Microsoft launches instant messaging client for enterprises

ABOUT 20 percent of enterprises today use a form of instant messaging software for real-time work collaboration and this will increase by about 80 per cent in 2008, according to Rolly Mariano, solutions specialists of Microsoft Philippines.

He was citing a Radicati study in an interview and sneak preview of Microsoft Communicator 2005, a secure instant messaging application designed for enterprise users.

Use of instant messaging is predicted to surpass e-mail, also by 2008, Mariano added, citing another report by the Frost and Sullivan World Web Conferencing Market 2004.

Launched last month, Communicator 2005, unlike the MSN or Yahoo Messenger, is intended for enterprise users. Microsoft claims that it is both more secure and fully integrated with its office productivity software.

Giving INQ7.net a sneak peek, Mariano demonstrated more than Communicator 2005’s instant messaging service for real-time collaboration. This application also supports multiple user chats, video conferencing, voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP), PC-to-PC voice calls, and voice calls via a corporate telephone network or private virtual network.

“Communicator 2005, which we have just recently rolled out in the Philippine subsidiary, allows companies to set up secure instant messaging service for employees,” the Microsoft executive said.

This new application is integrated with other Office applications like Outlook Calendar. Its tight integration with the Outlook Calendar lets people know, for one, if someone on their buddy list is “out of the office."

Communicator 2005 also acts as a soft phone, which means one can make a voice call on a PC to another PC user via the Internet or a corporate network. To demonstrate this, Mariano initiated a “phone call” using Communicator 2005 to Deo Co, Microsoft Philippines consultant. In less than a minute, they were conversing real-time as though by phone, with Mariano using a laptop and Co a tablet PC.

Co then scribbled a Chinese greeting and sent it to Mariano using the instant messenger’s chat window. “If you’re using a tablet PC, which I am now, you can scribble characters on the screen and send it to others,” explained Co whose streaming video was now visible on the Communicator 2005’s video window. Communicator 2005 can also be set up to accommodate more users, Mariano noted.

Other features allow a user to share applications like Office and Powerpoint, and even simulate visual discussions using a whiteboard program on Windows. It can even launch Live Meeting, Microsoft’s web conferencing application.

“With this instant messaging application, users can share their desktop applications, allowing others to edit documents or presentations they are working on,” Mariano said.

A mobile phone client of Communicator 2005 is expected to be developed soon but the actual launching date has not been determined yet, he added.