All signs point to Microsoft unwrapping “Istanbul,” the code name for a new network communications software package, March 9 at the VON Conference in San Francisco.
The package is anticipated to allow businesses to manage telephones, instant messaging, e-mail, and video conferencing through a single system, and Microsoft is said to be hoping Istanbul will build on the success of Microsoft Office Live Communications Server and Live Meeting.
"Customers depend on real-time communications to make more informed, timely decisions, and to stay better connected with their customers and grow their business," said Microsoft corporate vice president for the Real-Time Collaboration Business Group Anoop Gupta, corporate vice president of Microsoft's Real-Time Collaboration Business Group. "Istanbul represents a milestone by integrating various modes of communications in one unified desktop experience."
According to Directions on Microsoft analyst Peter Pawlack, Istanbul amounts to rewriting Windows Messenger, the net meeting and instant messaging application Microsoft no longer includes in Real-Time Collaboration Business Group projects.
"The big news is that Microsoft has designed the new system to take into account gateways to the public switch telephone network," Pawlack told TechNewsWorld. "These gateways will allow Istanbul users to place outside calls and receive incoming calls routed to desktops through the Istanbul client. That enormously boosts the value of the voice capabilities that have been there all along."
