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, scheduled for Oct. 16 in San Francisco.

Network World said the Microsoft SMB Response Point VoIP 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 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
- ChannelWeb has further details here