Gates Trumpets Unified Communications Future

Microsoft argues that workers used to the Web and mobile communications are shaping the enterprise.As Microsoft announced the availability of its unified communications software at a launch event in San Francisco on Oct. 16, attended by partners, press and some two thousand customers, Chairman Bill Gates sent customers an executive e-mail detailing not only how far we have come on the communications front, but also how far we still have to go. The proliferation of communications options has become a burden that often makes it more difficult to reach people, rather than easier, he said. Rapid advances in hardware, networks and the software that powers them are laying the foundation for groundbreaking innovations in communications technology that will revolutionize the way we share information and experiences with the people who are important to us at work and at home, he said. "A fundamental reason that communicating is still so complex is the fact that the way we communicate is still bound by devices. In the office, we use a work phone with one number. Then we ask people to call us back on a mobile device using another number when we are on the go, or reach us on our home phone with yet another number," Gates said in the e-mail. Click here to read more about Microsofts unified communications drive. People also have different identities and passwords for their work and home e-mail accounts and for instant messaging, he said, noting that this would all change in the very near future as more communications and entertainment is transmitted over the Internet by e-mail, instant messaging, videoconferencing, and the emergence of VOIP (voice over IP), IPTV (IP television) and other protocols. "A new wave of software-driven innovations will eliminate the boundaries between the various modes of communications we use throughout the day. Soon, youll have a single identity that spans all of the ways people can reach you, and youll be able to move a conversation seamlessly between voice, text and video and from one device to another as your location and information-sharing needs change," he said. more>>>