3/13/2007 -- If IBM Corp. is Cisco Systems Inc.'s go-to partner, Microsoft Corp. isn't quite sloppy seconds. So when Cisco last week unveiled an ambitious new unified voice and collaboration platform in tandem with Big Blue, it extended a de rigueur olive branch to Microsoft, too, announcing an expanded interoperability effort to tightly couple its Cisco Unified Communications stack with Microsoft's Exchange 2007, Live Communications Server 2005 and Office Communicator.

A year ago this month, Cisco and Microsoft promoted a unified communications collaboration based on Microsoft Office Communicator 2005, Microsoft Office Live Communications Server (LCS) 2005 and Cisco's Cisco Unified Communications Manager 6.0 (nee Unified CallManager).

Cisco now showcases a number of interoperability touch points between its communications offerings and Microsoft's collaboration products. There's Cisco Unified MeetingPlace 6.0, for example, which uses the Presence and Instant Messaging Capabilities of LCS and Office Communicator. This makes it possible for users to intuitively escalate from IM to audio conferencing, as well as view presence information to determine the availability of contacts.

Ditto for Cisco's Exchange 2007 outreach effort: The networking giant touts integration between its Unity 5.0 offering and the Exchange messaging platform; the upshot for Exchange customers, Cisco says, is improved security and networking integration with Cisco IP phones, legacy PBX and visual voicemail, thanks to Cisco Unity. Elsewhere, Cisco Unified Communications Manager helps mash-up the unified messaging capabilities of Exchange 2007 with its own call processing, video, mobility and presence services.

There's also improved integration Between Unified Communications Manager and Microsoft Office Communicator, Cisco officials say. The upshot, again, is expanded voice, video, and presence services -- including telephony features, security, quality of service, call admissions control and even interoperability with legacy private branch exchanges (PBXs.). Over time, Cisco will add support for Office Communications Server 2007, as well as Office Communicator 2.0. --Stephen Swoyer