Microsoft unveils SMB VoIP systems

Microsoft's small business VoIP software is on the way to the original equipment manufacturers and price-tag trial balloons are floating. The news is a prelude to the expected launch of Microsoft's much ballyhooed unified communications platform [1], scheduled for Oct. 16 in San Francisco.

Network World said the Microsoft SMB Response Point VoIP [2] software is being bundled with 20 phone systems from OEMs Quanta and D-Link, for around $5,500. Astra Technologies will start turning out Response Point phones next year. A four-phone ATA (analog phone adapter) system with security gateway will cost around $2,500, plus $159 for each additional phone. A third configuration, the five-phone ATA VoiceCenter from D-Link, will run $2,999 plus $149 for each additional phone. It's due on the market by the end of the year. Wireless handsets are being teed up for next year.

The early buzz [3] on Response Point was dry. Critics noted it was mostly a converted analog phone system, but Microsoft execs said it was designed for companies with little or no technical expertise and not enough money to buy a PBX--e.g., a transitional system. Microsoft fails to take two key points into account: A) the SMB VoIP provisioning space is crawling with options--3Com's $1,600 30-user Asterisk system, for example--and B) for every small business owner, there are three or four tech-savvy friends or relatives. Response Point may be five years too late.

For More:
- Network World has the summary here [4]
- ChannelWeb has further details here [5]