Signal to Noise

I find it interesting that, on the day the news broke (good job Andy) about Microsoft pushing into the VoIP space, ostensibly to build PBX and presence functions into their software (come on, is this really news–it was a matter of when, not if), I was approached by a patent attorney who wants help with technical issues related to VoIP patents.  In fact, this was the second such call I’ve received in recent weeks.

Does Microsoft hold any IP Communications-related patents? I don’t really know.  But I can tell you this, when the Microsoft gets into a business five years too late, the legal and regulatory consequences for the industry it is trying to pry into are usually ugly and plentiful.  It really makes me wonder–do we really need Microsoft in the telecom space?

About eighteen months ago, I was talking to somebody (who will remain unnamed) at Microsoft about the potential for the company’s VoIP influence in the coming months and years. I asked if he viewed Microsoft as a competitor to Cisco, Avaya, or Nortel in the IP PBX space, and the answer was a definitive “no”.  He suggested that Microsoft would “love to develop software for their equipment”, but outside the large-scale carrier space, Microsoft didn’t really have an interest in VoIP, and certainly not from a Windows standpoint. I remember thinking, is EVERYBODY at Microsoft this lacking in vision?
My, how times do change.

Now, let’s hope the Microsoft gets it right. Standards agnostic. Easy to use. Not used as leverage against competitors. Hmm. Nah, I don’t see it happening.  Every try to run Windows Live services in Safari on a Mac?  Something tells me MS VoIP will be more of the same.  Time to wake up, Mr. Ballmer.