Lync

Somehow or other I missed the rollout of yet another Microsoft base/platform technology, called Lync. As stated in the marketing material, Lync "provides a single interface that unites voice communications, IM, and audio, video, and Web conferencing into a richer, more contextual offering." Of course, one needs a Lync server (enterprise or "other") and has to purchase CALs for each seat. Running alongside your Sharepoint server, Active Directory server, Remote Access server,  Terminal servers,  Exchange Server, and regular old Windows 2XXX file servers, Lync will help seamlessly integrate all your data and communications. It seems to me that this is sort of an add-on to the Sharepoint concept, allowing for voice and teleconferencing to be added. I'm not sure why this wasn't integrated into Sharepoint.