Small and medium-sized businesses looking for an inexpensive phone system that allows for hassle-free communications have one less option as a major player has cancelled it solution.

 

Microsoft Corp. has reportedly pulled back on its Response Point small business VoIP system solution because the product failed to integrate with its larger unified communications vision.

 

While Microsoft (News - Alert) said it will support the Response Point to its current users, the company has no plans to enhance the product roadmap. According to Phone Plus Magazine, Microsoft planned to launch version 2 later this year, but later backpedaled The firm reportedly was going into “maintenance mode” on the product’s current release, the report said.

 

“In my opinion, it really was a matter of time for this product to be cancelled due to its closed design and non-integration with other server products,” Joe Schurman of Network World (News - Alert) wrote.

 

Microsoft Response Point is an advanced, software-based VoIP system for businesses with less than 50 employees. It provides small businesses with advanced features such as multi-party calling, call forwarding capabilities, contact management from Outlook or the Windows Address Book, and voice recognition technology to manage calls and voice mail.

 

The software, which launched in October 2007, is packaged as an appliance by three providers, including D-Link, Aastra Technologies Ltd. and Quanta Computer Inc. Microsoft targeted small businesses with the technology, specifically companies without in-house IT personnel. The solution was priced for around $5,000 for 20 users.

 

The pullback comes after Microsoft in May laid off an unknown number of Response Point staff, according to Phone Plus Magazine.

 

Microsoft said it will continue to support the current version of Response Point.

In a blog posting on its Web site, the Response Point Team acknowledged Microsoft made some changes to the Response Point business. It said current customers would not be impacted by those changes.

 

“We will maintain the current version of the product,” the blog said. “We believe there is a plenty of room for delivering breakthrough products in the communication space and will continue to investigate the opportunity in the small business segment.”

 

Recently, companies found a need for Response Point software.Telecom Brokerage, Inc. in April formed a partnership with Cbeyond, Inc. to sell solutions featuring its BeyondVoice with SIPconnect and Microsoft Response Point. Telecom was appointed a master agent for the software, TMCnet reported.

 

In March, Telesphere, a nationwide business phone and Internet services provider, announced it achieved certification for Microsoft Response Point. The company was one of the eight firms listed by Microsoft as a Certified Service Provider for Response Point. Through a process called session initiation protocol trunking, Telesphere (News - Alert) said that can integrate with Microsoft's phone system and overlay its own feature set, according to TMCnet.