Qwest Communications International Inc. next year will offer small and medium business subscribers a managed suite of services that combines VoIP, e-mail, Internet access, collaboration, presence, instant messaging and desktop services based on Microsoft Solution for Enhanced VoIP services and Qwest’s OneFlex VoIP services.
The Microsoft Solution for Enhanced VoIP Services combines hosted versions of Microsoft server products including Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2005 and Windows SharePoint Services with Sylantro Systems’ Application Feature Server.
Microsoft partner Sylantro System integrated the VoIP piece into the Microsoft products, which means users can now manage and initiate calls with the click of a mouse through already-familiar Microsoft client software, says Bernard Gutnick, vice president of product marketing at Sylantro, who added that Qwest is the first announced customer of the joint Microsoft-Sylantro solutions. “You get Microsoft’s brand at the desktop, and it voice-enables the applications you already use,” Gutnick adds.
Tom Richards, executive vice president of the business markets group at Qwest, adds that this hosted model puts these capabilities within reach of smaller businesses. “With Microsoft, we can make this a reality for our customers,” he says. “We’ll be able to provide SMBs with powerful, yet easy-to-use telephony and desktop capabilities.”
