IT EXPO East 2009: Microsoft goes official with Response Point SP2

MIAMI - Microsoft officially announced SP2 (Service Pack 2) for its Release Point SMB IP PBX. The company also added two new certified service providers for the show.

New features/enhanced incorporated into SP2 include support for intercom and paging capabilities, analog phone support, VPN support, an automated night receptionist scheduler, multi-subnets and additional trunk devices.

For web 2.0/mash up junkies, there's support for URL/HTML customization, so a "trained specialist" can trigger and populate web pages to pop up based upon caller ID information. Speaking to Fierce in Miami, Response Point officials characterized the addition of web page support as a feature to let people understand what is possible in terms of extending the basic platform and leaving the job for extensive template creation and customization in the hands of VARs, the aforementioned "trained specialists."

Two new ITSPs were added to the mix, TotalTel in the U.S and SMB Phone in Canada. SMB Phone will provide a complete solution to customers, including hardware and phone service.  Response Point officials indicated a "bunch of other partners" will be announcing support for the platform in the future.

Other things that make the Response Point team happy include the appearance of two independently written books about the IP PBX system and a third-party website. "Microsoft resellers see [Response Point] as a way to move from traditional data services to now being able to offer telephony," said a Response Point team member.

The Response Point effort is unlike most other Microsoft activities. It operates as an independent start-up with Microsoft and currently has a lean-and-mean team of around 35 members.

For more:
- Response Point has its own blog

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