e/pop Web & Video Conferencing Compatible
with Microsoft Office Communicator (OC) & Office Communications Server 2007 (OCS)

e/pop is Compatible with Microsoft® Outlook™, Office™,
and Explorer™ Today!

e/pop Web and Video Conferencing (v4.5x) is already compatible with Microsoft Outlook, Exchange, the Office suite and Explorer. e/pop has tray icons and Office application tool buttons (which install at your option) that make it easy to start web conferences right from Outlook, an Outlook invitation, Word, Excel, any Office application, and your PC desktop. This capability is referred to as the e/pop Quick Start Client. It can make starting a videoconference as easy as one or two clicks – even easier than using a phone.

Compatibility with Microsoft Office Communications Server™ (OCS)

e/pop is also compatible with Microsoft Live Communications Server 2005 (LCS), now called Office Communications Server 2007 (OCS); and the Office Communicator client (OC). While e/pop is fully compatible with these Microsoft products, there is no e/pop add-in or tool-button such as our tool-buttons for the Office suite. Now that the transition from LCS to OCS is complete, WiredRed and the vendor community can focus their compatibility and plug-in efforts on the surviving Microsoft product. The focus of e/pop compatibility will continue to be the existing Office suite, Explorer shell (i.e., desktop) and future versions of Office Communications Server 2007 and the matching OC client.

Videoconference Applications for Office Communicator™ 2007

Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 is a softphone and unified communications client with a broad set of features. Like all phones, it is highly dependent on its associated PBX or switch, in this case, the Office Communications Server (OCS).

The features, controls and security available to a typical Communicator network user will vary a great deal, depending on the company’s network, and presence or absence of Communicator Server (the “switch”), Live Meeting Service account, and other required infrastructure such as Exchange, SQL Server, Internet Information Server (IIS), Active Directory (ADS), and Telephony CALs. Such features may include presence, IM, chat, consumer IM interchange, one-to-one (1:1) and web, VoIP and video conferencing, among others.

In addition, these features also depend on time. According to Gartner Research (see below), Many of the premium features mentioned above are not expected in mainstream enterprise deployments until 2008.

The latter aside, the OC client will simply be untenable for customers that do not have the prerequisite infrastructure; and for others it supports a mix of features, some of which may or may not be available to network users.

e/pop Video Conferencing Compatibility with OC

So, there is a wide variety of customer configurations: those with no OC products at all; those planning to move to OC, but do not yet have all the pre-requisites; customers with OC, but using a limited mix of features; all the way to customers that have a fully deployed OC shop, but choose to use third-party, best of breed conferencing tools.  The latter may do so because products such as e/pop focus on connectivity to users outside the enterprise, security, and high-speed desktop sharing and multiparty video. For these critical applications, best-of-breed products arguably do a better job.

e/pop customers can deploy e/pop – whether on-premise software or online service – and take advantage of its multipoint web and video conferencing capabilities today, and rest assured that compatibility with the Office suite and OC will continue to be maintained in the future.

Additional Material

Please feel free to contact sales regarding the e/pop product roadmap and Microsoft compatibility.

The following links are provided as a research courtesy:

WiredRed Outlook & Office Suite Compatibility Announcement: http://www.wiredred.com/news_release_epop_oneclick.html

Microsoft Communicator 2007 Announcement
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2006/jun06/06-25UCGRoadmapPR.mspx

Gartner Commentary: http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060627/news_1b27msft.html htp://www.gartner.com

More Information

e/pop web & video conferencing features...
e/pop systems administration & product data sheet (PDF)...

Schedule a Live Demo
Click here to schedule a Live Demo. See how you can save time and money with multiparty video conferencing right from anyone's desk, worldwide.

WARNING! This page deemed accurate but cannot be guaranteed. Forward-looking statements such as product features, intended compatibility and release dates for e/pop and other 3rd party products are based on information available at the time. Schedules, features and product specifications are subject to change.