The lineup of IP PBX vendors is increasing; is this momentum or what ? What’s really strong is the continuous pace in which Microsoft is driving Unifed Communications. This started with LCS 2003 and later Communicator. OCS 2007 is the 3rd wave in 4 years. Also looking at announcements like these I hope it becomes clear; this is about an ecosystems (products, solutions, partnerships) and not about a product solely to which we can compare the “me too” features …

… Microsoft announces at Interop a lineup of companies that have adopted Office Communications Server 2007 interoperability specifications for VOIP, IM and conferencing.

Microsoft at Interop on May 22 announced interoperability partners on the other side of the VOIP coin for Office Communications Server 2007.

In the latest partner lineup, Microsoft announced that a dozen IP PBX and voice over IP gateway makers pledged to work with Microsoft’s interoperability specifications for the OCS 2007 unified communications conferencing and messaging server.

The IP PBX and gateway companies pledging interoperability with OCS 2007 include Alcatel-Lucent, Avaya, Cisco Systems, Ericsson, Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Mitel Networks, NEC, Nortel Networks, Siemens Enterprise Communications, AudioCodes, Dialogic and Quintum Technologies.

On May 14, Microsoft announced 15 new phones from nine handset partners that work with OCS 2007 and Office Communicator 2007. The phones range from IP Phones, conferencing phones, USB phones, wired and wireless headsets, and more. Among those partners are Nortel Networks, NEC, Plantronics, Polycom and Samsung.

The IP PBX and gateway providers pledged to Microsoft that they will deliver interoperability upgrades by early next year, although Microsoft believes some will have their interoperability upgrades available in the fourth quarter of this year, according to Anthony Bawcutt, director of business development in Microsoft’s Unified Communications Group, in Redmond, Wash. …

… Microsoft also announced that the public beta for OCS 2007 and Office Communicator, launched in March, has already seen 50,000 downloads since its initial beta release. …

That also show the interest : 50.000 downloads of the beta in as littlle as 2 months …

Source : eWeek.com