OCS Training

December 13, 2007

It goes without saying that unified communications was one of the most exciting growth areas in the communications market this past quarter. Microsoft continues to be a major driver of this technology with its Office Communications Server (OCS) product. In fact, not only has Steve Ballmer been on stage to promote UC and OCS but recently Bill Gates was brought out to tout the technology as well.

The launch of OCS represents a watershed event in telecom and as I have mentioned earlier, never in the history of telecom has there been a new product roll-out supported by over 50 other companies.

To be sure, Microsoft OCS is THE communications product of 2007. Whether you plan on installing OCS in your organization or not, you should be aware that the marketing push Microsoft is putting behind this product has showed no signs of slowing down. As the onslaught continues, we can expect something unusual to happen.

Corporate management will start asking technical implementers numerous questions about OCS. Until today, the company with the largest marketing spend focused on voice communications targeted at CXOs (CEOS, CFOs, CTOs, etc) was Avaya. Now Microsoft seems to have taken the top spot.

So if you haven’t heard about OCS from your top management yet, you likely will in the very near future. You really should be ahead of this curve.

As this segment has gained in popularity, more and more TMC readers and attendees have been asking for more education on the unified communications space – especially OCS.

In response, TMC has announced that TMC University will be offering a Microsoft OCS course at Internet Telephony Conference & Expo in Miami, FL January 23, 2008.

The topics covered in this course will be as follows:

OCS-PBX Interoperability

SIP and versions of SIP used in OCS
SIP-to-PBX interoperability
SIP-to-IP-PBX interoperability
OCS and IP-PSTN gateway integration
Remote office telephony integration

OCS Servers

Mediation
Front End
Active Directory

Call Flow Scenarios

Telephony users can connect to other telephony users by using OCS
Internal telephony users can also communicate with PSTN and PBX users
Outgoing calls
Incoming calls

The course ends with a focus on configuration and planning.

Whether you are a reseller looking for an edge against the competition or you are looking to build your knowledgebase, having TMC University certification on your resume is a fantastic addition.

As virtually all communications equipment providers begin to position their products as ideal unified communications solutions, it is crucial you learn the ins and outs of what Microsoft has to offer. I consider this training to be one of the best and most timely training curses TMC has ever offered.