Microsoft and Swisscom announced they are working together to deliver converged communications services to Swisscom's small and midsize businesses. By deploying the Microsoft Solution for Enhanced VoIP Services, Swisscom will be able to offer its customers a range of communications that help integrate telephony services with the PC.

Swisscom will be able to deliver a combined offering of voice, e-mail, presence, instant messaging, collaboration and desktop services to its SMB subscribers. The combination of business applications with communications tools will help SMBs improve workflow and increase productivity. For instance, users will be able to initiate telephone calls directly from their PC, forward their desk phone calls to another fixed or mobile phone, and select the preferred device for callers to reach them on.

"By bringing together the different means of communications, we can provide our business customers with a richer communications experience," said Heinz Herren, head of Small and Medium Business at Swisscom. "VoIP not only offers additional flexibility compared with traditional telephone services, but the Microsoft offering enables the addition of other PC-centric services, such as e-mail, instant messaging and document collaboration. We're delighted to be offering our SMB customers the benefits of an enterprise-quality telephony service together with our existing broadband packages."

The Microsoft Solution for Enhanced VoIP Services combines hosted versions of Microsoft server products that include Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft Office Live Communications Server and Windows SharePoint Services with Sylantro Systems' Application Feature Server. With this combined communications offering, service providers are able to create a rich set of productivity tools, traditionally available only to larger enterprises, for their SMB customers. The combined solution provides key features to the end user such as click to call, calling alerts, call diversion, telephony presence, smart call forwarding and call history logs.

"We are happy to be working with Swisscom to help launch a business-class suite of hosted communications services in Europe," said Michael O'Hara, general manager for the Communications Sector at Microsoft. "With much of the demand for these services coming from SMBs, it makes sense for telecommunications providers such as Swisscom to offer convenient, comprehensive packages to their customers. In addition, our solution helps operators deliver a consistent experience across the PC and telephone, creating a compelling service set for SMBs."