Office Communications Server round-up

Two sets of information have come my way about OCS. The first is the licensing is beginning to get clearer. Please don't send me questions on upgrades and pricing – talk to whoever you normally go to when you acquire software.

Licensing

The different versions of the server (standard and Enterprise) describe how the components fit together, not the Client Access Licenses (CALs) needed. There are two CALs – confusingly also called standard and enterprise. You can talk to an enterprise server with a Standard CAL (and vice versa) – CAL types are driven by function, not design.

  • The OCS 2007 Standard CAL: Includes Presence, IM and Group IM, Peer to Peer File transfer, Voice and Video (but not multi-party Voice and Video)
  • TheOCS 2007 Enterprise CAL: is separate from the Standard CAL, not a superset of it and is needed for Application Sharing, Multi party Voice and Video and Data conferencing, and the functions of the old Telephony CAL, i.e. Call routing, User Call management, remote call control,

Neither of these includes Public IM connectivity (linking to AOL, MSN and Yahoo!) and that will continue to be service with it's own license

You won't need a CAL for:

  • Non OCS users calling (or being called by) an extension hosted on your OCS Server
  • Public-network or federated users communicating with your OCS users

You will need CALs for each user or device for the following:

  • Users with IM identities hosted on your OCS Server
  • Users with OCS voice extensions
  • Users participating in a web conference

This last point raises the question, "What about hosting conferences for external people ?" this is where the external Connector (EC) licence comes in. This allows access to "external" users –that can include, but is not limited to, business partners, suppliers, customers, retirees, and alumni.

The second area is Devices and Gateways

We've announced more details of partners providing phones for OCS – more information is available at the device and gateway "Strategic Partners" page), here's a round up of the headsets and handsets.

Jabra GN 2000 USB Headset

Wired USB Headset [On10 have a good Jabra interview ]

The Jabra GN9330 USB Headset

Bluetooth Earpeice + USB adapter

The Jabra GN9350 Headset

Dual-function wireless headset for both traditional and PC-based telephony.

LG-Nortel Bluetooth Headset (IP8502)

[Microsoft reference design 'Anacapa']

Bluetooth Earbud + USB adapter.

Polycom CX100 Speakerphone

Portable, speakerphone for Office Communicator 2007

Polycom CX200 Desktop Phone / LG-Nortel USB Phone (IP8501) [Microsoft reference design 'Catalina']

Office Communicator 2007 peripheral with handset, headset or speakerphone mode

Vitelix VX-100

USB Phone without dialpad

NEC UC USB Phone

USB Phone with dialpad

Vitelix VX-200

USB Phone with dialpad

Vitelix VX-200 Duo

USB Phone with dialpad and Standard Telephone Connection.

PolyCom CX400 Cordless Phone

Portable, cordless handset for Office Communicator 2007.

PolyCom CX700 IP Phone / LG-Nortel IP Phone 8540 (IP8540) [Microsoft reference Design 'Tanjay']

Standalone IP phone with a large touch-screen color display and WinCE based user interface

We've got a photo in pressPass UC gallery with Gurdeep Singh Pall surrounded by these devices. Traditional phones have a limited frequency range which gives them their distinctive sound: the majority of these phones are "wideband" so the sound is more natural.

The device and gateway "Strategic Partners" page also links to AudioCodes, Dialogic and Quintum who provide gateway products.

Technorati tags: Microsoft, messenger, communicator, OCS, LCS, Real Time Collaboration, Phones, Telephony, Tanjay, Polycom, lg, nortel