Microsoft’s Plans For Mobile Business (reg required)

Microsoft will blend desktop applications with mobile phones in a bid to get an edge on its competitors. The idea is being dubbed “unified communications”, but “Microsoft, already late to the field, will not have its offerings commercially available before the second quarter of next year”.
The NYT writes about the move as a way to sell more desktop licenses rather than a particular interest in mobile, which is possibly a good way to look at it since mobile is only one communication silo MS plans to integrate, along with e-mail, IM, VoIP and various conferencing technologies. “In one Microsoft demonstration, a user late for a meeting that is scheduled in an Outlook calendar can phone the Exchange server and tell the system to notify other participants that he or she is running 10 to 15 minutes late. The system, using voice recognition to interpret the message, automatically generates an e-mail notification.”
iTWire has a lot of details.
Microsoft is partnering with Motorola for some of its mobile efforts, “using Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 across Motorola mobile devices and network hardware…The initial planned offering will start with the Motorola HC700 series rugged mobile computing devices and the Motorola Q smart phone. It will combine the presence awareness and instant messaging capabilities of Communications Server 2007 with Motorola’s Windows Mobile 5.0-based devices through the integration of Microsoft Office Communicator Mobile with Motorola’s MOTOPRO Mobility Suite and Wireless Services Manager products, enabling users to seamlessly communicate and collaborate across heterogeneous access networks”.
Since the system will only work on mobiles running Microsoft Mobile it’s got a very restricted market, but any company which goes down this path is likely to either buy business mobiles for its workers or strongly encourage them to get a cellphone that works with the system, which may lead to a boost in Microsoft’s mobile marketshare.

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