Andy flagged it first and now the Wall Street Journal has made it into big news — Microsoft plans to enter the VoIP market in a big way next year, CEO Steve Ballmer said during a speech today in Japan. Although Microsoft currently offers VoIP functions, mostly through MSN Messenger, the software titan now plans to incorporate the technology across the company’s operating system, desktop applications and server software, as well as unify it with email, video and, of course, instant messaging.
It’s not clear, but it sounds like Microsoft plans to unveil the VoIP push as part of its Vista operating system, slated for release in January. Andy thinks they’ll make a big splash at CES, preceded by a heavy press blitz.
Andy also says that Microsoft is “[n]ever first, usually not second, but always a tour de force,” and I agree with the first two of these assessments. Given how difficult it has been to get PC-based VoIP into the mainstream, Microsoft has got to incorporate VoIP in a way that is so compelling that IP-based voice services are as easy as point-click-talk.
Microsoft doesn’t really do anything in a simple, user-friendly kind of way and I think that’s the only way the company could produce anything remotely resembling a tour de force with VoIP. More than likely, Microsoft’s applications and software will be cluttered with VoIP dongles that rarely get used.
Cynthia Brumfield at 4:07 PM|Comments(0)
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