Communication Server Upgrade Coming

I recently got a demo of Office 2010, SharePoint 2010, Exchange, SQL Server and Communications Server all working together. It is a rich and complex offering, with myriad ways of communicating. We used to have a telephone, fax and the postal mail. Now with this combo we have telephony, e-mail, video, Web conferencing, instant messaging and various kinds of alerts -- plus you can still use fax and the U.S. mail!

For me, a simple man of the past, it's a bit too much. It's like you spend all your time communicating and no time working.

The good news is IT groups can choose which mechanisms to invoke, maximizing communication efficiency while minimizing disruption.

All of this is prelude to news about the next version of Office Communicator Server. The new rev, expected this year, doesn't just detect whether you are present on the network, but where you are physically. As a boss, this is tempting. As an employee, it seems a little uncomfortable.

Do you use Communicator (Redmond claims over 100 million adherents)? If so, share your thoughts via a simple e-mail at dbarney@redmondmag.com.

Posted by Doug Barney on March 26, 2010 at 11:53 AM