Microsoft and Nortel are expanding the reach of unified communications to customers that are not traditionally in the default target segment. NXTcomm08 was the stage where the two companies announced a new joint offering aimed at the small and midsize business market. Fully hosted carrier solutions reserved exclusively for unified communications are generally products for large corporations, but Microsoft and Nortel are changing this aspect. Nortel is essentially providing an Internet Protocol multimedia softswitch, namely the Nortel Communications Server 2000 (CS 2000) which will integrate Microsoft Solution for Hosted Messaging and Collaboration Version 4.5 (HMC 4.5).

"Unified communications is a strategic purchase that, up until today, has been leveraged primarily by the large enterprise," explained Ruchi Prasad, vice president and general manager of the Innovative Communications Alliance at Nortel. This is no longer the case, following the introduction of the new offering from the duo. Now, small and midsize businesses can also take advantage of unified messaging along with real-time communications, just as large enterprises.

"This enhanced joint Microsoft and Nortel solution makes unified communications accessible to businesses of all sizes. For service providers, this solution offers new revenue opportunities and the ability to expand their addressable market and deliver higher-value application and service bundles to their customers," Prasad added.

Microsoft Solution for Hosted Messaging and Collaboration Version 4.5 became available at the end of the past week. HMC 4.5 delivers Office Communications Server 2007 and Exchange Server 2007, both hosted versions. The Microsoft and Nortel collaboration offers SMBs the advantage of leveraging hosted carrier solutions which scrape the need for expanding existing network infrastructures. This, while providing click-to-call capabilities, email messages informing users of missed calls, presence for telephony and mobile scenarios, and even click-to-conference.

"We are currently seeing strong interest in the hosted unified communications solution among our service provider customers. The fully hosted unified communications solution provides opportunities for increased revenue and helps service providers deliver the connected work style to SMBs, providing the ability to communicate virtually anytime, anywhere and on any device," said Steve Zimba, managing director, Global Telecom Business, Microsoft.