With the recent unveiling of Office Communicator 2007 and Office Communications Server 2007, Microsoft's claims for the potential of unified communications were typically dramatic. Bill Gates predicted a transformation in workplace communication 'as profound as the shift from typewriters to word processing.' Joining the two Office products is a 360-degree conferencing system called Roundtable. Microsoft built these applications with the help of dozens of partners, including SAP. It is also joining with Nortel Networks to move into voice-over-Internet-protocol (VoIP) systems. While the integration of voice, video, and messaging holds great promise, infrastructure upgrades will be required, and interoperability remains an obstacle. For example, Session Initiative Protocol (SIP) still lacks all the features of business phone systems. And when it comes to VoIP, a crowded market of competitors with a large head start awaits Microsoft. Gates' announcement of the death of PBX is also overstated, Jorge Blanco of Avaya says that 'if anybody killed it, Avaya, Cisco, and many others did so years ago.' Even so, companies such as Sanofi Aventis are opting for Microsoft's new platform. This pharmaceutical firm will integrate Office Communications Server to allow workers to click and call colleagues from e-mail, documents, and its eLounge web portal. While Microsoft lacks the experience of networking specialists, its solid Office user base and marketing give it the potential to make unified communications popular.