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Voice

Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 and Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 will reach end of support on January 9, 2018. To stay supported, you will need to upgrade. For more information, see Resources to help you upgrade your Office 2007 servers and clients.

 

Topic Last Modified: 2013-06-26

If you want to use Voice over IP (VoIP) to provide telephone service for your organization, Microsoft's software-powered VoIP solution, Enterprise Voice, can provide it without requiring major changes to your existing telephone system. Together with instant messaging (IM), conferencing, audio/video (A/V) features, and full integration with Outlook and Microsoft Exchange Unified Messaging, Enterprise Voice enables Office Communications Server users to communicate with colleagues throughout the enterprise by a variety of means, and it makes the transition to VoIP easier and more cost efficient by enabling you to use existing routers, gateways, PBXs, and telephones that are compatible with Office Communications Server.

Enterprise Voice enables users to:

  • Place calls from their computers by clicking a contact in Outlook or Office Communicator.

  • Place calls over the IP network from computer to computer, computer to telephone, or telephone to computer. Users benefit from having all of their communications options—voice, e-mail, IM, and conferencing—available and integrated on their computers.

  • Have incoming calls ring simultaneously on all of their communications devices—desktop and laptop computers, and wired and mobile phones—enabling them to answer wherever they have an Internet connection and on whichever device is most convenient.

  • Place and receive calls that traverse network address translations (NATs) and firewalls. This means that users working at home or on the road can call the enterprise from anywhere an Internet connection is available without incurring long-distance charges or resorting to a virtual private network (VPN), and that users within the enterprise can make calls that reach beyond the firewall.

  • Place, answer, and forward calls, and use other call-control features with which they are familiar, with little training or changes to dialing habits.

  • Retain existing telephone numbers.

In addition to productivity enhancements for users, Enterprise Voice provides the following benefits for the enterprise:

  • Enterprise Voice can be deployed with only modest modifications to existing Communications Server 2007 and telephony infrastructures.

  • Communications Server 2007 R2 uses smart, least-cost routing algorithms for calls to the public switched telephone network (PSTN).

  • Enterprise Voice features centralized administration using familiar software tools for management.

  • Enterprise Voice supports integration with existing PBX and remote call control (RCC) solutions.

  • Enterprise Voice has a distributed architecture that reduces bottlenecks and the likelihood of single points of failure.

  • Enterprise Voice can integrate with Exchange Unified Messaging to provide voice mail, voice messaging, e-mail messaging, call answering, subscriber access, call notification, and auto attendant services. (Implementing these services requires integrating Exchange Unified Messaging and Office Communications Server in a shared Active Directory topology.)

  • SIP trunking enables an enterprise to connect its on-premises voice network to a service provider who offers PSTN origination, termination, and emergency services by making use of the SIP protocol. The benefit is reduced costs in deploying voice by using an industry-standard voice protocol (SIP) for PSTN access rather than deploying IP-PSTN gateways within the enterprise network, where these gateways terminate legacy PSTN protocols such as ISDN and T1.

  • Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Attendant enables high-volume call handling from a receptionist’s computer, with advanced features such as consultative transfers by phone or IM, transfers with notes, and availability checking. It is intended primarily for users who must manage multiple calls at once, including receptionists and administrative assistants.