Bill Gates Showcases Integrated Communications Vision

In an international Web conference that connected multiple venues throughout the world, Microsoft Corp. Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates today outlined the company's vision for integrated communications, joining Microsoft executives to showcase new versions of Microsoft® Office real-time collaboration solutions.

During the event, guests from NBC's "The Apprentice" joined a live collaboration session to demonstrate how real-time solutions improve individual and team collaboration, and help businesses make faster, better and more-informed decisions.

The goal of integrated communications is to help information workers easily and effectively communicate with colleagues, customers and partners in real time.

"We have lots of ways to connect with people using technology, but there are countless opportunities to make them smarter and more efficient," Gates said.

Gates underscored Microsoft's commitment to meeting the needs of all types of organizations through a combination of customizable clients, extensible servers and reliable services that enable integrated communications.

"It is exciting to see Microsoft's vision of integrated communications becoming a reality for our customers," said Anoop Gupta, corporate vice president of the Real-Time Collaboration Group at Microsoft.

To demonstrate the benefits of real-time collaboration, Mark Burnett, creator and executive producer of the NBC show "The Apprentice," joined Microsoft executives for a collaborative session via Live Meeting.

"It's often difficult getting the right people in a room together, let alone coming up with and deciding on an exciting business challenge or task idea that makes for good television," Burnett said.

Integrated communications is a key component of Microsoft's overall collaboration strategy to provide software and services that enable people to connect and work together more effectively.

"Organizations everywhere are under increasing pressure to improve their customer connection, increase bottom-line profitability and invest for future growth," said Jeff Raikes, group vice president of the Information Worker Group at Microsoft.