Orange Business Services has announced a partnership with Microsoft that will see it install and support unified communications systems based on Microsoft software for business customers.

Business Together with Microsoft, available immediately, is intended to give employees access to corporate communications tools from any web-enabled terminal.

Orange is to act as systems integrator, tailoring an IP communications package based on Office Communications Server 2007, Exchange Server 2007, Forefront and Office SharePoint Server, to a customer's exact needs.

Through a browser, workers can access their mailbox, view voice messages as emails, read faxes, make voice over IP calls, and access their contacts and calendar, Orange said. Business Together with Microsoft will also enable real-time communication through audio, video, web conferencing or instant messaging, and let workers manage and share documents and calendars.

In a statement, Orange's vice president of Global Services Laurent Kocher said; “Cooperative work between employees in different locations across time zones is expected to make up more than half of a typical office employee’s work time by 2015. Companies need to provide staff with the tools to respond quickly to constant demands for attention and an efficient way to manage multiple types of contact”.