Orange Business has teamed with Microsoft to create a unified communications service aimed at the top multi-national corporations. “Business Together with Microsoft” combines Orange services and expertise with Microsoft business software to enable businesses to move more quickly into more cost-effective and productive employee communications.

“It is very important for our customers today who want to travel less and communicate more through Web conferencing, video conferencing and other services that allow their employees to work more efficiently all together,” said Axel Haentjens, vice president of marketing for Orange Business Services. “The focus has been put in the last years on personal effectiveness and productivity.”

While customers can purchase Unified Communications software directly form Microsoft, Orange Business is able to help companies go from where they are now, in terms of legacy networks, to where they need to be, he added.

“They have other software they might be using, and we will help them assess the situation, design fully unified communication solutions, implement for them, and manage for them, if they don’t want to manage it themselves,” he said.

The unified approach enables employees to work, either in the office or outside, through a single Windows Outlook interface that is Web-based to access email, view voice mails as emails, read faxes, make VoIP calls and access calendars and schedules. It includes audio, video and Web conferencing and Instant Messaging.

Initially, Orange is targeting large multi-national companies globally, for whom the service is available today, Haentjens said. In addition, Orange will offer the service to small-to-mid-sized businesses in France and then in Europe, he said. The service is built on newer Microsoft software, including Office Communications Server 2007, Exchange Server 2007, Forefront and Office SharePoint Server. Pricing is on a utility basis, Haentjens said.