Unified communications—the integration of email, instant messaging, presence, conferencing, voicemail, intelligent call routing, and other telephony functions—is becoming a common option for organizations seeking a more cost-effective and operationally efficient communications infrastructure. A Microsoft Exchange/Outlook user moves to unified communications, or UC, by adding the Microsoft Office Communications Server product and its associated Microsoft Office Communicator client product.

This report looks at the total cost of ownership (TCO) of Microsoft-based UC. As the report shows, the TCO of Microsoft UC and telephony benefits from economies of scale. It is much easier for a large organization to justify the technology than a smaller organization.

The report also includes an interview with Igor Balk, the CTO of Unison Technologies, on his company’s UC alternative.

In addition to the report, we provide a spreadsheet to help you model your organization’s TCO.

Report 795. 15 pages.

Table of Contents

Executive Summary
Microsoft’s Approach to UC and Telephony
     Exchange, Active Directory, and Outlook
     Telephony Integration
     IM and Presence
Main Cost Components of Microsoft UC TCO Model
     Software
     Hardware
     People
     Power and Cooling
     Additional Costs, not Included
Conclusions
     Small Organization: 50 Users
     Medium Organization: 500 Users
     Large Organization: 5,000 Users
     UC Is Much Less Expensive for Larger Organizations
Unison Interview
Unison’s UC Technology