Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 version comparison

Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 combines powerful presence and contact management features with software powered VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) and integrates seamlessly with applications and tools you use most often. Building on the strengths of Office Communicator 2005, Office Communicator 2007 introduces a wide range of new features that improves the way you can find, connect, and collaborate with coworkers and colleagues.

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• Rich presence and contact management

• Enterprise voice and seamless transition of communication modes

• Integration with Microsoft Office applications

• Real time communications in the office and on the road

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Rich presence and contact management

Office Communicator 2007 builds on the presence capabilities of its predecessor, making them richer and more integrated so that you can find the people you need and determine the best way to contact them. Presence states are now more granular and integrated with Microsoft Office applications. You also have greater control over managing your own status and providing custom messages about your availability and location, and can create groups to share different levels of information.

Rich and robust contact management features provide greater control and more detailed information of your contacts. Contact details include an action menu with options for contacting the person, and a Recent Contacts group tracks your last ten contacts, be it IM, phone, or video. You can drag a new contact into your Contact list to add it — or even drag the contact into a current call.

KEY:
= Feature Included   = Improved   = New

Features and Benefits	Office Communicator 2005	Office Communicator 2007
Automatic presence states
Rich presence states and custom messages
Location display
‘Do Not Disturb’ State (set a do-not-disturb state that blocks incoming messages except from designated users)
Different access level for different groups in contacts
Recent Contact Groups with last 10 contacts
Contact list features like grouping, search, drag and drop, customized lists,
Corporate distribution group integration
Contact card information including an action menu
Multi-select contacts for single click conferencing

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Enterprise voice and seamless transition of communication modes

With Office Communicator 2007, you can transition seamlessly between person-to-person or group IM, voice, and video conferencing. You can choose the method of communication that most suits your need using the same familiar interface — start with an IM and add voice or video or invite others to join in by a simply dropping their contact in the active conversation window. With the Web conferencing capabilities of Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 or Microsoft Office Live Meeting service, you can easily escalate to a Web conference to share applications, slides, or your desktop.

You can not only switch between different modes of communication, but also use features like call forwarding, hold, and dynamic routing from your PC. With Office Communicator 2007, your PC becomes your phone and, with the attendant architecture, delivers VoIP capabilities that enhance and streamline your communications experience.

Office Communicator 2007 also offers robust support features that make it very easy for you to add devices of your choice. With automatic audio and video detection you can easily add USB handsets, headsets, speakers, and Web cameras.

KEY:
= Feature Included   = Improved   = New

Features and Benefits	Office Communicator 2005	Office Communicator 2007
Inbound and outbound calling — make and receive PC-to-PC calls or to and from regular phone lines
Call features — call forward, simultaneous ring, hold, dynamic routing
Add Subject and Importance to a call
Seamless switching between different modes of communication
Escalation to group IM, voice, or video
Escalate to Web conferencing1
Add users to a conference by "dialing out"
USB devices support

¹ Web conferencing functionality is dependent on Office Communications Server 2007 or Microsoft Office Live Meeting licensing and device capabilities.

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Integration with Microsoft Office applications

One of the more powerful features of Office Communicator is the seamless integration with Microsoft Office Outlook 2007, Microsoft Office SharePoint sites and other Microsoft Office applications. Presence is integrated across Microsoft Officeand provides you with the ability to communicate within the applications and share context. Whether it’s making a phone call right from Office Outlook 2007 or checking the availability of a business document’s author, you can find who you need to contact and communicate using the most appropriate method.

Microsoft Office integration goes beyond presence and allows you to take advantage of tools and interfaces that you are intimately familiar with, but in a new context of communications. You can take notes using Microsoft Office OneNote 2007 from within a conversation, which are referenced and easily accessible from within the archived conversations folder. Maintain a log of all conversations in Office Outlook 2007 and access related content like e-mails from within the archive.

Alerts that notify users of incoming messages or calls are now smarter and more actionable. Alerts take the form of non intrusive mini alerts when you are in full-screen mode like a PowerPoint presentation.

KEY:
= Feature Included   = Improved   = New

Features and Benefits	Office Communicator 2005	Office Communicator 2007
Integrated presence with Microsoft Office applications
Reply to e-mail with IM or voice call
Automatically add subject line to communication from within Outlook 2007
OneNote 2007 integration
Rich text formatting in IM
Ability to store Conversation history and call logs in Outlook 2007 folder
Enhanced invitation alerts

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Real time communications in the office and on the road

Office Communicator 2007 improves users’ ability to communicate in the office, at home, and on the road. Security enhanced voice calls, IM, and conferencing are available on a wide range of networks without requiring a secure tunnel (VPN connection) into the corporate network. Access to rich presence and communications capabilities is available from various devices. You can connect from your desktop using Office Communicator 2007, from a public internet kiosk using Communicator Web Access, and from a Microsoft Windows Mobile device using Communicator Mobile using the same login that provides access to your Office Communicator 2007 contact list.

KEY:
= Feature Included   = Improved  = New

Features and Benefits	Office Communicator 2005	Office Communicator 2007
Access without requiring a secure VPN connection
Multiple modes and devices — Communicator on PC, Communicator Web Access through Web browser, Communicator Mobile on mobile phones
Access to same contact list

 Note   Office Communications Server (OCS) 2007 is required to enable the full functionality of Office Communicator 2007 — this includes rich-presence integration with Microsoft Office, instant messaging, voice, video, and conferencing capabilities.

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