Microsoft's global alliance with Nokia, announced earlier this month, promises to make a range of Microsoft office productivity and communications software available on Nokia mobile phones. The development work, already underway, is by no means restricted to unified communications--in fact, the non-UC implications of the announcement are arguably the most interesting. But there are definite ramifications to Microsoft's position in the unified communications market.The press release introducing the alliance talks about "enterprise instant messaging and presence, and optimized conferencing and collaboration experience with Microsoft Office Communicator Mobile." As I understand it, part of the plan is to deliver next year a version of Communicator Mobile, Office Communications Server 2007's mobile client, that runs on Nokia smart phones. This is, of course, good news for OCS customers. Michael Finneran insightfully notes that the value of mobile UC clients increases with the number of smart phone models in can run on. And Alan Sulkin points out that this is a positive move for the hundreds of millions of Nokia phone users.
But the weird thing is--and tip of the hat to my colleague Rob Arnold for reminding me-- This was one of the more interesting features of the OCS Release 2 announcement from earlier this year. The Blackberry software, which was developed by RIM, goes by the cumbersome name BlackBerry Client for use with Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007. The software that supports Nokia's Symbian OS was developed by Microsoft and is called Communicator Mobile for Java. According to the Communicator Mobile (CoMo) for Java FAQ, the current version of the software not only supports a wide range of standard Nokia cell phones, but also several smart phone models, including the E51, E63, E66, E71, and N95.
Taking a closer look at CoMo for Java, the software lets users of Nokia smart phones view and change presence status, view and organize contacts, send and receive instant messages, set up multi-user chat sessions, and interface with Active Directory servers. OCS-driven VoIP is not functional, meaning Symbian devices place calls using the CoMo client. Instead, all calls go out over the standard cellular network. And incoming OCS calls are not terminated on the CoMo client. Rather, the user must set up call forwarding to route OCS calls to the cell mobile phone number. OCS-driven voice conferencing is of course unavailable as well. RIM's client likewise focuses on the presence, instant messaging and chat functionality of OCS, stopping short of extending OCS's full VoIP and conferencing capabilities out to RIM devices.
I contacted Microsoft to ask how CoMo support on Symbian phones via the Java client will differ from CoMo support on Symbian phones via the new development work with Nokia. Unfortunately, the company is not ready to provide any details at this point. It's understandable, I suppose, since this month's announcement was about the Nokia alliance, not any specific product deliverables. As a result we can only speculate where Microsoft's new development work with Nokia will lead UC-wise...so here's a little speculation:
* Development stemming from the Microsoft-Nokia partnership will result in a Communicator Mobile client that runs natively on Symbian devices, as opposed to relying on Java. This will make for easier installation and support of the mobile client, as well as deliver a more consistent user interface. (Currently, the Java client pushes to the background when a call is incoming on some CoMo for Java devices, while on others the client is not pushed back.)
* Development stemming from the Microsoft-Nokia partnership will deliver a CoMo for Symbian client with a wider set of OCS-driven UC features made available on Nokia phones. This will center around (but not be limited to) conferencing capabilities currently absent from CoMo from Java, but available on the CoMo running on Windows Mobile devices.
* Development stemming from the Microsoft-Nokia partnership will result in client software that replaces CoMo for Java. If this proves to be the case, hopefully OCS customers that have deployed CoMo for Java will be able to transition client licenses to the (presumably) more fully featured native client. OCS customers should get clarification on this point before purchasing CoMo for Java licenses. After all, why invest in a product that may very well be obsolete by this time next year?
* A CoMo client native to Symbian will be considerably more feature-rich compared with RIM's BlackBerry Client for OCS. The RIM client will not only have a more restricted UC feature set, but will also lack the ability to run Office Mobile on BlackBerry devices and access SharePoint servers, which--let's face it--is really the more interesting part of the Microsoft-Nokia announcement. This will mean a less well-rounded mobility experience for BlackBerry users whose companies have investments in Microsoft collaboration, communications and office productivity software.
Again, much of this is educated guesswork. I don't have inside information from Microsoft on any of this. Let me know if you have other ideas where the partnership will lead in terms of Microsoft's unified communications solution set!
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