Microsoft Serious About VoIP

VoIPluvr writes "Microsoft, is quietly turning into a voice-over-IP powerhouse. It all started with the launch of its Microsoft Live Communication Server. Bill Gates says, 'Communicating in a better way has a huge impact for business,' and he states that he wants Microsoft to marry the PC, the cell phone and the desk phone. Recently, Microsoft teamed up with VoIP companies like Sylantro to offer hosted IP-PBX services, and now is rumored to have bought Teleo, a small VoIP company based in San Francisco. Microsoft's dominance on the desktop is helping the company extend its reach into the fast growing VoIP business, thus putting it in direct competition with the likes of Cisco. Teleo, for instance could help the company compete more effectively with the likes of Yahoo and Skype."

Comments

First MS joke

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

Prepare for the blue screech of death when you pick up the phone!

Sorry...

is ms desperately seeking

[hsmith]

a true "core" product?

everyone else seems to be seeking out one specific segment of the market, is MS finally realizing specializing in everything means you specialize in nothing?

i think they are good and bad, but they seem to have lost the wind in their sails...

Can't they leave ANYTHING alone?

[TempusMagus]

Microsoft makes a PDF-like format, Microsoft takes over municipal water works, Microsoft creates new ice-cream cone. My god, can't Microsoft leave anything alone? This is what is going to kill MS; they are doing too many things and fighting too many wars on too many fronts in an effort to maintain market dominance. You would think large companies would ditch MS wholesale simply because MS may one day use the revenue to compete with them.

Re:Can't they leave ANYTHING alone?

[dev1t]

Has everyone lost their minds??? Every large compay in the world has it's hands in so many different pots it's amazing. UPS builds battle ships for god sake. Phillip Morris makes bread... The list is endless. If any corporation truely wants to succeed the need to diversify heavily. If microsoft or Linus Torvalds, for that matter, wants to build a better diaper I say go for it!!! Especially if it helps employ some people. On a side note there was once a flsh website that had an active matrix of people and the many MANY boards they sat on. It was very scarey seeing where some board members crossed conflicting companies. If anyone knows what it was let us all know.

Microsoft cultivates more animus

[yagu]

I wonder how this is going to play with the Telco's. I worked a long time at one of the Telco's and we did much/most of our work on IBM mainframes and Unix servers. Then our high level management and Microsoft marketers got very cozy and all of a sudden many of our critical applications began shifting to the Windows 2000, SQLServer, IIS platform. This was all very much with heavy opposition from technical staff, but their input wasn't wanted. In the course of five to ten years I saw us (them?) become very heavily vested in Microsoft platforms (including the public facing web site (which was nothing but problematic rolling out on the MS platform)).

And now, Microsoft wants to enter the market of the telcos? I know everyone is jumping in on this, and I for one have little empathy/sympathy for the PHB's who've made their beds with Microsoft, but I wonder how much they like Microsoft now?

What's up with the commas?

[Anonymous Coward]

The submitter, VoIPluvr, must be using the Yale comma style and not the more popular Harvard style.

MS applied for a recent VIOP patent

[Anonymous Coward]

Method for outputting a crashdump as a series of audio tones.

Define "Serious"

[Nova Express]

By "Serious," I take it to mean "Microsoft will launch a VOIP service with much fanfare, will quickly grab 20-30% of the market, will then let the division languish through incompetence and lack of direction, and 10 years from now the service will still be hanging around without making a profit."

See also:

Hotmail
WebTV
X-Box
MSN
MSNBC
Etc.

Why?

[Comatose51]

he states that he wants Microsoft to marry the PC, the cell phone and the desk phone, Why? Has anyone thought of that? Integration is nice but sometimes it's pointless and harmful. For example, my Motorola v600 is Java powered. That's great except sometimes I can punch things in faster than it can handle. The battery life is poor. My older StarTac was perfect for me. No java or camera but it go the job done right. I never had to reboot a cellphone until I got this new one. Oh, let's not forget how the battery life is kind of mediocre. Let me count the number of times I've taken advantage of the Java and camera features: 5. Those 5 times, I could have done without them anyways. MS needs to take a lesson fron Apple and even *nix. Do one thing and do it well. Then make all those things play together well. God I wish Apply made cellphones.