Wouldn't it be nice to pick up the phone on your desk and, without dialing any numbers, say "Joe in accounting," and have your phone not only dial Joe, but bring up the information you have stored for him in Outlook? That's the idea behind Response Point, Microsoft's answer to the antiquated phone systems that populate the offices of small businesses everywhere.
Redmond announced today that Response Point has been released to manufacturing, and by the end of the year systems will "definitely be available" for purchase, according to Jeff Smith, a senior product manager for Response Point.
Response Point is one of Microsoft's few hardware products, and is available only through OEMs. Thus far, Microsoft has three companies producing Response Point systems: D-Link Corp., Quanta Computer Inc., and Aastra Technologies. Since the OEMs are responsible for producing the systems, Microsoft couldn't give a commercial availability date.
Response Point is the latest entry into the voice over IP (VoIP) market, and Microsoft's proprietary technology powers the system, which includes a base unit with built-in analog telephone adapter (ATA), secure gateway and phones. Response Point fills an urgent need in the small business space, according to Smith.
"We found in the small business environment that two-thirds of all U.S. small businesses don't have a phone system installed at all," Smith said. They generally have a "cobbled together" mishmash of various off-the-shelf products that don't work together well.
That leads to frustration, Smith said. "We saw that the user experience was broken." Even simple tasks, like transferring a call, can leave users shaking their heads. Large enterprises normally have a dedicated phone expert on staff, but small businesses, of course, usually can't afford such a luxury.