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In the Feature column, Rob Smithers and Mike Hommer of Miercom report on the results of their test of Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007. Perhaps surprisingly, they found OCS quite scalable, at least when doing basic call setup and teardown. They also enountered a few hiccups when it comes to latency. And their conclusion about OCS has less to do with how it does than with what it does.

Eric Krapf

January 14, 2008

2 Min Read
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In the Feature column, Rob Smithers and Mike Hommer of Miercom report on the results of their test of Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007. Perhaps surprisingly, they found OCS quite scalable, at least when doing basic call setup and teardown. They also enountered a few hiccups when it comes to latency. And their conclusion about OCS has less to do with how it does than with what it does.

In the Feature column, Rob Smithers and Mike Hommer of Miercom report on the results of their test of Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007. Perhaps surprisingly, they found OCS quite scalable, at least when doing basic call setup and teardown. They also enountered a few hiccups when it comes to latency. And their conclusion about OCS has less to do with how it does than with what it does.Rob and Mike write:

 

OCS 2007 is not going to replace your PBX for large enterprise environments, as it lacks some of the basic features such as call park, group pick-up and music on hold. It also provides alternative means to accomplish other basic features. For example there are no "speed dials;" you simply click on a frequent contact and place a call.

But the degree of integration into applications will help further the push of voice away from how it has always been done and into how it will be done in the future.

But the degree of integration into applications will help further the push of voice away from how it has always been done and into how it will be done in the future.

I think they've got this right. If you want Microsoft OCS to be your phone system, it has to be scalable, and Miercom provides at least the beginnings of an answer to that question. But right now, at least, OCS won't do many of the other things a phone system does--call park, etc.

But if your strategy is to use OCS to augment your phone system, to put a layer of communications into your business applications, that's what OCS is built to do.

About the Author

Eric Krapf

Eric Krapf is General Manager and Program Co-Chair for Enterprise Connect, the leading conference/exhibition and online events brand in the enterprise communications industry. He has been Enterprise Connect.s Program Co-Chair for over a decade. He is also publisher of No Jitter, the Enterprise Connect community.s daily news and analysis website.
 

Eric served as editor of No Jitter from its founding in 2007 until taking over as publisher in 2015. From 1996 to 2004, Eric was managing editor of Business Communications Review (BCR) magazine, and from 2004 to 2007, he was the magazine's editor. BCR was a highly respected journal of the business technology and communications industry.
 

Before coming to BCR, he was managing editor and senior editor of America's Network magazine, covering the public telecommunications industry. Prior to working in high-tech journalism, he was a reporter and editor at newspapers in Connecticut and Texas.