Cisco® and Microsoft have an established and longstanding history of collaborating across a number of technologies to provide customers with innovative business solutions. In the area of unified communications, the two companies are working together to help businesses and agencies deliver inclusive and business-transforming communications solutions, using services and applications from each company.
The Cisco approach to unified communications is centered around the company's market leadership in networking and uses the network as the platform. The Microsoft approach is based on that company's position in desktop applications and operating systems. Although Cisco and Microsoft have distinct approaches to unified communications, these approaches are complementary, intersecting at the user-experience level. With their product overlap, both companies are committed to working together to achieve the common goal of making real-time collaboration a transparent and effective experience for customers and constituents. To help achieve this goal, Cisco and Microsoft actively participate together in open-standards working groups, including the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), and developers from both companies meet regularly to discuss current integration efforts and to define future areas of integration.
"The interoperability of Office Communications Server and Office Communicator with Cisco's communication offerings will lead to more effective real-time collaboration capabilities for our mutual customers."
-Zig Serafin, general manager, Microsoft Unified Communications Group
"Cisco and Microsoft are committed to delivering seamless, interoperable unified communications solutions that utilize the flexibility and openness of SIP and allow joint customers to integrate with their existing infrastructure investments. Employees can now take advantage of new productivity applications-such as viewing phone presence state from any location at home or in the office-to streamline communications and save both time and money."
-Barry O'Sullivan, senior vice president, Cisco Voice Technology Group
Unified Communications
Cisco Unified Communications solutions unify voice, video, data, and mobile applications on fixed and mobile networks, delivering an easy-to-use, media-rich collaboration experience across business, government agency, and institutional workspaces. These applications use the network as the platform for enhancing competitive advantage by accelerating decision time and reducing transaction time. The security, resilience, and scalability of the network enable users in any workspace to connect, anywhere, anytime, and anyplace, using any media, device, or operating system.
The main components of the Cisco Unified Communications solution include call processing, presence, unified messaging, conferencing and collaboration, mobility, security, unified clients, and contact center services and applications. Table 1 lists Cisco and Microsoft unified communications products.
Table 1. Cisco and Microsoft Unified Communications Products
Unified Communications Components
Cisco
Microsoft
Call processing
Cisco Unified Communications Manager
Cisco Unified Communications Manager Business Edition
Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express
Cisco Unified Communications 500 Series for Small Business
Planned in Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007
IP Phones
Cisco Unified IP Phones 7900G Series low- to high-end wired and wireless phones
Third-party original equipment manufacturer (OEM)
Presence
Cisco Unified Presence
Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007
Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2005
Unified desktop client
Cisco Unified Personal Communicator
(PC and Mac)
Microsoft Office Communicator 2007
Microsoft Office Communicator 2005
Rich-media conferencing and collaboration
Cisco Unified MeetingPlace®
Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Express
Microsoft Office Live Meeting and Office Communications Server 2007
Unified messaging
Cisco Unity®
Cisco Unity Connection
Cisco Unity Express
Microsoft Exchange Server 2007
Contact center
Cisco Unified Contact Center
Cisco Unified Contact Center Express
None
Mobility
Cisco Unified Mobility
Cisco Unified CallConnector Mobility
Microsoft Windows Mobile
Mobile client
Cisco Unified Mobile Communicator
(Blackberry, Symbian, and Windows Mobile)
Microsoft Office Communicator Mobile
Groupware
WebEx WebOffice
Microsoft Office SharePoint
Microsoft Office Groove
Microsoft Office Live
Secure network foundation
Cisco ASA Adaptive Security Appliances, Intrusion Prevention System (IPS), VPN, Access Control Server (ACS), Security Agent, Network Access Control (NAC), Integrated Services Routers with quality of service (QoS), and Catalyst® switches with Power over Ethernet (PoE)
None
E-mail and directory services
None
Microsoft Exchange
Microsoft Active Directory
Current Integrations
Cisco Unified Communications Manager with Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 The integration between Cisco Unified Communications and Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, to be available in the second half of 2007, delivers enhanced functions to Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 users and allows organizations to benefit from features inherent in the Cisco Unified Communications solution:
• Click-to-call and third-party call control of Cisco Unified IP Phones and Cisco IP SoftPhones (Cisco IP Communicator) through Microsoft Office Communicator 2007
• Display of Cisco Unified IP Phone presence information on Microsoft Office Communicator 2007
• Incoming call management for calls directed to Cisco Unified IP Phones from Microsoft Office Communicator 2007
Figure 1 shows how to initiate a call using Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 with Cisco Unified Communications Manager phone control.
Figure 1. Click-to-Call Dialing and Third-Party Call Control of Cisco Unified IP Phones Through Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 and Cisco Unified Communications Manager
Figures 2 and 3 show the Cisco Unified IP Phone presence display and the change of presence information when a call is made.
Figure 2. Display of Cisco Unified IP Phone Presence Information on Microsoft Office Communicator 2007
Figure 3. Change of Cisco Unified IP Phone Presence Information on Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 Using Cisco Unified Presence
Figure 4 shows how incoming calls to Cisco Unified IP Phones can be managed from Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 and how the presence state change is indicated.
Figure 4. Incoming Call Management for Calls Directed to Cisco Unified IP Phones from Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 and Presence State Change Using Cisco Unified Presence
Additionally, the integration between Cisco Unified Communications and Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 introduces a simultaneous ring (dual call forking) feature based on the Microsoft Interoperability Specification for Office Communications Server, released in May 2007. With this feature, inbound calls to a Cisco Unified IP Phone registered to Cisco Unified Communications Manager are forked and simultaneously ring on both the Cisco Unified IP Phone and Microsoft Office Communicator 2007. For calls originated from Microsoft Office Communicator, Microsoft Office Communications Server forks to Cisco Unified Communications Manager. This single-number reach (SNR) function will help ensure that users can reach contacted parties efficiently and in real time.
Cisco Solution Components
• Cisco Unified Communications Manager 5.0 or higher: Cisco Unified Communications Manager is a call processing system that provides voice, video, mobility, and presence services to IP phones, media processing devices, voice-over-IP (VoIP) gateways, mobile devices, and multimedia applications.
• Cisco Unified Presence 1.0 or higher: Cisco Unified Presence provides Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) presence and proxy services to deliver instant messaging and click-to-call features and works in conjunction with Cisco Unified Communications Manager and supports Cisco Unified Personal Communicator, Cisco Unified Mobile Communicator, Cisco Unified IP Phone Messenger, and IBM Lotus Sametime clients.
• Cisco Unified IP Phones: Cisco Unified IP Phones provide industry-leading business functions and converged communications features. Supported Cisco Unified IP Phones include Cisco Unified IP Phones 7906G, 7911G, 7940G, 7941G, 7941G-GE, 7960G, 7961G, 7961G-GE, 7970G, and 7971G-GE; Cisco Unified Wireless IP Phones 7920 and 7921G in Skinny Client Control Protocol (SCCP) mode; and Cisco Unified IP Phones 7906G, 7911G, 7941G, 7941G-GE, 7961G, 7961G-GE, 7970G, and 7971G-GE in SIP mode. Video telephony is supported with the Cisco Unified IP Phone 7985G and with integration of Cisco Unified Video Advantage or Cisco Unified Personal Communicator.
Microsoft Solution Components
• Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007
Microsoft Office Communicator 2007
• Additional elements include Microsoft Server 2003, Microsoft Server 2003 Active Directory, Microsoft Server 2003 Domain Name Service (DNS), and Microsoft SQL Server 2000, if using Microsoft Office Communications Server 2005 Enterprise Edition.
Cisco Unified Communications Manager with Microsoft Exchange Server 2007
Cisco Unified Communications Manager is currently the only call processing solution that has open standards-based SIP integration with Microsoft Exchange 2007. This integration simplifies installation and reduces the overall solution cost by eliminating the need for third-party gateways and software. To interoperate with non-SIP, older, or nonintegrated telephony systems or with IP private branch exchanges (IP PBXs), Microsoft Exchange 2007 requires a third-party gateway that can receive and correctly forward incoming calls to the unified messaging server. For message-waiting indicator capability (capability to light the message lamp on the phone) and Short Message Service (SMS) notification, third-party software from Geomant is required when using Microsoft Exchange Server 2007; these functions are inherent in Cisco Unity Unified Messaging.
Cisco Solution Components
• Cisco Unified Communications Manager 5.0 or higher
Microsoft Solution Components
• Microsoft Exchange Server 2007
Cisco Unity with Microsoft Exchange Server 2000, 2003, and 2007
The Cisco Unity solution provides voice, integrated, and unified messaging options that transparently integrate with Microsoft Exchange. Microsoft Exchange 2000 and 2003 are supported today with Cisco Unity 4.0. Support for Microsoft Exchange 2007 is available only with Cisco Unity 5.0.
Support for mixed deployments of voice, integrated, and unified messaging and for different versions of Microsoft Exchange Server provides a cost-effective migration path to unified messaging. Unified messaging users benefit from the simplicity of having e-mail, voice messages, and faxes in their Microsoft Outlook inbox and from the advanced options of the Cisco Unity solution, including the following:
• Alternative device recognition: The Cisco Unity solution automatically recognizes alternative devices, such as mobile phones, when accessing the system, streamlining access.
• Secure messaging: Voice messages are encrypted and can be retrieved only through authorized clients connected to the network; authorized clients also have the capability to configure the message expiration date.
• Message monitoring: Users can listen to and pick up calls while a message is being recorded.
• Cisco Unity ViewMail for Microsoft Outlook: Users can play, compose, and respond to voice messages from within Microsoft Outlook; users also have the capability to play back messages on their Cisco Unified IP Phones or mobile phones (Figure 5).
• Cisco Unity Visual Message Locator: Use the display of a Cisco Unified IP Phone to view, sort, search, and play back voice messages.
Figure 5. Microsoft Outlook and Cisco Unity ViewMail for Microsoft Outlook
Cisco Solution Components
• Cisco Unity 4.0 or higher: The Cisco Unity solution provides unified messaging services, including integration with Microsoft Exchange, IBM Lotus Domino, and Novell GroupWise, as well as voice messaging for businesses with up to 250,000 users.
Microsoft Solution Components
• Microsoft Exchange Server 2000, 2003, or 2007
• Microsoft Outlook 2000, 2002 (XP), 2003, or 2007
Cisco Unified Mobile Communicator with Microsoft Windows Mobile
The integration between Cisco Unified Mobile Communicator and Microsoft Windows Mobile (Figure 6) brings the media-rich features of the Cisco mobile unified client to mobile phones and smartphones (Cisco Unified Mobile Communicator running on Microsoft Windows Mobile is planned for the first quarter of CY2008). Features include the following:
• Integrated presence-enabled directory
• Unified voicemail
– Office and mobile voicemail visual notification and playback
Figure 6. Cisco Unified Mobile Communicator and Microsoft Windows Mobile
Cisco Solution Components
• Cisco Unified Mobile Communicator: This mobile unified client extends the Cisco Unified Communications media-rich workspace experience to mobile handsets. Cisco Unified Mobile Communicator helps workers quickly access their powerful communication tools, including voice, unified messaging, instant messaging, call management, directories, and presence.
• Cisco Unified Presence 6.0 or higher: This SIP presence and proxy server delivers instant messaging and click-to-call features, working in conjunction with Cisco Unified Communications Manager and supporting Cisco Unified Personal Communicator, Cisco Unified Mobile Communicator, Cisco IP Phone Messenger, and IBM Lotus Sametime clients.
• Cisco Unified Communications Manager 5.0 or higher
• Cisco Unity 4.0 or higher
Microsoft Solution Components
• Microsoft Windows Mobile 6
• Microsoft Exchange Server 2003
Cisco Unified Personal Communicator with Microsoft Outlook 2007 or 2003
The integration between Cisco Unified Personal Communicator and Microsoft Outlook 2007 or 2003 includes a Microsoft Outlook toolbar (Figure 7) for Cisco Unified Personal Communicator 1.2. This toolbar enables click-to-call capabilities from Microsoft Outlook contacts and e-mail. Microsoft Outlook users can save time and respond swiftly to queries by using the toolbar to initiate a call with Cisco Unified Personal Communicator. Users do not need to manually enter a number; they simply click with the mouse to communicate with anyone in their contacts list.
Figure 7. Microsoft Outlook Toolbar for Cisco Unified Personal Communicator
Cisco Unified Personal Communicator also enables users to display free and busy availability information based on their Microsoft Outlook or Exchange calendar (display of calendar-based presence information from Microsoft Outlook or Exchange 2007 on Cisco Unified Personal Communicator is planned for the second half of CY2007). For example, an appointment or meeting in the calendar automatically changes the user's presence status to busy, eliminating the need to manually update availability information when joining a meeting. The capability to maintain availability and status information automatically helps users maintain up-to-date presence information at all times and makes collaboration more efficient.
Cisco Solution Components
• Cisco Unified Personal Communicator 1.2: This unified client allows users to communicate and collaborate more effectively, anytime and anywhere. From a single, easy-to-use application on the PC or Mac, Cisco Unified Personal Communicator helps workers quickly access their powerful communication tools, including voice, video, Web conferencing, instant messaging, call management, directories, and presence.
• Cisco Unified Presence 6.0 or higher
• Cisco Unified Communications Manager 5.0 or higher
Microsoft Solution Components
• Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 or 2003
• Microsoft Outlook 2007 or 2003
Cisco Unified Communications with Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2005 and Office Communicator 2005
The integration between Cisco Unified Communications and Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2005 delivers enhanced functions to Microsoft Office Communicator 2005 users and allows organizations to benefit from media-rich features inherent in the Cisco Unified Communications solution.
Enhanced Microsoft Office Communicator Features with Cisco Unified Communications
The click-to-call option allows users to initiate a phone call from one Cisco Unified IP Phone to another directly from Microsoft Office Communicator. Therefore, when an instant messaging session needs to escalate to a voice conversation, a user can simply click the phone icon and then click Call. This action rings both Cisco Unified IP Phones. This feature can be initiated from an instant messaging chat session in progress or directly from the contact list.
• The presence status of Cisco Unified IP Phones, such as "in a call" or "idle," is visible within Microsoft Office Communicator. A user can see whether the person that he or she is trying to reach is on a Cisco Unified IP Phone, helping the user determine the most appropriate form of contact.
• Microsoft Office Communicator users can benefit from the enterprise-class conferencing capabilities of Cisco Unified Communications Manager.
• Redirection of calls to mobile phones is available, including the capability to use Microsoft Office Communicator to accept incoming calls on a Cisco Unified IP Phone.
• When a call is placed to a Cisco Unified IP Phone, a message will appear on the user's computer providing options to click to answer or click to divert.
• Phone feature controls from Microsoft Office Communicator include hang up, hold, and transfer.
The example in Figure 8 shows how to control incoming calls to a Cisco Unified IP Phone with Microsoft Office Communicator 2005.
Figure 8. Incoming Call Phone Controls
1. Mr. Spock receives an incoming call from Leonard McCoy on his Cisco Unified IP Phone. An incoming call notification pop-up message appears within Microsoft Office Communicator on Mr. Spock's computer.
2. Mr. Spock can accept the call by clicking the message, or he can divert the message to another number by selecting Forward To and choosing the number to receive the call.
The examples in Figures 9 and 10 show the phone presence status of Cisco Unified IP Phones within Microsoft Office Communicator 2005.
Figure 9. Phone Status "In a Call"
1. Mr. Spock needs to speak to James T. Kirk, but Kirk's phone presence status indicates that he is on a call. If he wants, in the meantime, Mr. Spock can send James T. Kirk an instant message letting him know that he needs to speak to him.
Figure 10. Phone Status "Online"
2. After James T. Kirk hangs up his phone, the phone presence status changes from "In a call" to "Online." Mr. Spock can now place his call to Kirk.
The example in Figure 11 shows how to initiate a three-way conference call using Microsoft Office Communicator 2005 with Cisco Unified Communications Manager phone control and conferencing capabilities.
Figure 11. Click to Call and Click to Conference with Cisco Unified Communications
1. Bill initiates a call with Nihal.
2. Nihal answers, and Bill and Nihal are connected.
3. Bill places Nihal on hold to add another colleague to the call.
4. Bill clicks the plus (+) sign, which opens his buddy list, which displays the phone status, indicating whether or not the buddy is currently on a call.
5. Bill selects Randy to add to the call and chooses the phone number from the call drop-down menu.
6. Bill clicks the Add button. Bill, Nihal, and Randy are now on a three-way conference call.
Cisco Unified Communications Features
• Presence-aware speed dialing, call logs, and directory on Cisco Unified IP Phones (Figures 12 and 13)
Figure 12. Presence-Aware Speed Dialing
Figure 13. Presence-Aware Call Logs and Directory
• Management and administration functions; use of shared lines
• Corporate dial plans
• Message-waiting indicator on desktop phones and soft phones
• Call detail records
• QoS features, including call-admission control
• Video telephony
Cisco Solution Components
• Cisco Unified Communications Manager 5.0 or higher
• Cisco Unified Presence 1.0 or higher
• Cisco Unified IP Phones: Cisco Unified IP Phones provide industry-leading business functions and converged communications features. Supported Cisco Unified IP Phones include Cisco Unified IP Phones 7906G, 7911G, 7940G, 7941G, 7941G-GE, 7960G, 7961G, 7961G-GE, 7970G, and 7971G-GE; Cisco Unified Wireless IP Phones 7920 and 7921G in SCCP mode; and Cisco Unified IP Phones 7906G, 7911G, 7941G, 7941G-GE, 7961G, 7961G-GE, 7970G, and 7971G-GE in SIP mode. Video telephony is supported with the Cisco Unified IP Phone 7985G and with integration of Cisco Unified Video Advantage or Cisco Unified Personal Communicator.
Microsoft Solution Components
• Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2005
• Microsoft Office Communicator 1.0 or 2005
• Additional elements include Microsoft Server 2003, Microsoft Server 2003 Active Directory, Microsoft Server 2003 DNS, and Microsoft SQL Server 2000, if using Microsoft Office Communications Server 2005 Enterprise Edition.
Cisco Unified MeetingPlace with Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2005 and Office Communicator 2005
The integration of the rich-media conferencing capabilities of Cisco Unified MeetingPlace with the presence and text messaging capabilities of Microsoft Office Live Communications Server and Office Communicator allows users to establish Cisco Unified MeetingPlace conferences directly from the Microsoft Office Communicator client and quickly escalate instant messaging sessions to audio conferences.
The conferencing features of the Cisco Unified MeetingPlace solution are simple point-and-click options that are accessible from Microsoft Office Communicator. Figure 14 shows a Microsoft Office Communicator user escalating an instant message chat session to a Cisco Unified MeetingPlace conference session by clicking the Conference button on the toolbar. The invitees see a dialog box, where they can click the Go button to have the Cisco Unified MeetingPlace application dial the user's phone and connect them to the audio conference.
Figure 14. Initiating a Cisco MeetingPlace Conference Using Microsoft Office Communicator
Cisco Solution Components
• Cisco Unified MeetingPlace 6: This enterprise-class, rich-media conferencing solution makes remote meetings as natural and effective as face-to-face meetings. The solution integrates voice, video, and Web conferencing with industry-leading setup and control capabilities to meet the needs of organizations looking for a single solution and user environment for all their conferencing needs.
• Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Conference user interface
Microsoft Solution Components
• Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 (Cisco Unified MeetingPlace integration with Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 is planned for 2008)
• Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2005 (Standard or Enterprise)
• Microsoft Office Communicator 1.0 / 2005
• Microsoft Exchange Server 2000 or 2003
• Microsoft Outlook 2000, 2002 (XP), or 2003
Cisco Integrated Services Routers with Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007
Cisco Integrated Services Routers are ideal for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and small enterprise branch offices. They enable businesses to reduce costs by deploying a single, resilient system for fast, highly secure delivery of multiple mission-critical business services, including data, security, and wireless. Cisco Integrated Services Routers provide IP-to-public switched telephone network (PSTN) gateway functions, allowing businesses and agencies using Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 to interconnect with service providers and the public network.
Interdomain Federation
Today's internetworking of Cisco Unified Communications with Microsoft Office Communications Server and Office Communicator 2005 is the first step toward a truly unified and federated solution for joint Cisco and Microsoft customers. Federation of instant messaging and rich presence creates an environment that fosters transparent communication across a wide variety of devices, applications, and media types within the entire user work environment. Interdomain federation between Cisco Unified Presence and Microsoft Office Communications Server is presently under development.
Summary
Cisco and Microsoft are strategic partners and have a strong track record of collaboration in the development of their respective products and technologies. Both companies are actively working on product integrations across a number of product areas to provide organizations with maximum flexibility in deploying unified communications. Many of these integrations are available today, and more will be available soon. Cisco and Microsoft are building on open standards such as SIP to allow joint customers to use their existing resources and to deliver workspace-transforming collaboration experiences that increase individual and organizational productivity.
