Microsoft launches Next Wave of Business Communications Software

 

 Microsoft’s Unified Communications and VoIP software includes Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, Microsoft Office Communicator, Microsoft Office Live Meeting and the Service Pack Update of Microsoft Exchange Server 2007.

 

 Microsoft’s UC solution offers substantial cost savings to customers also because it allows businesses to leverage existing IT and telephony infrastructure, with no need to make any change in current telephony infrastructure such as EPBAX systems. 

 

Microsoft’s India-based development centre, MIDC, has also played a significant role in developing the latest Unified Communication solution filing over five patents already in the process. The Communicator Mobile v2.0 which works on all WinMobile Cellphones, as well as Office Communicator Phone Edition v1.0, a presence leveraged phone with unified call logs and visual voice mail and easy conferenencing, by partnes such as LG-Nortel and Polycom. 

 

LG-Nortel’s innovative family of unified communications devices includes three models optimized for Office Communications Server 2007 and Office Communicator 2007. The LG-Nortel IP Phone 8540 features a large 5.7-inch colour touch screen LCD display and delivers an improved communications experience, including high-quality wideband audio for clearer voice and security features such as a biometric fingerprint lock. The LG-Nortel USB Phone 8501 is a PC peripheral that offers high-quality wideband audio and tight integration with Office Communicator 2007 in a familiar desktop handset form factor. The LG-Nortel Wireless Headset 8502 with Bluetooth wireless technology adds un-tethered functionality with a range of up to 10 metres and a talk-time of up to six hours.

 

NETGEAR Technologies has brought in the NETGEAR WIRELESS-G ROUTER (WGR614) - for surfing the Internet, email and online chat for home and office. It is also a simple and secure way to share high-speed Internet connection across 5-10 users without any compromise on speed. WGR614 provides a speed of up to 54Mbps and support 802.11g protocol. 

 

This broadband router with 4 ports is configurable for private networks and public hotspots and also has an inbuilt Double Firewall protection from external hackers’ attacks. WGR614 delivers a simple secure way to add wireless connection to your network at a great value. It makes sharing your cable/DSL connection with other PCs spontaneously. The WGR614 features double firewall protection to help shield the network from intrusions with two security methods. And, NETGEAR’s Smart Wizard installation software makes set-up easy. 

 

Atul Jain, Country Manager, Netgear Technologies India and SAARC, says, “With the too much pressure from real estate pricing, there have been endeavours from all the quarters in the industry, NETGEAR WGR614 will surely help you to be flexible in terms of physical presence in the office. Secondly, the user is free from the messy wiring. And thirdly, you enjoy a very good speed up to 54Mbps. So, combination of all these three things can increase the productivity of the users, mobility with home/office yet accessing e-mail/Internet seamlessly, accommodate more seats and, finally, it adds to the aesthetic office space.” 

 

Available with two national distributors - Rashi Peripherals and Cyberstar Infocom, the pricing of the WGR614 is Rs.2,149 and it comes with 2-years warranty.

 

Ranga Shankara has firmly established itself in Bangalore as the place to be for any theatre or arts lover. While theatre is Ranga Shankara’s primary focus, there has been a constant endeavour to showcase allied arts on the premises. Visual Arts, in the form of photography and fine arts, come first on this count. Of the various fields of photography that are practised in India like commercial, journalistic, matrimonial and fine art, there is one little known offshoot called “Theatre Photography” that remains an art form in its infancy in India. In an exhibition brought by Ranga Shankara and Epson and curated by renowned photographer Pallon Daruwala, seven talented photographers showcase their rendition of theatre, art and Ranga Shankara. 

 

The exhibition of photographs, shot before and during this year’s Ranga Shankara Theatre festival, was opened by the very senior painter/artist S. G. Vasudev at Ranga Shankara on the last day of the Theatre Festival 2007 and will now run for 30 days till 29th November, 2007. The talented young photographers showcasing their works are Anandi Chowriappa, Harris Backer, Murali N, Patrick Wilson, Neha Bajaj, Sai Darshan Paliwal and Vivek Mathew. All the photographs have been printed on an Epson Stylus Pro Inkjet Printer using archival (up to 200 years) quality Epson UltraChrome K3 Inks. Exclusive and limited edition prints of the photographs are on sale for art collectors as well.

 

3Com Corporation has introduced new managed Gigabit switches that deliver large-enterprise performance and features at small-business prices. Optimized for small- and medium-sized businesses, the new 3Com Baseline Switch 2900 Plus Family and 3Com OfficeConnect Managed Gigabit PoE Switch deliver voice-ready Layer 2 enterprise-class Gigabit switching with Power over Ethernet, advanced features for network control and flexibility and comprehensive security capabilities. 

 

The new products are the latest examples of 3Com’s Secure Converged Networks strategy, where a single converged architecture enables all voice, video and data traffic to be managed effectively and intelligently over one secure network. The key benefits of the new switches include out-of-the-box operation for organizations with limited or no IT support, Auto-voice VLAN– which only 3Com offers – to automatically detect and connect any standards-based Internet Protocol phones, Quality-of-Service prioritization so voice calls always have sufficient bandwidth to ensure clarity, Fast Gigabit Ethernet performance for high-bandwidth applications such as video, IP security, ERP and CRM and PoE models that eliminate the expense of installing electrical connections and enable remote wireless device control over the network. 

 

The OfficeConnect Managed Gigabit PoE switch and the entire Baseline Switch 2900 Plus Family can be deployed right out of the box. It can be done quickly and easily with the switches’ Web management interface, which provides an intuitive menu-driven process so even novice users can quickly and confidently configure the switch during the initial set-up and manage it during normal operation if custom configuration is needed. The OfficeConnect 10-port PoE switch has a U.S. list price of $495. The U.S. list prices for the four Baseline Switch 2900 plus models are: 16-port – $355, 24-port – $495, 48-port – $995 and 24-port with PoE – $1,195.