Microsoft Office Communicator
2005 Overview
Communicator 2005 is an integrated
communications client, enabling information workers to communicate
in real time. As the recommended client for Microsoft Office Live
Communications Server 2005, Communicator 2005 integrates with
Microsoft Office System applications and enterprise telephony
infrastructure
Connect People Inside the
Enterprise in Real Time
 In
a world of communications overload where virtual working continues
to increase, existing forms of asynchronous communication are no
longer sufficient. Communicator 2005 integrates rich communication
capabilities to allow teams and information workers to more easily
and efficiently communicate in real time.
Find people you need to communicate with
easily via integration with existing corporate directories.
Communicate seamlessly with others in
different locations or time zones, with a range of different
communication modalities
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View rich information about a
contact's availability, details about their schedule, or
even their 'out of office' message, through integration with
Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 and Microsoft Exchange Server. |
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Use 1:1 video and voice
communications capabilities for rich interactions beyond
text-based instant messaging (IM) Avoid continually checking
for colleagues' status. Communicator 2005 lets you tag key
contacts so you can know when they become available and can
communicate with them more quickly.
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Connect the PC and the Phone
The enterprise telephone has been a key
form of real-time communications for some time, although until today
it has not been well integrated with the PC. Communicator 2005
bridges the gap between the enterprise phone an
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Initiate telephone calls with
your enterprise phone directly from Communicator 2005, or
other applications such as Outlook, without having to take
the number out of one application and dial it into the
phone. |
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Forward your desk phone
automatically, based on where you are if you walk away from
your desk, your calls can automatically be diverted to a
mobile phone. |
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Access phone features via
Communicator 2005, accept, transfer, and divert calls or add
people to the phone conversation through an easy-to-use,
intuitive user interface, rather than having to remember
complicated sequences to dial into a telephone. |
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Switch from a group IM
conversation to an audio conference call at the click of a
button using Communicator 2005's integration abilities with
audio conferencing service providers. The conferencing
bridge automatically calls participants at the number they
choose, making it unnecessary to circulate PINs or passcodes
via another form of communication. |
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See pop-up notifications for
incoming calls. Integration with Outlook and your corporate
directory lets you know who is calling you and whether they
are online of offline. With one mouse click, you can answer
the call if you are next to your phone, or, divert the call
to another number such as a mobile or home phone. |
Increase the Velocity of your
Supply Chain
Even with the best communications tools,
being restricted to communicating within one enterprise is often not
enough to meet the demands of business today. As the recommended
client for Live Communications Server 2005, Communicator 2005
extends the reach of these solutions beyond the traditional boundary
of the enterprise and enables faster reactions throughout your
supply chain.
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Conduct IM conversations
securely with customers and partners from one client whether
they use Live Communications Server or a public IM client
like AOL, MSN, or Yahoo!. |
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Escalate an IM conversation to a
Microsoft Office Live Meeting or start a conference call
with a public switched telephone network (PSTN) conferencing
provider easily from within the Communicator 2005 client. |
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Make more informed decisions
about which calls you want to take and stay in touch with
customers and business partners using Communicator 2005's
telephony integration capabilities, call forwarding based on
presence and corporate directory and personal address book
integration. |
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Stay connected whether you work
from the office, the road, or home. Communicator 2005 makes
it easy for people to stay part of the team. With Live
Communications Server's support for the 'outside user'
scenario, no virtual private network (VPN) is required
making it much simpler for people to stay connected. |
Pricing and
Licensing
The IM, presence, and 1:1 audio and
video capabilities available in Communicator 2005 are provided to
customers who have Live Communication Server 2005 Client Access
Licenses (CALs) at no additional cost. For these customers, using
the telephony features of Communicator 2005 (private branch exchange
(PBX) integration for remote call control and PSTN audio
conferencing) requires the purchase of the appropriate number of
Live Communication Server Telephony CALs. For more information about
pricing of these CALs, please see the
Live Communications Server How to Buy page.
Certain elements of functionality,
including telephony integration, require integration with other
systems, which may require deployment of additional components from
third parties, and additional cost.
Public IM Connectivity is required to
connect Live Communications Server-enabled users to the public IM
service providers MSN, AOL, and Yahoo!. For more
information, see the
Live Communications Server 2005 Public IM Connectivity Overview |
