At TechMentor, last week one of the sessions I presented was called Unified Messaging in Exchange 2007: You Need this Technology. For those of you who are planning to move or have already moved to Exchange 2007 Unified Messaging (UM) is a great feature in Exchange 2007. UM is not a new technology it has been around for years. The idea of rolling it up into a server role in Exchange rather than using third-party applications that “plug-in” to Exchange makes good sense. For those who are not familiar with Unified Messaging, the principal idea is to have a single in-box for e-mail, voice mail and faxes. However, there is a bit more to it, UM offers a feature called Outlook Voice Access (OVA). OVA allows users to retrieve reply or forward an e-mail, manage voice mail and faxes, check schedule or even cancel calendar appointments over any phone. Nevertheless, UM is only half the picture, I like to think of it as “I’ll get to it – in time”, whereas Unified Communications (UC) is the other half. What I like to call “working in real-time”. Unified Communications uses Exchange Server 2007 in conjunction with Office Communications Server 2007 (OCS 2007). Together we expand the possibilities and add to the integration of analog (voice and fax) and digital (e-mail). Using the Communicator 2007 client, UC users can add IM, voice & video conferencing and even collaborate with Live Meeting. Many of these features are simply a point-and-click function. Imagine an IM session with a fellow worker and in the midst of it you realize that you need to talk to him so you move it to a voice conversation. During the call you both agree that Marie in design should have some input, simply right click to invite Marie to the phone call. As you are all talking, Marie says she would like to show you the designs and you initiate a video conference. As you are looking at the information, you realize that the VP of your division will want his say. You IM him and see if he is available, he is working from his beach house. No troubles Communicator Web is available and looks like the desktop client. He joins the conference and decides this looks so good he needs to get the CEO on this conference. The CEO is in Japan, his mobile phone has Communicator Mobile and he has a data plan for internet access. As you can see from the scenario, UC opens up a completely new world of real-time communications, and I have just scratched the surface. There is a feature in UC to allow you to ring multiple lines so that an important call can literally find you wherever you are located. Personally, I would rather not be that accessible, at times though it is necessary. If you are considering or have already deployed the UM role in your Exchange 2007 environment, UC is a technology worth looking at to expand and enable you to stay “unified” at all times. To learn more about UC and it’s many great features check out thie resource: https://www.microsoft.com/uc/Default.mspx
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