Microsoft Instant Messaging Strategies (Istanbul)

Microsoft will release the next version of its instant messaging and
presence server, Office Live Communications Server, in December. It
also is developing an application that will allow users to link their
phones to the LCS software.
The client application, code-named Istanbul, should be available by
mid-2005, according to Microsoft.
Integration of LCS into Office is designed to give applications greater
"presence," which delivers communications based on a person's
whereabouts. If an Outlook calendar item shows an employee at an
off-site meeting, calls or IMs can be routed to that location.
The release of the new LCS version is part of a larger push to
integrate corporate IM into Microsoft products.