Microsoft News Tracker

Today Microsoft has a press release about the Microsoft telecom deal in Japan we mentioned yesterday and the parameters are rather different than the original press report hinted at:

Microsoft Co. Ltd., SOFTBANK BB Corp., and JAPAN TELECOM CO. LTD., announced that they are developing a security-enhanced, integrated communications service that combines voice over Internet protocol (VoIP), e-mail, Internet access, groupware, presence, instant messaging and desktop services with network infrastructure, and that they have formed a strategic business alliance to provide this service as a business-oriented solution.

The combination of Microsoft® Solution for Enhanced VoIP Services with the IP phone expertise of SOFTBANK BB, Japan’s largest carrier of IP phone services, delivers a platform with enhanced security that provides rich messaging, presence and collaboration functions with high-quality voice services. Further, JAPAN TELECOM plans to couple this integrated communication service with its high-quality networking infrastructure and managed network operation to provide its own information communication technologies (ICT) platform service to the corporate market.

The target is small and medium businesses. The Microsoft® Solution for Enhanced VoIP Services is one of Microsoft’s service provider offerings combining the Microsoft® Solution for Hosted Messaging and Collaboration with partner Sylantro Systems Corp.’s Application Feature Server. A similar deal was done in September in the USA with Qwest.