Instant Messaging (IM) is fast becoming a critical tool for real-time communications and collaboration. Instant Messaging, with integrated presence – knowing someone’s availability before reaching out to them – is a powerful way to reduce the headache of placing a call or sending an email and now knowing if or when that person will get back to you.

Whether in the contact center or the enterprise, Microsoft’s approach, to make all business applications capable of being the starting point for real-time communication, enhances your company’s ability to be competitive, reduce the human latency involved in business processes and improve overall productivity.

Office Communications Server (OCS)

Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 helps you deliver streamlined communications to your users, so everyone in your organization can communicate with the right person, right now, from the applications they use most. Maintain operational control without expensive infrastructure or network upgrades, and deliver streamlined communications, including software-powered VoIP, Web and audio/video conferencing, and enterprise instant messaging. [OCS PDF]