IBMis launching a new family of
enterpriseunified communicationsproducts with
the help of Siemens.
IBM has joined forces with Siemens Enterprise Communications to
turn its IBM Lotus Sametime software into a product family that
will include new telephony integration software.
The move comes as
Microsoft moves to a 16 October launch for its much hyped
Office Communications Server 2007 for larger enterprises and plans
to sell unified comms as an on-demand service offering to SMEs.
Unified communications utilise voice, video and data and a
multitude of applications to allow employees to communicate more
easily with a range of endpoint devices.
IBM said the bolstered
Lotus Sametime product family will make it easier for a company
to offer its employees a unified communications environment that
delivers essential capabilities to users and simplifies back-end
integration - without forcing software migration or rip-and-replace
decisions.
The central new product in IBM's enhanced unified comms armoury
is the Lotus Sametime Unified Telephony software, which is heavily
reliant on the
Siemens OpenScape communications technology.
"IBM chose Siemens OpenScape technology because of its
interoperability with multiple PBX systems and track record of
innovation and vision in this field," said Bruce Morse,
vice-president for unified communication and collaboration at
IBM.
"Our companies share the goal of developing extensible unified
communications solutions that are based on open standards and
integrate seamlessly into business processes," he said.
Lotus Sametime Unified Telephony will allow users to manage
incoming calls, see who is available to communicate with and how,
connect with colleagues faster, and connect with a variety of
back-end and legacy systems, said IBM.
IBM said its Lotus Sametime Unified Telephony solution would be
available in "mid-2008".