Communications Server 2007 Packaging, Licensing, Pricing

Office Communications Server 2007 requires users to have two different Client Access Licenses (CALs) to access all product features—a notable difference from the product’s predecessor, Live Communications Server (LCS) 2005. Even though first time customers will find Communications Server 2007 substantially more expensive than its predecessor, customers with Software Assurance (SA) on LCS 2005 will receive licenses to both CALs while their SA payments stay constant for the remaining term of their volume purchase agreement—a more generous arrangement than Microsoft has offered in the past under similar circumstances.

Features and Costs

Since its introduction in 2003, Communications Server has been the cornerstone of Microsoft’s real-time communications efforts. Communications Server and its associated Communicator client maintain users’ presence information and let users send instant messages (IMs) and use their computers for voice and video calls. The 2007 version can route both outgoing and incoming Private Branch Exchange (PBX) and Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) calls to Communicator and offers many other call-control features such as call forwarding. In addition, Communications Server 2007 includes on-premise Web conferencing, capabilities inherited from Microsoft’s existing subscription-based Live Meeting service. Communications Server 2007 was released to manufacturing in late July and will be available through all traditional channels in September.