Microsoft has officially launched Office Communications Server 2007, supporting integrated voice, video, instant messaging/presence, and telephony features through a software-based platform. Though it's behind most of the IP telephony vendors in offering such unified communications capabilities, many IT decision-makers are closely watching Microsoft's entry into this space as they develop their own unified communications plans. Three-fourths of IT executives interviewed in Nemertes' "Building the Successful Virtual Workplace" benchmark are either deploying or planning to deploy unified communications platforms by 2009.

Microsoft hopes to compete directly with existing IP telephony vendors for a piece of the enterprise communications budget. But IT executives remain skeptical about reliability. When the PC crashes, not only would email and applications go away, so would voice under the Microsoft scenario. Enterprises are also concerned about Microsoft's lack of experience in delivering telephony features and services.

What's more, Microsoft may be too late to win a significant share of telephony spending -- at least until it's time for the next round of upgrades. Nemertes has found that nearly all midsize and large organizations have a VOIP plan in place, with 78% having either made, or being close to making a vendor decision. Microsoft's argument to halt VOIP deployments for OCS has thus far not resonated with enterprises we've interviewed. Instead, enterprises who are deploying Microsoft OCS (and previously, Live Communications Server 2005) seek to use the Microsoft platforms primarily for instant messaging and presence, integrating LCS/OCS with existing or planned telephony systems rather than eliminating those systems in favor of OCS.

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