Microsoft and Unified Communications

It would be great to be able to say that Microsoft had always planned to be a player in the presence and unified communications spaces. However, that would be revising history just a bit. In truth, to an outsider, it appears as though Microsoft made several failed attempts at getting this type of technology off the ground. Sure, it had MSN Messenger out there for a long time, but on the corporate side, Mr. Gates was not too successful. In fact, there have been rumors that during its lifetime, the entire Communications Server product line had been scrapped, left for dead, but later revived. Although we could discuss earlier Microsoft products, such as NetMeeting, the first real push into the world of IM and presence came with Exchange 2000 Enterprise Edition, which included a feature known as the Instant Messaging Service.

Exchange 2000 and IM

The following paragraphs come directly from the official Exchange 2000 manual: