Microsoft ResponsePoint’s Future

Have you heard of Microsoft ResponsePoint? Ironically, not many people really have. ResponsePoint is Microsoft’s new SMB-focused IP phone system appliance. With hardware vendor support from a wide variety of companies, including D-Link, Quanta, and Aastra, there are multiple choices for the hardware side of the system. ResponsePoint has had a mildly slow “take-off” into the market, but it will be a product to watch. What could potentially hamper RP? First, Microsoft will need to show continued commitment to the product. Recently, Service Pack 1 was announced, so the development lifecycle of the product is indeed continuing. Secondly, the actual user experience of the product focuses on voice recognition. Time will tell as to whether this will be a time-tested implementation of a user interface. Scalability of RP seems to be a chief concern among users. The system will likely not scale above the 10-12 line (analog) environment (with multiple appliances), with no PRI support on the way. This is definitely a small business product. However, other vendors are offering appliances with more features and more scalability options at the same relative price point. The future of ResponsePoint is unknown. It will be interesting to see whether some of the intuitive voice recognition features make it into the mainstream releases of Microsoft OCS, however, time will tell. For more information about Microsoft ResponsePoint, visit this site.