Chapter 2 - Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007

Abstract

This chapter discusses Microsoft Office Communications Server (OCS) 2007, which is Microsoft's latest version of Live Communications Server 2005. The product provides management for all synchronous communications that take place in real time. This includes instant messaging (IM), voice over IP (VoIP), and audio conferencing and videoconferencing. It can work with ones company's existing telecommunications systems without major hardware upgrades. Its presence provides instant information regarding whether someone is available and enables contacting people with a click of the mouse via IM, a phone call, or videoconferencing. Newly available key features in OCS 2007 include a number of improvements to the IM and presence capabilities. Some of these improvements include integration with Microsoft Exchange Server distribution lists, as well as the addition of software-powered VoIP that allows users to make, receive, and manage voice (phone) calls using MOC 2007 running on their computers and multiparty on-premises audio/video and Web conferencing. OCS 2007 also supports the Interactive Connectivity Establishment (ICE) framework of protocols. This allows users to take advantage of the aforementioned new communications capabilities from wherever they are located—such as a hotel or a coffeehouse—without needing to establish a virtual private network (VPN) connection.