Microsoft & Nortel - Innovative Communications Alliance (ICA)

One of the great things about our Unified Communications solution,  both current and future,  is that it can work with the existing infrastructure that is currently in place, this means that all of the money and time spent on installing a PBX is not wasted and can still be utilised.  This interop with current telephony technology is both an advantage and disadvantage,  it means that Microsoft IT Professionals and Microsoft Partners need to work with parts of the business that they have not worked with before,  i.e. the 'telephony guys/gals'.  The convergence of both Microsoft and telephony technology is therefore causing some problems as more knowledge and work must be shared between the Microsoft and telephony world.

It's really good news therefore that we have announced an alliance with Nortel.  This alliance goes further than just interop between LCS and their PBX,  we are actually going to work together at both a technical,  R&D,  marketing and sales level. 

I personally think this is the way forward and will make it a lot easier to understand, purchase and integrate Unified Communications technologies than it may have been in the past.

Take a look here for more information