MICROSOFT TARGETS VOIP MARKET... FROM FIERCEWIRELESS

Whenever I read something like this about Microsoft, the "Death Star/Stormtrooper" track plays through my head and a shiver goes down my spine. Watch out, Vonage! Be fearful, SunRocket! Look over your shoulder, AT&T!

Microsoft aims to capture VoIP market

Microsoft plans to dominate the IP telephony applications market. The company is planning to offer a new version of its instant messaging server, Live Communications Server (LCS), and a corporate IM client, code-named Istanbul. LCS incorporates a SIP-based platform that can be used to handle VoIP calls. The new LCS/Istanbul combo is designed to work in tandem with Microsoft Exchange and Outlook. This messaging framework will allow a user to call someone over the Internet by clicking on a person or a phone number in their Outlook address book.

If this initial rollout works, Microsoft will likely bundle VoIP applications in future versions of Longhorn and Windows Mobile. By integrating VoIP into Outlook, Exchange, MSN Messenger, and Windows, Microsoft could corner both the VoIP applications and PBX markets. If you add Windows Mobile into the equation, the software giant could also capture the wireless VoIP market before it even gets off the ground. Microsoft could potentially do to VoIP what it did to Netscape in the 1990s.