MUCUGUK

Oblong g-speak

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 05:54:33 GMT

Err... wow ... you have to see this

http://www.engadget.com/2008/11/14/oblongs-g-speak-the-minority-report-os-brought-to-life/

Jerry Yang leaves Yahoo

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 02:23:54 GMT

So Jerry Yang is going to step down from being CEO at Yahoo according to Adam at Mashable and Maggie at the BBC. With shares at $10 or so I'll be watching with interest to see where he'll be off to next. And it will also be amusing to read all of the news bubbling up around the blogosphere as to whether we'll start negotiations to buy yahoo again and at what price.

Will we? I really don't think so.

Technorati Tags: Jerry Yang,Yahoo!

Nigerian Scammers on the phone

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 09:40:57 GMT

Even though I have my phone number on my blog, I don't get too many calls - usually valid calls from customers who need help, or from people who want genuine advice. But on Saturday I had my very first Nigerian scam call.

Me: Hello

Him: Hello, am I speaking to Ms Eileen Brown

Me: Yes, how can I help?

Him: I'm from Nigeria and I found your number on the web

Me: Yerssss...

Him: and I wondered if you could tell me your email address

Me: Why do you want my email address?

Him: So I can do business with you.

Me: You can't do business with me, you'll have to do business with my company

Him: I want to do business with you

Me: Who do I work for then?

Him: I don't know

Me: Well I suggest that if you don't know who I work for then you're going to find it quite hard to do business with me

Him: but I want your email address to do business with you

etc. etc.

This back and forth went on for quite some time, him trying to get my email address from me, and me telling him that if he knew who I worked for it would be really easy to do business with the company. On and on it went back and forwards until I got bored with his lack of knowledge about who I was and how easy it would be to do business with me. heck if you search on the web, my email address is on the Technet UK website!

And he didn't have the sense to hide his number from me either. Thank you caller ID.

So if you're bored with the thought of scammers or have ever received a call from Ghana at +233 2402 14572 too, please have some fun too. After all - he's paying for the call :-)

Technorati Tags: Nigerian 419 scam

And just where can you get the train to Nizhniy Novgorod?

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 06:04:58 GMT

I often wonder what makes a blog post interesting enough for people to read the rest of the post and realised when I saw this post the other day that it's the catchy title and first couple of lines holds the attention.

I don't usually read the unlimited potential team blog but this post held my attention demanding further reading about the far reaching impact that technology can have on peoples lives.

So I'd recommend that you take a bit of time to browse the site and have a look at some of the things we're doing in Central and Eastern Europe that don't actually conform to some of the things you traditionally associate with Microsoft. Their mission is to "enable sustained social and economic opportunity for those at the middle and bottom of the world's economic pyramid-the next 5 billion people". Wow.

I'm really impressed. This team is making such a difference to so many peoples lives - and I'd so love to work for them.

Technorati Tags: Unlimited Potential,NGO

Some updates for our online services

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 12:29:32 GMT

Kevin pointed out that he'd found the new updated Windows Live services have been launched along with a new refreshed home page. I'd noticed the new look Hotmail the other day when I logged in, but I was really impressed about the range of things that are on offer and will be coming up over at Live.

I've had my Hotmail account for almost 10 years now and, at I've signed up to new services as they've been released. I dump any service that I don't find useful - some after a few weeks, others after months. So what do I still use?

Hotmail. I use this daily - I've got 2 non alpha numeric characters in my email address and I get 1 junk mail per month. I wish I'd had non alphabetic characters in my UK hotmail account as this gets "quite a bit" of spam. Shame I can't rename it.

Live spaces. I talk about my home life, my chickens and my "hobbies" here as well as sharing photos with my family to reduce the amount of email flow backwards and forwards. Having a "home" blog allows me to separate my work and my home life and it stops my mother asking me tricky questions abut Exchange too :-)

Messenger. I use this in addition to using Office communicator with PIC to communicate with buddies. The messenger bot on my blog home page goes straight through to this too

Live Writer. Offline blogging. How the heck did I ever manage without it? Cutting and pasting with word just wasn't the same - and now the ease of inserting images has made the whole blogosphere much more dynamic

Sky Drive. I've got loads of folders on here, some private, some shared, some public (to share documents after a Connecting Women in Technology event for example)

So what am I REALLY looking forward to?

Event homepages. About time too. That's really useful for anyone who has a community and doesn't have the knowledge to create an effective web presence - these updated services look like they're going to give you exactly what you need.

So it's certainly good news at least for the Colchester Chicken society.

Technorati Tags: live services,hotmail

Falling standards in the use of the written word

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 06:03:36 GMT

Aargh! I'm turning into my mother. Growling about poor spelling on signs in the food market, grumbling about poor apostrophes but this example has made me mutter all week about falling standards in retail.

It bothered me so much, I went back to the shop last night (which has branches throughout the UK) to take a photo.

Where's the quality control here? Or am I just getting old? But I did have some fun musing about what the alternative meaning of the label could possibly be.

Thousands of planes in the air.

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 08:15:00 GMT

Off topic I know, but as a frequent flyer I was fascinated to see this simulation of planes flying around the world.

watch the traffic increase as night turns to day - and the amount of night time flights over to Europe from the US.

Hat tip to Kim for searching this out.

Technorati Tags: Air traffic

The value of tech.net

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 09:32:21 GMT

I've been meaning to blog about this for a while - but as I didn't go to tech.ed last week, it sort of slipped my mind.

Deeps went around tech.ed in Sydney asking people who had a technet plus subscription what value they got from the subscription. Here's the video of their interviews. Alex did the same in tech.ed Barcelona and I'll share the finished video with you when it's ready. I think we need to do a webcast too about the sort of stuff you get in the actual subscription as so many people aren't really aware of this.

Thanks to Jeff for the original post.

Technorati Tags: technet plus,teched

UC or not? How do you get the correct people?

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 12:04:01 GMT

One of the key concerns about whether to implement Unified communications in an organisation is who has the skill set to manage and administer it. Since UC is relatively new, finding someone with hands-on experience of UC is going to be an issue. So what you need to look out for is the correct mindset as opposed to the particular skill set You're going to need someone who knows how to learn and who enjoys learning as the technology evolves.

I suppose as long as you have a basic but solid grounding in Windows and Exchange Server technology, you'll be able to make a natural transition into the role - it's a natural extension of the Exchange Administrator role. So you see how important the server team is when you're considering UC deployment.

There are lots of perceptions about hiring someone with telephony experience too - but as far as telephony goes, the UC administrator need only know enough to be able to communicate well with the PBX/telephony team and find out what they need or hire an outsourced telephony vendor to help with the voice deployments.

And finally, during a project you need to roll out Unified Communications in a series of waves, starting with your committed enthusiasts to a wider set of users, and from less critical applications to more critical ones. This way your early adopters, who treat setbacks as a learning experience, can find potential problems before they can cause a loss of confidence among less patient users.

Technorati Tags: Unified communications,UC,Voicecon

Windows 7 - some screen shots

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 03:59:07 GMT

So it's time to talk about some of the features in Windows 7 after the bits were given out at the PDC last week.

I haven't installed Windows 7 to try it out myself as I wasn't over there in Los Angeles, so I had a look at Matt's blog for some screenshots. And I like what I've seen. Especially the Libraries feature. What a great idea.

The ability to collate all sorts of different types of files in one place appeals to me - setting custom views too. Brilliant for someone who isn't too organised with their own filing system on the PC (like me).

Direct Access - No more VPN - Woohoo! - I really hate going through our VPN to corpnet so this will be fantastic for me. All that's needed is for the admin to enable it. Excellent

AppLocker - as an IT Admin I would have LOVED this! it would have made my life much more easy.

Matt has a much more comprehensive list over on his blog and you can read all about it on the Windows 7 site.

So I'm now really looking forward to the beta availability internally.

Technorati Tags: Windows 7,Applocker,Direct Access

Exchange Virtual hands on Labs

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 08:34:15 GMT

I like the idea of these LabCasts. You follow along the webcast and do hands on config yourself using Virtual Labs. I like playing with the interface - it helps me learn faster so I thought I'd forward some of these on in case you'd like to join in to these labcasts. Info follows:

6/11/2008 TechNet Labcast: Exchange Server 2007 (Part 4 of 5): Configuring Unified Messaging and Enabling Remote Client Access (Level 200)

With Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, employees get anywhere access to their e-mail, voice mail, calendars, and contacts from a variety of clients and devices. Join us for part four of the five-part Exchange Server 2007 series. In the labcast series, you receive practical technical information and learn proven techniques by watching demonstrations and using hands-on virtual labs that require no complex installations. In this labcast, we cover configuring Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging and remote client access with Exchange Server 2007.

7/11/2008 TechNet Labcast: Exchange Server 2007 (Part 5 of 5): Using Local Continuous Replication and Cluster Continuous Replication (Level 200)

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 enables new levels of operational efficiency through capabilities that optimize hardware and networking investments and features that help make administrators more productive. Join us for part five of the five-part Exchange Server 2007 series. In the labcast series, you receive practical technical information and learn proven techniques by watching demonstrations and using hands-on virtual labs that require no complex installations. In this labcast, we cover using Exchange Server 2007 local continuous replication and cluster continuous replication.

113/11/2008 TechNet Labcast: Exchange Server 2007 (Part 1 of 5): Installing Service Pack 1 and Transitioning from Exchange Server 2003 to Exchange Server 2007 (Level 200)

For most businesses today, e-mail is the mission-critical communications tool that enables people to produce the best results. For IT professionals, delivering a messaging system that addresses these needs must be balanced against other requirements such as security and cost. Join us for part one of the five-part Exchange Server 2007 series. In the labcast series, you receive practical technical information and learn proven techniques by watching demonstrations and using hands-on virtual labs that require no complex installations. In this labcast, we cover installing Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1) on Windows Server 2008 and transitioning from Exchange Server 2003 to Exchange Server 2007.

14/11/2008 TechNet Labcast: Exchange Server 2007 (Part 2 of 5): Configuring an Edge Server and Compliance and Retention Using Exchange Server 2007 RTM (Level 200)

20/11/2008 TechNet Labcast: Exchange Server 2007 (Part 3 of 5): Managing and Administering Exchange Server 2007 Using the Management Console and Management Shell (Level 200)

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 enables new levels of operational efficiency through capabilities that optimize hardware and networking investments and features that help make administrators more productive. Join us for part three of the five-part Exchange Server 2007 series. In the labcast series, you receive practical technical information and learn proven techniques by watching demonstrations and using hands-on virtual labs that require no complex installations. In this labcast, we cover managing and administering Exchange Server 2007 using the Exchange Server 2007 Management Console and Management Shell.

21/11/2008 TechNet Labcast: Exchange Server 2007 (Part 4 of 5): Configuring Unified Messaging and Enabling Remote Client Access (Level 200)

Technorati Tags: Labcast,Exchange 2007,Unified Messaging,Virtual Labs

OCS Address Book publishing without ISA

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 11:33:00 GMT

You will notice that in the 2007 documentation we moved to the phrase of reverse proxy when discussing the publishing of content, but obviously if we document any product it will be ISA. We never state you can't use another product, it is just that we don't test or document any of the competing products.

Chris forwarded his work and I hope it helps you -

http://chrislehr.com/2008/11/how-to-publish-your-ocs-2007-address.htm

November 5 edit - In my haste I failed to mention that we didn't test the product in the topology that Chris mentions which means it would not be officially supported.

Ten Top Tips to using Office Communicator

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 02:18:55 GMT

Recently my team asked me to put together ten top tips for LiveMeeting and Communicator. My LiveMeeting tips are in the previous post so here are ten quick tips on how to make the most out of Communicator.

Butting in - Getting someone's attention Communicator can be hard do why not try this to increase you chance of getting an answer quickly. "Hi, do you have a minute..Need to talk to you about .". This lets them know why you want to get hold of them and by putting a carriage return in the middle of the sentence it means your question doesn't appear on the screen if they are presenting.
I've started so I'll finish - I am guilty of doing this sometimes. You wouldn't start a conversation with someone face to face and then walk off so try not to do the same with Communicator. If you have started the conversation then you should finish it, if you need to disappear then let them know
"Got your number" (correctly formatted?) - The average Microsoft employee gets of 100 emails a day and over the years I have seen some interesting formats for telephone numbers. So that it works correctly for Communicator and for your mobile phone if you synchronise your contacts, use the E164 format i.e. +44118909xxxx. No need for brackets or leading zeros e.g. +(44)(0)(118)909xxxx
One voicemail - This one will depend on your telephony setup but I divert my mobile to my landline when unanswered, busy or unavailable. That way I only have one place I need to check voicemail.
One number - One way to encourage the idea of 'one number can find me anywhere' is to stop giving out your mobile number. It freaks people out when you only give them your landline but to be honest that's all they really need.
Check before you chat - Check someone's presence before you communicate with them. A simply habit to get into that will save your lots of time during the year.
Transfer and Conference - I never knew how to do this on my old telephone and therefore I didn't do it in Communicator either for a while. Most people feel confident enough to forward and email or add someone into an email trail so do the same with your calls, its that simple.
yourname@microsoft.com for MSN/Yahoo/AOL - For those that have signed up for Public IM Connectivity, don't forget to give out your work IM address to you business contacts instead of fluffybunny21@hotmail.com ;-)
IM A DL - Use this one wisely. It's now possible to send an IM to a Distribution list in Communicator 2007. Not something you should use all the time but can be useful when you have a small set of people you need to ask and a quick piece of information you need to get.
Make the most of what you now have - Even within Microsoft, I see people set Communicator to 'Forward call to.'. You are not going to get the most out of OCS and Communicator by using this setting so why not go for 'Simultaneous ring' instead?

Ten top tips then on how to get the most out of Communicator .. enjoy !

Kirill - the interactive Xbox / video / blog drama - or is it?

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 11:22:20 GMT

I'd never heard about Kirill before - but I got a mail from my good friend (and fellow karaoke-er) Michael today telling me about it

It looks a bit Killzone on Playstation with a dash of The Matrix thrown in amongst other influences - according to one of the comments I've read. There's a lot of stuff to do, background reading, blogs like Viv's and Stuarts , following all the comments and the discussion - See what the blog herald has to say about it.

Pubdog said:

This is interesting. It is so obviously a drama, but its well thought out. I like how its a mixture of both live action and blogs - it not only encourages the viewer/ reader to emotionally connect with the characters but it also encourages deeper investigation. It also assumes that the reader/viewer is not stupid. Anyone who is not really into sci-fi probably will not like it but other than that bravo! I haven't been entertained like this for ages... Bring on episode 2!!!

So why does it appeal to me technically?

It combines MSN video proposition, creativity from Endemol - the TV company who does Big Brother, TV-quality, a Silverlight interface so you can see other episodes as they appear and browse the site. There are blogs with the background story and extra information and they've dreamed up some really original content. It's also supported by both Xbox and Windows Vista. Amazing mix of technologies all together in one web drama.

I'd really recommend that you to have a look at it on http://www.msn.co.uk/kirill - and you need to learn about the story, the characters and try out the extras (particularly "deep zoom" and wallpapers)

Conspiracy theorists will love it.

Technorati Tags: Kirill,MSN Videos,Endemol,Xbox 360

U Rank - you decide which search results are important to you

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 10:04:47 GMT

I'm impressed by what I've read about U Rank so far. U Rank is a research prototype, to help us learn more about how people use such technologies and to be able to innovate in other types of social media.

I tried to download the prototype - unfortunately it's only available in the US at the moment, so I've been looking around for things it does:

Organize and annotate results: write notes to summarize important information under each URL
Lists: keep lists while you're researching ("hotels for my next trip")
Collaboration: Share URLs with friends ("our reading list")
Recommendations: Tell your friends what you like ("favourite restaurants")
Multimedia results: Mix video and images with web results for added context
Ego-boosting: Make sure your home page is #1 (at least for you and your friends)
Easy to explore what your friends are sharing
Short-cuts: Move your favourite sites up; then put an ! in front of the query and go straight to the top result

If you're US based - you can check out their blog for tips and tricks - and let me know whether you find it useful.

here's in the UK - I'll have to wait till it's released internationally and i can have a play over here. Great project though.

Technorati Tags: U Rank,Microsoft Research

Office Communicator Netiquette and tips

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 09:11:44 GMT

I noticed that Mark has posted some great tips for using Office Communicator which I thought I'd share - and also add a couple of my own.

If you don't want to be disturbed then set your status so that you do not get any Alerts - or any sounds. After all you don't want to be disturbed.

Set your notes so that people know where you are

Then you won't get the "are you in the office today?" type of message - everyone will know where you are.

Thanks to mark for these tips (and the Live meeting tips too.) Next post on tips for using Round Table perhaps? :-)

Technorati Tags: Office Communicator

LCS OCS Archiving levels

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 09:12:12 GMT

Walter sent me an email today via the blog contact form and it was about Archiving levels. One of his colleagues had mentioned the idea that there were values of 0, 1, 2 and 3 controlling the amount of archiving.

Admittedly I was not aware of the levels however it seemed reasonable because you would have no archiving, full archiving and archiving header information only. So I started to look in the Archiving and Technical Reference guides which gave a few of the msrtcsip- archiving values. I began my search on MSDN with msrtcsip-archivingenabled and didn't find much so I looked internally and found some really interesting data. That new data revealed changes from 2005 to 2007 and showed 16 values for OCS! I chose just one of the attributes RecordIMCallDetails as it would be a rather unique search string. I did one more Internet search and found the data on Technet. Here is the link and just an abbreviated portion of the link's contents. Office Communications Server 2007 Attribute Descriptions

msRTCSIP-ArchiveDefaultFlags

This attribute specifies the global default within the forest boundary for whether all users’ communications are to be archived. This is enforced by the Archiving Agent layer.

The range of values for this attribute is as follows:

TRUE: Archive all users
FALSE: Do not archive all users

This attribute globally controls, within the forest boundary, how users’ communications within an internal network are archived.

Live Communications Server 2005 behavior (now retired)

The range of values for this attribute is as follows:

0: Archive the message body [bit 0]
1: Do not archive the message body [bit 0]

Office Communications Server 2007 behavior

The range of values for this attribute is as follows:

0: ArchiveFederationDefaultWithoutBody (retired)
1-2: ArchiveInternalCommunications
3-4: ArchiveFederatedCommunications
5: RecordPresenceRegistrations
6: RecordIMCallDetails
7: RecordGroupIMCallDetails
8: RecordFileTransferInstances
9: RecordAudioCallDetails
10: RecordVideoCallDetails
11: RecordRemoteAssistanceCallDetails
12: RecordApplicationSharingDetails
13: RecordMeetingInstantiations
14: RecordMeetingJoins
15: RecordDataJoins
16: RecordAVJoins

msRTCSIP-ArchivingEnabled

This attribute controls whether a single user’s communications are to be archived. This is enforced by the Archiving Agent layer. It is marked for global catalog replication.

This attribute is an integer used as a bit field to control whether the user’s communications are archived. This control is enforced by the archiving Agent. The scope of this attribute is specific to a single user or contact.

The valid values in Office Communications Server are as follows:

0-1: Retired
2: Archive internal communications
3: Archive federated communications

Previously valid values in Live Communications Server 2005 are as follows:

0:Use the default value defined by msRTCSIP-ArchiveDefault and msRTCSIP-ArchiveFederation in this order of precedence:
- 1: Archive
- 2: Do not archive
- 3: Archive without the message body

msRTCSIP-ArchivingServerData (Live Communications Server 2005)

This attribute is reserved for future use.

msRTCSIP-ArchivingServerVersion (Office Communications Server)

This attribute defines the version of the Archiving Service. This attribute is a monotonously increasing integer type that increments with each official product release.

The possible valid values are:

Undefined: Live Communications Server 2003
Undefined: Live Communications Server 2005
Undefined: Live Communications Server 2005 with SP1
3: Office Communications Server 2007

Thanks Walter for asking a question prompting me to learn something new!

TomL LCSKid

Windows Azure - Helping to save lives

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 07:26:50 GMT

I've been watching all the buzz around Windows Azure since the we announced this at PDC on Monday - and trying to talk about what it is - in simple terms and what it will mean to ordinary people - not developers, software houses and hosters - but the software really making a difference. So I was really touched when I saw one of the UK case studies that was used in the PDC keynote this week.

When I worked at sea, the words everyone used to really dread were the words "Man Overboard". Even if you actually saw the person go over the side - the chances of recovery in the North Atlantic were really slim. I once spent 4 harrowing hours searching for a man overboard in the Bay of Biscay and the feeling of despair when we decided to call off the search was immense. UK seafarers feel a real affinity and try to support the charity that operates around the coast of the UK - the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, all staffed by volunteers that go to the aid of people and ships in distress around our coastline.

So what is Azure? Well it's our Cloud based operating system , the Azure Services platform extends that operating system with a set of services that developers can utilise to both build new applications and extend existing applications to run in the cloud.

Over the past few weeks in the UK We've been working with a number of customers and partners with the Azure Services Platform, one such partner is Active Web Solutions. AWS are the creators of the (RNLIs) MOB Guardian system.

MOB Guardian is an award winning sea safety system that provides fishermen and other seafarers with a simple to use GPS based alarm system that enables the RNLI to know if vessels or their crew members get into difficulty whilst at sea.

We have worked with AWS and RNLI to explore the impact that the Azure Services Platform could have on a system such as MOB Guardian, you can find a video explaining the motivations and experiences here and above - there's also a more detailed technical discussion of some of the issues faced during this exercise on Channel 9.

So something that appears to be just a concept - a cloud operating system - actually helping to save real lives, turns our vision and strategy into a worthwhile example of the value of this concept.

And that's really worth taking a look at.

Technorati Tags: RNLI,Windows Azure,Cloud operating system,PDC 2008,Channel 9

Finding new friends with Bluehoo

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 03:21:25 GMT

I installed Bluehoo when I was working from home the other day. A nice easy install onto my mobile device and I want to meet new friends!

What bluehoo does is uses your bluetooth stack to scan around and see whether there's anyone else using Bluehoo in range of your bluetooth scanner. If it finds someone (pink hoo's are girls by the way, so you need to edit your profile).

As this has just been launched at the PDC, there's not much chance at the moment that a little hoo is going to pop up in your vicinity just yet. But install the application - which uses Azure and Silverlight by the way.

So download it - you need to go to http://m.bluehoo.com from your mobile phone, navigate to your phone model and download the install files.

Then turn it on and wait to find new friends in the area.

I'm off to London later to give it a whirl on the bus.

Technorati Tags: PDC2008,bluehoo,bluetooth,social networking

Changing your Oyster for a mobile phone on the tube

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 12:05:00 GMT

Hmmm,

It looks like my hunch about tracking travel by mobile phones was correct. According to the Register, Transport for London (TFL) have announced that they're ditching the current Oyster cards earlier than planned and may use contactless mechanisms like phones to pay for tube tickets. They had too many issues with the cards not working correctly for them to complete the contract apparently. Not good.

Good by me - the less stuff I have to carry around the better. no more fumbling around in my bag for the Oyster wallet. I'll just need to fumble around for the damn phone instead!.

Technorati Tags: Oyster,mobile phone,Transport for London

OCS R2 announced at VoiceCon

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 08:07:42 GMT

Heck. I forgot to blog about the R2 release of Office communications server and the mail reminding me to do so has been sitting in my inbox for a week. No excuse at all. So here's the facts.

OCS will be 64 bit only as per the announcement from the unified communications team - by the way - this link takes you to their new blog URL if you've been wondering where their old blog went. There's a lot of videos planned for on Technet edge too - here's a list of the planned Edge release (week one has been published so far)

We announced OCS R2 at Voicecon in Amsterdam last week - see here for the press release here's a list of features:

Dial-in audioconferencing. on-premise audioconferencing bridge,managed by IT.

Desktop sharing. Share your desktop, initiate audio and collaborate with others outside the organization on PC, Macintosh or Linux platforms through a Web-based interface.

Persistent group chat. Collaboration by participating in topic-based discussions that persist over time. Provides a list of available chat rooms and topics.

Attendant console and delegation. Allows management of calls and conferences on behalf of other users through a software-based interface.

Session Initiation Protocol trunking. Set up a direct VoIP connection between an Internet telephony service provider and Office Communicator 2007 without requiring on-premise gateways.

Response group. Manage incoming calls based on user-configured rules

Mobility and single-number reach. Extends Microsoft Office Communicator Mobile functionality to Nokia S40, Motorola RAZR, Blackberry and Windows Mobile platforms, allowing users to communicate using presence, IM and voice as an extension of their PBX

If you didn't manager to get to Voicecon - or Interact 2008 this year - we've created a Virtual launch event for OCS where you can find out just what's in R2. All you need to do is click here to register - it's available in 11 languages too.

The UC website has some extra information if you want more information - but there's no hints about Interact 2009 - yet. Watch this space though..

Technorati Tags: Voicecon,Interact 2008,OCS 2007,OCS 2007 R2

Mary Jo again: our secret Windows advocate.

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 06:23:24 GMT

Well I've finally had a chance to properly listen to the podcast I did with Mary Jo the other day when she came on Campus. I also forgot to link to Mark's fantastic write up too when I blogged about this yesterday.

One thing that struck me though when I was listening to the podcast again. Mary Jo has enormous problems getting access to the Windows team at corp. She is an advocate for Windows apps, is very anti Apple, uses a PC - and feels that Vista "just can't get a break" because after we'd "came clear and basically apologised"and issued service pack 1, and delivered a good marketing campaign with the I'm a PC ads, she feels that we've "finally turned around" and gives the team kudos for admitting what they did wrong, but that we came to this so late she doesn't think we can "undo the market damage"

Well I could understand the Windows team not wanting to talk to one of our competitors - or one of our detractors - but I'd think that as Mary Jo is already responding to blog comments criticising Windows Vista - so she's therefore an advocate, then sharing information with her about our next products for her to report on makes a lot of sense to me.

Whenever she blogs about Vista, and gets complaints about how awful Vista is - she goes back to the commenter with "have you used it? Have you even tried the product? And most of them haven't" She gets 300-400 comments on blog entries with just "pure attack" but when she tries to go back to see who some of these people are, to email them and to ask "so you say none of your apps work then? Which ones don't work?" "No one answers. A lot of the email addresses are fake. So who's out there stirring the pot?"

And she challenges anyone to "come to her with a list of 5 apps that don't work on Vista and she'll write about them - if it's true"

So I'm baffled. Come on guys - you've got a great opportunity here with a positive influential blogger who can write about our future stuff - why don't you take Mary Jo up on her offer?.

Technorati Tags: Mary Jo Foley,Microsoft 2.0,podcast,Windows 7

Messaging and mobility User group neeting

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 08:48:57 GMT

It is time to advertise the November 2008 MMMUG meeting.

This event will be held in London at the MSFT offices in Cardinal Place near Victoria.

This month we have a topical session led by Clive Watson, Brett Johnson and Julius Davies from Microsoft. We will be discussing the new support statements surround the issue of Virtualising your Exchange environment. Having understood which pieces of Exchange are now supported we will look at some of the key design issues facing those Virtualising Exchange.

The meeting will be held on Tuesday 11th November and starts at 18:30.

For more information and to sign up please see the link below:

http://www.mmmug.co.uk/forums/thread/23926.aspx

Technorati Tags: User group,MMMUG

So are the new Apple ads hypocritical?

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 03:54:36 GMT

Well Techcrunch don't seem to like the Mac ads in response to our recent Windows adverts - Harvey pointed me to the Techcrunch comments which do seem to backfire on Apple - in fact Josh calls them hypocritical and mean-spirited.

Techcrunch says:

.It is also hypocritical. Apple's advertising budget is also pretty massive. I mean, I see more Apple commercials on TV than ads for Barack Obama. Apple is on track to spend more than $3.5 billion on SG&A (selling, general, and administrative expenses) for its fiscal year that ended September 30. How much of that was spent on advertising? I don't know, but 10 percent doesn't seem unreasonable.

So what do you think? do you think we should have stayed quiet whilst Apple continued to create these ads stereotyping all PC users? Or should have we responded sooner?.

Technorati Tags: apple,I'm a pc,techcrunch

Mary Jo Foley - telling it like it is

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 07:21:20 GMT

Mary Jo Foley came to Microsoft yesterday to talk about her new book on Microsoft 2.0 and to answer any questions about why she's been reporting on Microsoft for over 20 years now.

We had a great session and Mary Jo was really candid about what she thinks we've done wrong in the past - where she thinks we'll be in another 5 years time - she's convinced that our software plus services story, when it's told at the PDC next week.

As the interviewer, it was my job to manage the flow of questions coming our way, so I didn't have much time to take notes. Fortunately Mark took loads of notes and recorded everything. Mark I need to hire you as my secretary :-) I might even get round to posting the podcast that I did.

Mary Jo - great to see you - dinner in new York next time perhaps?

but all in all - a very interesting session.

Technorati Tags: Mary Jo Foley,Microsoft 2.0