Microsoft Messenger for Mac
32
Windows Live Call Voice Architecture
35
Chapter 3: Small Business Voice Communications with Microsoft Response Point
37
Microsoft Response Point Hardware
38
D-Link VoiceCenter
39
Syspine Digital Operator Phone System
42
Aastra AastraLink RP
44
Microsoft Response Point Software
48
Microsoft Response Point Base Unit Software
48
Microsoft Response Point Administrator
50
Microsoft Response Point Assistant
51
Microsoft Response Point Internet Telephony Service Providers
54
Innovative Microsoft Response Point Features
56
Response Point and Small Business Server Integration
60
The Gateway to Voice and Unified Communications
62
Quintum Response Point Gateways
62
Evangelyze Communications SmartVoIP
63
Experiencing Voice with Microsoft Response Point
64
Step 1--Purchase a Response Point System
64
Step 2--Configure Microsoft Response Point Hardware
65
Step 3--Configure Response Point Software
66
Step 4--Configuring Phones, Users, and Features
67
Step 5--Testing Response Point Features
72
My Personal Response Point Response
82
Microsoft's Internal Perception of Microsoft Response Point
83
Chapter 4: Enterprise Voice with Microsoft Unified Communications
85
Microsoft Office Communications Server
88
From RTC to UC
88
Office Communications Server Editions
89
Microsoft Office Communicator
108
Office Communicator (PC Edition)
109
Office Communicator Attendant Console
113
Office Communicator Web Access
114
Group Chat Client
115
Office Communicator Mobile
116
Office Communicator Phone Edition
117
Microsoft Messenger for Mac OS X
118
Microsoft Office Live Meeting
121
Microsoft Exchange Server
122
Unified Messaging
123
Microsoft Office Live Meeting and Communicator Integration
126
Calling Features within Outlook 2007
128
Microsoft Exchange Server Push E-mail for Outlook Mobile
128
Microsoft Unified Communications Devices
129
Microsoft Entourage 2008 for Mac OS X
131
Microsoft Exchange E-mail for the Apple iPhone
132
The Microsoft Unified Communications Vision
134
Chapter 5: Simply Speaking: The Integration of Speech Recognition with Voice and Unified Communications
135
The Vision of Speech within Microsoft's VoIP Products and Services
136
Microsoft Voice and Speech Integration
137
Microsoft Office Communications Server Speech Integration
137
Microsoft Response Point and Speech Recognition
140
The Future of Speech with Voice-Enabled Applications
143
Chapter 6: Voice Collaboration
145
Microsoft Office and Voice
145
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server
152
Microsoft Office Outlook
153
Microsoft Unified Communications and Microsoft Office "Better Together" Videos
160
Chapter 7: Customizing Voice Applications
161
Microsoft Office Communications Server Customization
161
Office Communications Server 2007 SDK
162
Unified Communications Managed API SDK
163
Microsoft Office Communicator Customization
167
Office Communicator Automation API
168
Microsoft Office Communicator Tabs
169
Unified Communications Client SDK
171
Unified Communications AJAX SDK
171
Microsoft Office Live Meeting Customization
174
Live Meeting Portal API
175
Microsoft Exchange Server Customization
176
Exchange Web Services for Unified Communications
176
Exchange Server Unified Messaging Web Service
178
Custom Speech Development
179
Developer Resources
180
Chapter 8: Securing Voice
181
Voice and UC Security Threats
181
Voice and Unified Communications Security Solutions
183
Providing a Secure Platform Architecture
184
Instant Messaging Filtering
195
Industry-Recognized Voice Security Products
197
Chapter 9: How to Sell Voice and Unified Communications
201
Know the Lingo
202
Understand the Voice and UC Competitive Landscape
203
Microsoft Versus Cisco
206
Microsoft Versus IBM
209
Microsoft Versus Nortel, Avaya, Siemens, and NEC
211
Microsoft Versus the SMB VoIP Competition
213
Leverage Microsoft Voice Sales Incentive Programs
215
Step 1--Become a Microsoft Partner
215
Step 2--Engage with Microsoft
217
Step 3--Differentiate Yourself
218
Learn How to Sell Voice and UC Consulting Services
220
Introducing the UC 1-2-3 Methodology
220
UC 1-2-3 Business Plan
221
Microsoft Response Point 1-2-3
228
Sales Summary
229
Chapter 10: The Virtualization of Voice
231
Virtualizing Microsoft Unified Communications
231
Virtualizing Microsoft Response Point
235
The End of Telephony-Based Hardware
238
The Partner Opportunity for Voice Software Services
241
Virtual Resources
243
Appendix A: Closing Comments and Resources
245
Resources
246
Index
249