Click-to-Dial and Presence-driven-action boost ease of use and productivity

Hilversum, The Netherlands, September 29, 2009 – NEC Philips Unified Solutions (NEC Philips) has developed a solution that connects Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 (R2) with NEC’s IP communications servers, bridging the gap between computer and phone and significantly boosting productivity and ease of use. 

NEC’s Remote Call Control solution (RCC) enables Microsoft Office, Microsoft Office Communicator and Microsoft Office Communications Server to work seamlessly together with the telephony infrastructure as provided by NEC Philips’ iS3000/SiP@Net, 2000 IPS, SV7000, SV8100 and SV8300 platforms. 

With the Office Communicator client one can now control one’s phone, whether it is a normal analogue/digital desk-phone, IP-DECT handset or soft-phone. RCC also enables monitoring one’s phone state and those of colleagues. 

Dialling and answering at the click of a mouse
Remote Call Control enables phones to be controlled from desktops or notebooks, using Office Communicator to e.g. find colleagues and business contacts in one’s Outlook contact list or Corporate Directory, check their availability and call them by means of a simple mouse-click. There is no need anymore to use the keypad of the phone. The voice communications server is instructed to make the connection between the caller and the other party.

Another feature provided is to see on screen who is calling you in advance of answering a call, enabling one to decide whether to answer it, deflect it to voicemail or to a colleague. Incoming calls are announced via pop-up windows. Users can also put a call on hold, transfer a call and add other parties. 

Telephony Presence determines course of action
Another benefit is that users can visually monitor whether a colleague is in a telephone conversation or not. This information avoids placing a phone call when it is obvious that the other party is on the phone. The caller can decide to send an email or Instant Message instead. By tagging a contact in Communicator the user will get a notification when the other party has hung-up his/her phone and becomes available again. Alternatively, when a user is chatting using IM, he/she can escalate the IM to a phone call just by clicking on the phone icon.

This Unified Communications solution demonstrates how NEC’s UNIVERGE® 360 can provide value to organisations by means of integrating Microsoft® Office Communication Server 2007 (R2) and Outlook®.