Note- this post was written in 2007, prior to OCS R2. OCS R2 in fact IS a conference bridge, and a good one at that.
Most people who travel in OCS/LCS circles know that OCS 2007 includes a bundled version of LiveMeeting. This allows people to collaborate with powerpoint/whiteboard/chat/desktop sharing. Also, the bundled LiveMeeting allows people to communicate with voice/video. So far OCS seems like the ideal collaboration platform, and in many cases, it is.
Well, there is a fly in the ointment. I was disappointed to learn that you can’t set OCS 2007 up as a conference bridge for non-PC callers; i.e. you can’t dial into an OCS conference with a cellphone. Even though OCS has the capability of routing calls to/from the PSTN, there isn’t a way for an outside caller to join the LiveMeeting.
This is a pain because it forces people to keep an external conferencing service, whether it’s a Service Provider bridge service or an in-house conferencing solution. If you want voice+LiveMeeting you need to subscribe to MS LiveMeeting service.
I would like to think that MS would want to compete with Cisco’s MeetingPlace product, but not allowing inbound PSTN calls is a serious impediment to being able to dump your current conference provider.
OCS of course is a big step in the right direction for MS and collaboration: it incorporates good new features and PSTN connectivity is much easier to integrate with PBXs. It continues to deliver the best IM/Chat out there. Bundling the LiveMeeting functionality is also a good sign, but is not yet a full replacement for a conferencing solution.
I am keeping a close eye on OCS’s evolution and am eagerly awaiting the ability to host dial-in conferences. It doesn’t seem like it will take much to do that (maybe in an SP or future release?) because most of the functionality is already there.
