OCS 2007 R2 - Time to eBay the PBX
Mitchell Ashley of Network World discusses how Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 may make the tradional PBX obsolete.
Is it here? Has convergence finally arrived? You know… replacing those arcane devices we call PBX’s with an all software VoIP solution. Well, I don’t know if I’d put the PBX on eBay quite yet, but we may actually be at a nexus point where this is possible. Two key features in Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2, released on Tuesday, now make it possible to replace a traditional PBX with OCS: SIP trunking and attendant console support.
On my most recent podcast, Terry Gold of Gold Systems, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, discussed how he is finally replacing his company’s PBX with OCS 2007, thanks to the R2 release. Those two features in R2, SIP trunking and attendant console support, were the only obstacles preventing Gold Systems from fully cutting over to OCS and ditching the PBX. Since Gold Systems sells and installs OCS (and builds VoIP applications), I guess Terry thought he should see if they can eat their own dog food and replace the PBX with OCS.
