RTC Server By Any Other Name ...

In the latest round of its seemingly endless product-naming cycle, Microsoft said Tuesday that it has decided to add its soon-to-be-released Real-Time Communications Server 2003 to its pending Microsoft Office System and has renamed the server the Microsoft Office Real-Time Communications Server 2003 to reflect that association.

The Office RTC Server, originally known by the code-name Greenwich, is designed to give companies an instant-messaging platform that will let them deploy a secure corporate IM system or use an included set of APIs to build presence awareness--the ability to see others' online status--and IM into any application.

By folding the RTC Server into the Microsoft Office System--a set of programs, servers, and services expected to be released later this year and designed to better connect people with each other, information, and business processes--Microsoft hopes to let companies make better use of real-time communications within the context of applications they know well, such as Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 and Microsoft Office Sharepoint Portal Server 2003. The common goal is to let information workers get the information they need when they need it.

Both the Office RTC Server and the Microsoft Office System are part of the Real-Time Messaging and Platform Group (itself a part of the newly created Real-Time Collaboration business unit). Gurdeep Singh Pall, general manager of that group, said in a Q&A on the Microsoft site that future innovation from the group will revolve around "contextual" presence awareness that will associate IM buddy lists with projects or teams, as well as the integration of presence awareness with video and data Web conferencing, presumably leveraging the technology Microsoft acquired when it purchased PlaceWare Inc. for $200 million earlier this year.